Page 62 of Operation: Discovery

She shrugged one shoulder ever so slightly, but didn’t look at him.

“Is it lonely in here?”

That made her look up and she narrowed her eyes like he’d said something evil.

He stared at her for a moment, realizing she looked very similar to the nurse they’d been chasing. He turned to Otto and whispered, “What’s the name of the nurse Nixon is after?”

Otto seemed incapable of lowering his voice. “Ramona Butters.”

Evie’s eyes widened and she shook her head slowly.

“Ah, that name rings a bell, does it?” Brendon didn’t miss the momentary look of shock in her eyes.

Evie tore off the next sheet of paper and quickly scrawled something on it. She turned the sheet around so he could see what she’d written.

Stay away from my sister.

The nurse who’d been after Dee and Adam was Evie Carvel’s sister? He wasn’t sure what to do with that information. But knowing that small thing could lead to Evie’s true identity. If they could catch the nurse, they would find out who she was and then would know Evie’s true identity.

“What is she doing? Why is she looking for Adam and Dee?” Because there was no way this was only about Adam anymore.

Evie tapped the sheet with her statement on it, then turned it around and added more.

…or I will kill you myself.

“Is that a threat?” Otto stood up quickly and laid his hand on his gun secured in his duty belt.

Evie grabbed the small sheet of paper, crumpled it, and ate it. She laughed, then stood up and hit a button on the wall. The guard immediately entered and took her away.

Brendon closed his eyes and let the adrenaline settle, though his heart wasn’t ready to calm down yet. Evie was a murderer and more. She was one of the top people in Viceroy’s crime ring.

“Waste of time. Just like I said,” Otto muttered. “We drove three and a half hours for five minutes and she said nothing. Just as I predicted.”

Maybe she hadn’t said much, but what she conveyed was still important. “I’m sure they got a video. I’m just not sure the video will show what she wrote on her notepad. She also tore it off after doodling all over it, so we couldn’t even have them take an impression of the notepad for evidence.”

“Eating her threat was a nice touch, too,” Otto growled.

“I need to get back to Wayside, so we’ll skip going to visit Gregory Diamond today.”

Otto opened the door and let Brendon out, then put the chairs back the way they’d been. “That sounds like a good plan. You looked mighty worried after talking to Lacy. Is something wrong?”

Only that Dee was missing, and he had no idea where she could be. Wayside was vast with lots of areas that were heavily treed, then others with enormous areas of nothing but rolling grassy hills. It was beautiful, but not the place he’d want to hunt for a missing person.

“My girl went missing shortly after I left this morning. I need to get home and find out what happened to her.”

Otto walked just behind him in the narrow hallway as they headed to the exit, allowing for others to pass the other way. “You should call Nixon and let him know if he doesn’t know already. He’s got a lot going on, but you can’t start a manhunt on your own.”

It wouldn’t be the first time, but calling Nixon was high on his list of things to do once he was out of the women’s prison. He reached the car and got inside, then grabbed his phone. He dialed Nixon who answered right away.

“Brendon, just the guy I was looking for. I’ve been trying to call Dee’s phone to get her location, but it goes right to voicemail, and I can’t pick up anything. No location. Even a dead phone usually gives offsomeinformation. Do you have any reason to believe she might go in the water?”

For all of Dee’s athleticism, she didn’t swim. She’d had a bad experience as a child, falling off a dock into the water, and it scared her enough that swimming was just something she never did. “No chance. Is there any other reason she might not be able to get to her phone?”

“That’s not my worry.” Nixon paused and the silence was painful. “If my contact at the phone company cannot get a ping on her phone, then it’s not just dead. It’s somewhere that the signal is blocked. Water is usually the biggest culprit.”

Brendon closed his eyes and prayed quickly and silently. If Dee was in water, it wasn’t because she wanted to be there.

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