> Location: Restricted (mountain safe house).
Olive’s breath caught.
Target secure? Mountain safe house?
She scrolled further, her heart pounding harder.
> Subject under protective detail until trial. Threat level: critical.
> Maintain secrecy at all costs.
> If compromised, initiate secondary containment.
Her stomach turned. “Containment?”
Jason turned toward her, concern etched across his face. “What do you think that means?”
She tilted the screen toward him. “Project Frostbite—it said ‘mountain safe house.’ It has to be referring to this place.”
Jason leaned closer, eyes scanning the text. “So JJ was running a safe house out of this inn? Maybe he was hiding here—and only Rex knew about it.”
“Rex did tell Tevin that he feared there was a mole here. Maybe JJ was the mole—and maybe that got him killed.”
“Since he’s dead, I guess he can’t tell us.”
“And this target he mentioned?” Olive asked. “Could the target be one of us?”
“If that’s true, then why was JJ killed? It sounds like he was in on it.”
Silence stretched as they contemplated what they’d learned.
Olive tried to scroll again, but the screen flickered—once, twice—and went black.
Her battery was already dead.
Finally, Olive exhaled. “I think there’s one thing we can know for sure: Someone killed JJ to protect this secret. And that secret is still somewhere in this house.”
By the time Olive and Jason returned downstairs, the great room had softened into a fragile calm. The fire glowed steady, shadows flickering across rough-hewn beams. Someone—probably Warren—had added more wood, and the scent of cinnamon and smoke lingered in the air.
Olive had changed into a worn gray sweatshirt, her hair loose, another pair of wool socks pulled over her first pair. The heat from the flames barely touched the chill still coiled inside her.
Everyone had gathered near the hearth, drawn to the illusion of safety the fire offered. Mara moved among them with a tray of the gingerbread bars she’d baked, the icing glistening in the firelight.
“They’re best while they’re warm—but unfortunately, that’s not an option right now.” Mara’s voice sounded gentle, though the tremor in it betrayed how shaken she still was.
Olive accepted a square and murmured her thanks. The flavor was perfect—molasses and spice, comfort wrapped in sweetness. But the treat turned heavy on her tongue.
She couldn’t stop her thoughts from circling back to the same facts: the open window, the missing body, the secret project on that drive.
She thought about asking Rex about Project Frostbite, but another part of her wanted to hold that information close. Her gut would tell her the right time to reveal it.
Across the room, Tevin cleared his throat. “Okay, we need to lighten things up before we all start jumping at our own shadows. So—who’s everyone spending Christmas with this year? What are your plans?”
Olive almost smiled. Leave it to Tevin to reach for normalcy in the middle of chaos.
“I’m heading to Minnesota,” Trick said. “My sister’s got three kids under six. It’s loud, but at least the cookies and milk never run out.”
“Hopefully she has some cold medicine she can give you too . . .” Mitzi murmured.
