Page 54 of Deadly Hope
Olivia froze. Through the haze, that night on the back porch flooded back—James nursing a root beer, shadows under his eyes she pretended not to see. His voice too casual when he’d said, “Remember what Mom used to call you? Little Cricket?”
She’d laughed. “For sure. Drove me crazy.”
“If you’re ever in trouble,” he’d said, not looking at her, “and you can’t tell me out loud? Use that name. I’ll come running.”
The conversation had frightened her then. Made her aware of the deep, unspoken dangers her brother must be living with to even think of such a thing. It wasn’t until years later, working with former operatives, hearing their dark stories, that the full weight of that moment hit her.
And now to hear it from a stranger holding a gun, while smoke filled her lungs and panic filled the air. Not what her big bro would have had in mind.
“Tell your team to meet at the secondary location,” the woman instructed, her silhouette wavering in the thickening smoke. “The one Reinhardt showed you this morning. Hurry.”
Olivia’s mind raced, her eyes stinging. The nickname could be a coincidence. Or intelligence gathered by the wrong people. She’d seen how thorough Driscoll’s operation could be—they’d proven that with what happened to James.
“Why should I trust you?” Olivia’s voice was barely audible over the chaos, broken by a fit of coughing.
“Because Driscoll’s men are coming, if they’re not already here.” The woman jerked her head toward where the kitchen should be, now invisible in the roiling smoke. “Because your brother trusted me. Because—” She reached into her collar with two fingers, withdrew a thin chain. A small brass cricket emerged from the grey haze, identical to the one James had given Olivia on her sixteenth birthday.
Through her earpiece, Kenji’s voice crackled, “Contact! Kitchen entrance?—”
“Choose now,” the woman commanded, her form starting to blur in Olivia’s watering eyes. “Trust me or trust them.”
Olivia keyed the transceiver in her ear with tremblingfingers, suppressing another cough. “Fall back to morning’s secondary. Repeat, fall back to secondary.” She paused, then added quickly, “I have company. Armed woman, claims to be friendly. Says James sent her. Don’t—don’t shoot her.”
The woman moved closer, gun now aimed at the shadows behind Olivia. Her face appeared briefly through the smoke, eyes sharp and focused.
Through her earpiece, Olivia heard Kenji. “Multiple tangos entering through kitchen?—”
“Run,” the woman commanded.
She seized Olivia’s arm, guiding her through curtains of grey smoke with professional calm. They moved fast through the service corridor, the woman constantly checking angles, keeping Olivia’s head low where the air was clearer.
“Breathe through your sleeve,” she ordered, her own voice muffled by what sounded like a filter mask.
They reached a metal door marked “Emergency Exit.” The woman paused, listening, then pushed it open with her shoulder, gun ready.
They burst through the emergency exit. The bitter cold air hit Olivia’s face like a slap. She gulped it gratefully, smoke burning its way out of her lungs. Fat snowflakes drifted through the yellow security lights of the parking lot, already coating the asphalt in white.
Through streaming eyes, Olivia saw the parking lot had become a scene of controlled chaos. Conference attendees huddled in groups, many doubled over coughing, others helping the elderly to sit on curbs, shivering in the falling snow while paramedics, both on and off-duty, distributed blankets and oxygen masks. Red and blue lights swept across the scene as more emergency vehicles screamed into the lot, sirens wailing.
Security guards were trying to direct the flow of people away from the smoke pouring out the doors. A fire truck’shorn blasted as it tried to clear a path through the dispersing crowd.
“Olivia!”
Axel’s voice cut through the chaos. As Olivia blinked smoke from her eyes, she saw her security team emerging from their positions among the evacuees. They moved with practiced efficiency, weapons held low but ready. Zara near a cluster of students. Kenji by the ambulance. Ronan blending in with the center security—all of them smoothly repositioning to cover her. Axel stepped forward from beside a police cruiser, his breath clouding in the frigid air as his eyes locked onto the woman still holding Olivia’s arm.
The woman didn’t flinch at the subtle convergence of armed protection around them. She kept her position shielding Olivia, her posture alert but non-threatening as snowflakes gathered in her dark hair.
She didn’t raise her weapon, but Olivia felt her tense, ready to move. Snow gathered in her dark hair as she kept herself between Olivia and any potential threat—including Olivia’s own team.
“Easy,” the woman said, her voice calm despite the multiple weapons pointed at her. “If I wanted her dead, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
“Step away from Dr. Kane,” Axel commanded. His breath formed white clouds in the freezing air.
“Can’t do that.” Snow continued to fall, muffling the sounds around them. “Not until I’m sure she’s safe. And right now, we’re all exposed out here.”
“Down!” the woman shouted suddenly, her eyes fixed on something beyond the chaos of evacuees.
Through the swirling snow, Olivia saw what had triggered the warning—dark figures moving with purpose through the crowd of coughing conference attendees. Not panicked civilians. Not first responders. Hunters.
