Page 75 of Enigma
“Please.” Her voice sounded strained. “All I want is to find out what Tevin discovered.”
CHAPTER 48
Tevin had met Olive and Jason in the parking lot. They’d left the restaurant amidst the stares of other patrons, who no doubt had heard the struggle in the bathroom and wondered what was going on.
Attention was the last thing Olive wanted, so they tried to keep a low profile as they left. Jason had his arm around Olive as he helped support her weight.
“Olive . . .” Concern filled Tevin’s voice as he observed her.
“I promise to explain later,” Olive murmured. “Right now, we need to get out of here.”
Tevin followed them back to the motel.
Their room felt like a sanctuary after the chaos of the diner.
She wanted to hear what Tevin had to say, but Jason insisted he bandage her first. Maybe it would be better if she could concentrate fully on what Tevin had learned.
But impatience brewed inside her.
Olive sat on the edge of one of the beds while Jason gathered supplies from the small first aid kit they’d picked up at a gas station on the way back.
Her injuries weren’t as bad as they could have been.
She had a deep cut on her neck, bruises had formed along her ribs, and a knot rose on the back of her head where she’d hit the bathroom wall.
“This is going to sting,” Jason warned, dabbing antiseptic on the cut along her collarbone.
Olive winced but didn’t pull away.
She watched Jason’s face as he worked, noting the careful concentration in his expression, the gentle way his fingers avoided the tender areas around her injuries.
From her position on the bed, she saw Tevin sitting in the chair by the window, pretending to look at his phone and give them space. She knew he was actually watching Jason tend to her wounds.
Something in Tevin’s expression made her chest tighten.
It wasn’t easy for him to be here. It wasn’t easy for him to see her with Jason.
Guilt over the situation—and gratitude that he’d come to help—washed through her.
She’d never wanted to be in this position.
“You’re lucky this cut isn’t deeper.” Jason applied a bandage between her neck and shoulder. “A few more inches, and she could have hit an artery.”
“Elena’s good at what she does. She was trying to send a message.”
Jason’s jaw tightened as he moved to examine the bump on her head, his fingers probing gently through her hair. “Well, message received. We might need to call in backup.”
“Who?” Olive asked, though she suspected she knew the answer.
“The rest of the team. Trick, Mitzi, Nova.” Jason stepped back, seemingly satisfied that her head injury wasn’t serious. “We’re outnumbered, and these people are escalating.”
Olive hesitated.
Bringing in her team meant putting more people at risk. But it also meant having the resources and manpower they needed to find Lloyd and get answers about her mother.
“Okay,” she said finally. “Make the call.”
Jason stepped into the hallway to make the phone call.
