Page 33 of Boxed In

Damn, why was he out of town now when she needed him?

She knew Olivia hadn’t just put down the phone. Someone else had clicked off, and when she’d tried to call her back, she got only a busy signal.

What should she do now? Calling the police seemed logical. But Olivia had called her, not the cops, which meant she didn’t want the authorities involved.

She was still trying to figure out what to do when a knock at the door made her jump.

Moving to the front window, she pushed aside the curtains and saw two men standing on the stoop. One looked like he was in his late forties or early fifties. The other was much younger. From their tough appearance, both could have been cops or special agents or something.

When the older guy caught her watching him, he pulled a wallet from his pocket and held it up so she could see an ID card. It said Decorah Security.

“We need to talk to you,” he mouthed.

She set the door on the security chain and opened it a crack.

“Talk about what?” she asked.

“Your friend, Olivia Weston is in danger.”

“How do you know?”

“We put a trace on her phone.”

Her eyes narrowed.

“We’d like to come in and talk.”

She didn’t want to let these guys in, but on the other hand, she was already sure Olivia was in trouble. “Tell me what it’s about,” she demanded.

“A shipment of antiques.”

Beth caught her breath, then slid the chain and let them in.

“Thank you,” the older man said as he stepped into her living room. As she looked at him, she decided he had a face that made you want to trust him. Hopefully, that wasn’t an illusion.

“I’m Frank Decorah, from Decorah Security, and this is Brand Marshall, one of my agents.”

“And you were listening to Olivia’s calls?”

“No. We were only checking the phone numbers she called—after we lost contact with one of our agents, Luke Garner.”

“Luke Garner? Olivia mentioned him to me. She said he’d taken over the computer repair work at her office.”

Frank nodded.

“Wait a minute. Is he a computer repair guy or one of your agents?”

“Both,” Frank answered.

Before she could respond to that, he went on, “We knew he was with Olivia, but he isn’t responding to calls. And we also know a car belonging to Luke Garner crashed into a concrete barrier in the warehouse district of Baltimore near Greektown. Before that, the vehicle almost hit a truck. The driver’s voice was shaking when he called the cops.”

“And Luke and Olivia were gone by the time the police arrived?” Beth asked, although she had already gathered as much.

“Yes.”

As she tried to imagine what had happened, Frank Decorah said, “Perhaps we should sit down.”

She nodded and gestured toward the sofa. The men sat on it, and she took a wingback chair opposite.

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