Rex glanced at Mara, and Olive’s muscles tightened. She remembered them whispering earlier.
What weren’t they saying?
Mara stepped forward. “The truth is that Warren is former CIA. We bought this place and added the room. Then we spread the word throughout our network, knowing how needed safe houses were.”
Olive’s mouth dropped open. “What?”
Rex nodded. “It’s true. I didn’t know Warren personally, but I’d heard about him. I booked this place because of his reputation. I had no idea I’d need the safe room.”
Was that what those whispered conversations had been about?
“And that’s why you’re not that worried about Warren?” Olive murmured. “You know he knows how to handle himself.”
Mara nodded. “Exactly—but that’s not to say I’m not a little worried.”
Olive remembered the staircase in the hidden room. “You’ve been bringing Michael food, haven’t you? There must be a secret door in your suite that leads to the hidden room. That’s how Michael was getting downstairs to use the bathroom when he needed to, isn’t it?”
Guilt flooded Mara’s face. “The entrance is hidden in our closet. It’s come in handy—not just in situations like this, but we’ve hidden others in danger. Women escaping abuse, witnesses who needed to hide before trials. We had the place revamped when we bought it.”
Clever, Olive mused.
The wind howled outside, rattling the glass panes.
At once, the warmth of the fire felt oppressive, like the air itself was closing in.
Things were suddenly making more sense.
But Olive still wasn’t sure who the killer was. Someone in this room?
Or was someone else hiding in this house?
CHAPTER
TWENTY-ONE
Rex’s voicecut through the low murmur in the room, command mode re-engaged. “All right, if we’re going to make it through being snowed in here, we need to stay on guard, unified, and organized.”
Unified? That would be hard, Olive mused, considering the fact Rex had been keeping secrets that had put them all in danger—and gotten JJ killed.
Everyone fell silent, eyes on him. The fire snapped in the hearth, shadows dancing across strained faces.
“Jason, Olive,” Rex continued. “Do a perimeter check. Make sure all doors and windows are still locked. See if anything’s been tampered with.”
Jason nodded once. “On it.”
“Tevin.” Rex turned to him. “See if you can get any kind of signal yet—radio, cell, shortwave, anything.”
Tevin gave a mock salute, though his face was pale. “I’ll tap into my inner MacGyver.”
“Trick,” Rex said next. “You stay with Michael. Don’t let him out of your sight.”
Trick leaned back against the mantel. “Babysitting duty. Got it.”
“He’s going to get me sick . . .” Michael murmured.
“Mitzi, Nova—you keep the fire going. Last thing we need is to freeze to death on top of everything else.”
“I may have a broken arm, but I’m still capable of helping do things,” Mitzi muttered.
