Page 73 of Under Fire in Big Sky

Hesitating, Eli glanced between them. “What if he isn’t?” he said, and everyone gave him a weird look. “I know it sounds bonkers. But this is all connected to Aegis. Birds of prey. And Autumn, it’s like you said, Olivia wasn’t scared. She wanted to go, needed to meet Shepherd. She gave me a clue associated with the Raptor Refuge. Then she shouted something that ends in ree. Like Osprey. I think she was trying to tell me Shepherd is Sean Gannon. It’d explain why he wanted a parley. When they worked together, he was in love with her. He would want to recruit her, not hurt her. It’d also explain why the invitation wasn’t extended to me. Sean hates me.”

No one said anything as they shifted their gaze away from him. Except for Autumn. She was considering the idea.

“Do you think I’m losing it?” Eli asked.

Takoda frowned. “I think you’re grasping at straws.”

“You’re desperate,” Chance said. “We get it.”

Autumn stared at him. “How did Gannon supposedly die?”

“In an explosion. He planted a bomb in a server room. Got locked in.” Guilt gnawed at Olivia every day over it, not being able to get Sean out of that room, being the one to survive.

“So, he’s familiar with handling explosives,” Autumn said, and Eli nodded. “What do you know about him? Where is he from?”

“He comes from money. Former military, but he didn’t discuss with me what he did in the Army. I assumed he was prior intel, like Olivia, but he could’ve been in Special Forces. He had that vibe about him.” Eli found it difficult to put into words. Once you’d been around the type enough, they sort of stood out.

“Cagey,” Takoda said. “A coiled readiness to him. Like he was always on alert. Prepared for anything. Dangerous.”

“Yeah.” Eli nodded. “At the time, I chalked it up to him being an Aegis operative, but what if it was more than that? Oh, and he’s from here. Montana.”

Autumn looked at Chance and Tak. “Eli might be onto something.”

“Okay, even if he is, how do we prove a dead guy is really alive?” Chance asked. “How does that help us get any closer to finding Olivia?”

Sighing, Eli crossed his arms. Chance had a point. Even if Sean was indeed alive, proving it wouldn’t help them find Liv. “What did Orson say?”

“The hacker is willing to do it,” Chance said. “For an exorbitant fee. Depending on the level of encryption that Aegis uses, it could take anywhere from twelve to seventy-two hours.”

Three days was far too long to wait.

“You can’t seriously still be thinking about giving Shepherd the list,” Autumn said.

In a way, Eli had no choice. “I won’t endanger other covert operatives. But I’m going to make Shepherd believe that I got the list.”

“How?” Takoda asked.

“I’ll wait an acceptable amount of time. Twelve to twenty-four hours.” Enough to make it feel plausible. “Then I’ll reach out through the chat room. Tell him I got it.”

Autumn tapped her finger on the rim of her cup. “What are you going to say when he asks how you pulled it off?”

“I’ll tell him I paid a hacker to do it for me.”

“And then?” Chance asked.

“This time we set a trap for him instead of falling into one.”

Chapter Sixteen

The hours dragged on, with day blending into night and fading into late Sunday morning. Olivia had only been unshackled from the bed to use the bathroom. At gunpoint and handcuffed to a woman, a lovely brunette named Paige, while another armed person waited in the hall. Then she was hauled back to the bedroom, where Sean continued trying to break her. Persuade her to share his perspective. Reminding her what a good team they used to make.

Slowly, she’d pretended to yield through honesty. Admitted Aegis didn’t protect the innocent or care about justice, only covering for their high-paying clients. To her surprise, she’d come to realize a future working for Aegis was no longer possible. She wanted to get back to doing the right thing, for the right reasons, with every single assignment. No more helping the Chip Whitneys of the world, safeguarding their filthy secrets and doing their dirty work.

Maybe by tonight, she could convince Sean she’d join his cause. If only to reduce the loss of life. That he might believe.

An armed guard passed her window, glancing in the room. Every five minutes, even at night, someone took a gander at her. Unless Sean was in the room. Even if she had a weapon or some way to unlock the handcuffs, she wouldn’t have made it far.

Her gaze fell to the prenatal vitamins on top of the nightstand. The bottle had been the only thing in the top drawer, where he’d expected her to look. Every move of his was manipulative and Machiavellian.