the counter and pulled out a pad and a pencil, then set them on the counter.
Samara ran her fingers along the inside of the first book cover and nodded. “I understand now.”
After ripping a page from the pad, she pressed the paper over the inside of the cover. Then she turned the pencil sideways and rubbed until letters appeared.
“What do these novels have to do with anything?” Samara asked. “What do they mean?”
“Each of the twelve paperbacks holds one word of a thirteen-word passcode to open cryptocurrency holding money I took from one of Simon’s operations—the money actually belonged to Malcom Fox. I think that’s why Simon was killed.”
That made sense. Zoey hadn’t killed him, at least directly.
Samara finished getting the impressions and ordering the words based on the order of the books in the Benedict Jaynes adventure series. She read them off. “Jackhammer, battle, guardian, use, stormy, grande, and ready.”
“But that’s only seven,” Zoey said. “I need one more.”
Oh no. “Rae took one of them.”
“Not good. We’ll have to get our hands on that book for the password. I hold the last one in my head. I’ll give them the passwords, all except for the last one, if they will release her. I’m going to make contact now.” And she hung up.
He wasn’t in on all this cryptocurrency stuff and hoped Zoey knew what she was doing.
“Don’t worry,” Samara said. “She’s always been weirdly brilliant.”
He nodded. “So, she’s making contact and going to offer leverage to free Rae. We don’t even know who has her.” And if this wasn’t Malcom’s doing, then Liam could very well have signed Zoey’s death certificate. He fought that familiar nausea.
God, what path do I take? Which one was the right one? Only a few days ago he’d prayed for God to open doors. They’d all blown up.
But now he needed only one door. The right door to take him to Rae. Before he took the first step to fly in the face of Malcom’s threats, he needed to call Kelvin to see if he’d made any progress securing his family’s safety.
Just like he’d given the code to Kelvin, Heath and Austin would both know what his text meant when no one else would.
Liam had to know. “Ivan, can I use your cell phone?”
Ivan scrunched his face and handed it over. “Sure.”
Liam didn’t know if Ivan’s phone was also compromised, given his proximity to the situation, but it was all he had, and Liam had to know if his family was safe. He’d trusted Kelvin to make things happen for him.
He texted his brothers in a group.
How’s the fishing?
He hoped the message got out since the weather could mess with the cell signals.
Samara spread out a large map on the counter. Frowning, she shook her head. “In two hours, it’s going to be a whiteout. It’s dark. You can’t do this. You’re going to get lost or killed.”
Ivan put his hand on Liam’s shoulder. “If she’s there, no one else is getting in or out until the storm has passed.”
“What? You expect me to leave her there until the storm passes?” Liam’s heart was already in his throat.
He thought back to their earlier phone conversation with Zoey. Her words would haunt him for the rest of his life. “But people like me or Rae, if we get in the way, which probably isn’t that often, we’re used . . . then disposed of.”
“I have to go. I have to try. I grew up in this country. I’ve been out in blizzards before.” Barefooted and running from an angry father. If Rae was even there, she might not be alone, and Liam couldn’t bear to think what could be happening to her. Tomorrow could be too late.
His phone buzzed.
Heath had texted.
Fishing was bad, really bad, until we found ourselves a nice, quiet fishing hole.
Liam breathed a sigh of relief.
Austin replied shortly after with a similar message.
Next Liam texted Kelvin since he depended on him to protect Evelyn.
How’s the fishing?
The fishing is great. It’s the best ice fishing I’ve done in a while.
They were all safe then.
All except Rae.
“I’m going with you,” Ivan said. “I have a cousin who lives off-grid out there somewhere. He goes by Chuck. No one knows his real name or about his existence there, except for a few people, including me. He isn’t that far from this place. We could stop there and maybe hike in. Snowmobiles are out back. I have the trailer to haul them.”