“At the hospital,” Alexander responded. “Visiting Kiera.”

“Did you send Carter or anyone with her?” She tried to keep her inquiry casual, not wanting to key him in on why she was prying.

He looked up from the desk and glared at his sister, certain that she was keeping something from him. “What’s going on? Why do you care? Do you know something?”

Carol returned her attention to the box in front of her, trying to avoid eye contact with her brother. “No. Of course not. It’s not even my case,” she said quickly.

Alexander got up from his chair and stalked across the room. He stopped in front of the desk she sat at and leaned toward her. “You know you’re a terrible liar. Tell me what you know.”

“Alex, please…” She raised her eyes and met his.

“Carol, we already know that there’s some sort of threat against her life in regards to this evidence box that could be anywhere. Whatever you know can’t be worse than that.”

She took a deep breath. “The crime scene techs may have found something at Kiera’s that involved Olivia, and I may have shown it to her.”

“To who?! Olivia?!” Alexander raised his voice.

Carol cringed, surprised by his anger. “Don’t you shout at me! Someone was bound to talk to her about it! I figured it should probably be me!”

“What was this something, Carol?” he asked through clenched teeth.

She reached down into her purse and produced her cell phone. She scrolled through it and found the photo of the evidence bag containing the letter that she had shown to Olivia the previous day.

Taking the phone, Alexander squinted his eyes to make out the scribbling on the piece of paper in the photo.

We know who you are. Your loved ones are no longer safe unless you give us what we want. Consider yourself warned, Olivia.

“Shit! What does this mean?!” he asked, his heart thumping in his chest. His eyes searched hers for an answer.

Carol exhaled loudly, taking back her phone. “I think it means exactly what it says,” she responded dejectedly. “These guys are now going after everyone close to Olivia to draw her out.”

“FUCK!” Alexander shouted, running out of the room and up the stairs to his office.

“ALEX! WAIT!” Carol shouted after him, following close behind. “Don’t do anything stupid!”

“Are you listening to yourself, Carol?! You’re asking me to not do anything stupid?! The time for not doing anything stupid is so long past! Do you know what Olivia is probably thinking at this exact moment?! I was ready to tell her about everything, but now I can’t!”

“What are you talking about? Why?”

“Don’t you see? Once she knows what these people are after, she’ll sacrifice herself to save her friends. That’s who she is. I can’t lose her again!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

GONE

“ALEX,” MO SAID, JUMPING up when he saw him running through the glass doors of the hospital into the waiting area, his expression panicked. “Everything okay?”

“Where is she, Mo?”

“Who? Livvy?”

“Yes!” he answered frantically, his eyes scanning the hospital corridors. “Is she with Kiera?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. Carter’s in there with her. She just wanted some time alone with her.”

Alexander exhaled loudly, his momentary panic waning slightly as he turned to head toward the ICU.

“Alex, wait a second.”

“What?” he growled, spinning around.

Mo raised his eyebrows, wondering why he was so insistent on finding Olivia. “Listen,” he said calmly, hoping that he would relax. “I know things have been off lately between you and Livvy…and the rest of us, really. I’m saying this right now as her friend and not yours.” He took a deep breath before continuing, meeting his eyes and giving him an icy stare. “You better get your shit together. Stop trying to protect her by keeping information from her. She’s been lied to by everyone, including you, her entire life. You’d better tell her whatever you’re keeping from her or you’ll lose her, and I doubt you’ll get her back again. She’s giving you a second chance right now. Don’t fuck it up. I know she said that she wasn’t ready to hear what you have to say, but I’m pretty sure you weren’t going to tell her the whole story anyway. You better tell her about her past. All of it.”

Alexander listened to Mo’s words as he spoke, torn about what to do. If he told her, he risked her remembering and sacrificing herself for the sake of her friends. If he didn’t tell her, he risked her walking away again. Either way, he’d lose her, but at least in one scenario, she would still be safe. “I’m not sure I can do that, Mo. I’m sorry…” He lowered his head in defeat as he ran down the corridor toward Kiera’s room.

~~~~~~~~~~

OLIVIA SAT CLUTCHING HER friend’s hand, hoping that the doctors would be able to bring her out of the coma soon. “I hate not being able to talk to you, Care Bear. I hate that all of this has happened to you.” A tear fell down her cheek. “I hate that this is all my fault.”

A beep sounded from her phone and she looked down in her lap to see a blocked call coming through. Assuming it was Alexander calling from his office line, she picked up.

“Hello, Mr. Burnham,” she said in a sultry voice. “Looking forward to oysters tonight.”

“That’s nice, Libby,” a strange voice sneered. “But you may want to cancel your plans.”

Her eyes grew wide in shock, the greeting she received on the other line completely unexpected. “Who is this?” she asked, standing up from her chair and backing up cautiously.

“That’s not important right now. What is important is that I have your little friend with me.” A scream sounded through the phone. “If you want her to live another day, you need to come to the new boathouse on the Charles. Alone, or she dies. In twenty minutes, or she dies. If anyone follows you, I’ll kill them and the girl. Do you understand?”

Nervous energy coursed through her body and she slowly nodded her head, her voice stuck in her throat.

“I said, do…you…understand?” the voice demanded.

“Yes,” she croaked out. “I understand.”

“Good. Boathouse. Twenty minutes. Alone. Or she dies.”

Olivia hung up, her mind racing about which one of her friends they could have now. Slowly pulling back the door to Kiera’s recovery room, she scanned the hallway.