Another cold prickle traveled down Olive’s spine. One mole could topple an entire operation.
“So they put me in a temporary safe house,” Michael continued. “It wasn’t official witness protection—just a holding pattern while they figured out how deep Winterlight’s reach went. I thought I’d be safe there.”
The haunted look in his eyes said how wrong he’d been.
“Last week, men showed up.” His voice thinned. “Winterlight found us. They killed the agents assigned to guard me. I barely made it out.”
The room seemed to shrink around them.
Olive had seen the pattern too many times—leaks, blood, silence, repeat.
Michael reached into his jacket and pulled out a battered business card. Rex’s. “One of the agents told me that if everything went sideways, I should call him. So I did. And here I am.”
A beat of heavy quiet fell, the reality settling over them like frost. Winterlight wasn’t just hunting him.
They needed him alive.
And they were closing in.
Nova pressed a hand to her heart. “This place might look like a Hallmark set, but it’s no Hallmark movie . . .”
Mitzi turned to Rex, her eyes flashing. “When were you going to tell us this?”
“Only when it became absolutely necessary.”
Mitzi shrugged, obviously not liking that answer.
“Did you kill JJ?” Trick asked.
“Kill someone?” Michael’s eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head. “No, I didn’t kill anyone. I’ve locked myself in that room since I got here. I knew better than to leave. My goal is to stay alive.”
A heavy silence settled again.
Olive studied Michael’s face. Sincerity stretched there, but so did something else—fear buried under exhaustion.
She believed most of what he’d said. The rest . . . she wasn’t sure.
The fire popped again, throwing sparks up the flue.
Olive’s stomach knotted.
JJ dead. Power line cut. Warren missing. A man hiding in a secret room. Project Frostbite.
She didn’t believe in coincidence. JJ’s death had to be connected with Michael being here. Most likely, so did Warren’s disappearance.
Jason glanced at Rex. “Did you tell anyone you were coming here? Was there a paper trail? GPS? Anything?”
“No,” Rex said. “I was careful and used burner phones. There are no digital records.”
“What about that mysterious trip you took to the store?” Olive asked. “The one where you came back empty-handed.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “I knew I made a mistake when you asked about that earlier. The truth is, I had to check in with my contact at the FBI. I went off-site to do so. I intended to buy something to keep up my cover story, but the roads got too bad.”
“If all of this is true, then how did someone find out Michael is here?” Olive’s mind whirled as she tried to put together the pieces.
Michael looked up, meeting her eyes. “I have no idea.”
Olive turned to Rex. “Why did you pick this location? How did you even know about the secret room?”
