Page 19 of Enigma
Olive . . . well, she had to wonder if her father had anything to do with this.
She wished the answer was easy.
She wished the answer was a definite no. But she couldn’t say that for sure. Her dad had been involved in some shady things, and she’d only just begun to scratch the surface.
She did, however, plan on asking Lloyd about it. Just not right now. Not when everything still seemed so tender and fresh.
Nancy finally spoke, her voice carefully controlled. “Lloyd, you’re telling me that you were part of a criminal organization? That you falsified medical records and laundered money?”
“I was scared, and desperate.” Lloyd’s words sounded thin and quiet. “But yes. I did all those things. And I’ve regretted it every day since.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nancy’s voice cracked.
Olive heard the hurt in her voice. Though their relationship was fairly new, these omissions must feel like a betrayal.
The corners of Lloyd’s eyes seemed to curl downward with regret as he gazed at her. “Because I was afraid you’d leave. Because I was ashamed. Because I convinced myself it was ancient history that couldn’t hurt anyone anymore.” Lloyd squeezed her hand. “I was wrong about that last part.”
Nancy was quiet for a long time, clearly trying to process everything she’d just learned. Finally, she looked at Lloyd with an expression that was sad but not angry.
“You should have told me,” she said simply. “But I understand why you didn’t.”
“Nancy—”
“We’ll talk about this later, when you’re feeling better and not in a hospital bed.” Nancy shifted and smoothed the front of her cardigan. “Right now, what matters is getting you healthy.”
“I agree,” Jason murmured.
Nancy turned to Jason and Olive. “What do we do? Why did someone choose to strike now? Did something happen?”
“Good question,” Jason said.
Olive’s mind raced. She’d started investigating Lloyd’s background. Looking into his financials. Asking questions.
Had her searches triggered something?
She swallowed hard but couldn’t bring herself to say those words aloud.
CHAPTER 11
While the doctor ran some more tests on Lloyd, they gave him some privacy. Nancy had gone to grab some coffee, and Jason went with her.
They’d asked Olive to come, but she’d feigned an excuse about needing to sit down for a minute.
The truth was, she wanted to check out the hospital and see if there were any more signs of Simon.
She walked back through the ER waiting room, searching each face.
Simon was nowhere to be found.
Which didn’t surprise her.
He was a spook, after all. He knew how to disappear.
But if thathadbeen him, what had he been doing here in Florida? At the hospital?
Was he following her? Did he know about Lloyd’s potential connection to her family’s murder?
Or even worse—what if he was somehow connected to the attempt on Lloyd’s life?
