Page 38 of Deadly Hope
“Gets better.” Zara pulled up more data points. “October:Power outage cancelled a meeting with a new client who, in retrospect, had suspicious credentials.”
“And the tinkering with my car,” Olivia added. “As if they wanted me to be aware they’re around and they could get to me any time.”
“Which doesn’t make sense if they meant you harm,” Axel added. “Why give you so many warnings?”
Deke’s eyes glittered. “Seems to me they’ve been escalating, pushing you to seek protection, almost.”
“Someone’s been watching you,” Axel said to Olivia. “Someone with resources. Technical expertise. Access to systems that shouldn’t be accessible.”
“Military?” she asked quietly.
“Or intelligence community.” He studied the pattern of interventions. “Someone who’s been protecting you. Until now.”
“Why stop?” Kenji asked the question they were all thinking.
Axel took another sip of coffee, but his mind was already spinning through scenarios, each more concerning than the last. “Maybe they haven’t stopped. Maybe this is just the next phase of the operation.”
“What operation?” Olivia’s voice held a mix of frustration and fear that made his protective instincts surge.
“That,” he said, “is exactly what we need to find out. Walk me through a typical day. Every detail, no matter how small.”
Olivia stared up at the ceiling. “Morning run at six, always the same path through Miller Park. Coffee at Urban Grind, then …”
“What is it?” Axel asked.
“The barista at Urban Grind,” she said slowly. “Sarah. She always works morning shift, knows my order before I walk in ...”
“Coffee shop has direct sightline to your office entrance.” He drew another line. “And I’m guessing Sarah never takes vacation days.”
“Not in two years.” Olivia sank into a chair. “How could I not have noticed?”
Kenji pulled up security camera feeds. “Look at this coverage pattern. Professional setup, but there are gaps. Specific ones.”
“Blind spots,” Axel confirmed. “Carefully created ones. Giving someone room to maneuver without being seen.” He turned to Olivia. “They’ve had eyes on you for years. Multiple positions, rotating teams probably.”
“But why?” Her voice caught. “Why now? James has been dead for three years. If this connects to him, to whatever he was trying to warn me about ...”
“The pings on his account stopped when the surveillance on you intensified,” Zara noted. “Like someone shifted strategies.”
“Or like something changed.” Axel considered the pattern. “Your brother’s death, the surveillance, the protective interventions—they’re all connected. But something triggered this escalation. What made your shadow protector decide watching wasn’t enough anymore?”
“You think they orchestrated the attack?” Kenji asked. “To push her into protective custody?”
“To Knight Tactical specifically,” Axel said quietly.
Snow pelted the windows as they all absorbed the idea. Someone had been protecting Olivia for years, someone with military connections to her brother. Someone who’d chosen this exact moment to force her hand.
“They’re not just protecting you anymore,” he said. “They’re moving pieces on a board. And we’re all part of their game.” He glanced at the snow-filled windows, then back at the Swiss bank details on Zara’s screen. “Storm willhem us in for a while. Twenty-four hours to plan a trip to Switzerland. Whatever’s in that safety deposit box, someone’s gone to a lot of trouble to make sure we’re the ones who find it.”
The question was: What were they meant to discover?
20
Forty-eight hours after the snowstorm,the elegant Italian city, Lugano, struck Olivia as almost offensively beautiful. The December morning sparkled with contradictions—palm trees swaying against snow-capped Alps, Italian architecture bleeding into Swiss precision, Mediterranean warmth battling mountain chill. Her jet-lagged brain struggled to process the fairy-tale setting while maintaining operational awareness, a phrase she’d picked up from two days of intensive prep with the team.
“Visual on northwest corner,” Griff’s voice murmured through her earpiece. “Clear lines on main approach and both exits.”
“Copy that,” Axel responded softly beside her, his hand barely touching her elbow as they strolled past shops displaying watches worth more than her condo. He wore his tactical expertise as comfortably as his tailored suit, projecting wealthy American tourist vibes while scanning for threats.
