The recording ended.
For several seconds, the only sound in the room was the faint hum of Oliver’s computer.
“He knows we decoded Doyle’s message,” Nora said.
“He knew we would,” Evie replied.
“No. He said we discovered the truth about the fire. Ortiz cut us off before we solved it. Only Lucy and the people in this room knew we continued investigating.”
Oliver looked at the attachments. “Unless he’s monitoring our email, our phones or the house.”
“Can you trace where the message came from?”
“I can try, but if he built this the same way he built the others, it’ll take longer than thirty minutes.”
Evie reached for her coat.
Nora caught her arm. “We haven’t listened to the routes.”
“Then play them.”
“He wants us to identify the landmarks,” Oliver said.
“And then follow them in order,” Evie replied.
Nora unfolded the map attached to the email. Dozens of Ashwick landmarks covered it—parks, businesses, public buildings and gathering places scattered across downtown.
Oliver compared the recordings to the map. “The routes move in different directions. If we choose the wrong one, we’ll be on the opposite side of the city when the clock runs out.”
“So we don’t choose,” Evie said. “We split up.”
Oliver looked at her. “No.”
“It’s the only way to cover all three.”
“It’s exactly what he wants us to do.”
“Probably.”
“Not probably. He designed three routes that cannot be completed by one group, gave us a deadline and explicitly told us to choose. He wants us separated.”
Nora studied the map. “He could be waiting at the end of one of them.”
“He could be,” Oliver said. “Or none of the routes leads anywhere, and this is only meant to get us out of the house.”
Evie glanced toward the curtained windows.
“That doesn’t mean we can ignore it.”
“It means we should stop and think before doing precisely what he told us to do.”
“We have five days left,” Evie snapped. “Claire has been gone for almost a month, and this is the first thing he has offered that might lead us to her.”
“Might,” Oliver repeated. “He said it may bring us closer. That could mean anything.”
“And if one of those routes leads to the place he’s holding her?”
“It won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, I don’t. That’s the problem.”
Evie looked between them. “I know it could be a trap. I know he wants us to separate. But if we stay here because we’re afraid of what he might do, the thirty minutes expire and we lose whatever chance he gave us.”
“Or we refuse to let him control where we go,” Oliver said.
“And then what? We spend another day reading the same files while Claire waits for us to find her?”
Oliver flinched.
Evie immediately regretted it, but there was no time to take the words back.
Nora picked up the map. “We stay on the phone the entire time. We share our locations, and if anyone sees anything wrong, we stop.”
Oliver shook his head. “I still hate it.”
“So do I,” Nora said. “But she’s right. We can’t risk choosing the wrong route.”
Evie separated the three recordings. “I’ll take Route One. Nora takes Route Two. Oliver takes Route Three.”
“We’ll meet back here as soon as we finish,” Nora said. “Thirty minutes. No detours.”
Oliver stared at the map for another moment.
Then he reached for his keys.
“This is a terrible idea.”
“Yes,” Evie said. “But it’s the one we have.”
Oliver forwarded one recording to each of their phones. Three timers waited beneath the files, ready to begin.
They stood together in the entryway while Nora opened the group call and confirmed that their locations were visible. Oliver checked the locks before stepping outside.
“Stay on the line,” he said. “No muting yourselves. No wandering off route. If anything feels wrong—”
“We stop,” Evie finished.
Oliver looked at her. “I was going to say we call the police.”
“We stop and call the police.”
“Thank you.”
They separated in the driveway. Nora hurried toward her car while Evie opened the first recording on her phone. Oliver remained beside the front door, his apprehension written plainly across his face.
For one second, Evie nearly called the whole thing off.
Then she thought of Claire.
She pressed START.