Page 39 of Cowboy Elite 2: Mike

I'll dig. But Joe, if someone's hunting her hard enough to ping a ranch server in Texas, this isn't amateur hour. Watch your six.

Mike walked into the office, saw his brother behind the desk.

"Tell me," he said.

Joe looked up and turned the laptop so Mike could see the screen.

A file. Olivia Langford's name at the top. And at the bottom, one word in red.

SUPPRESS.

Not locate. Not contact. Not confirm.

Suppress.

Mike stared at the screen for a long time. "What does that mean?"

"It means whoever's looking for her isn't interested in bringing her in for questioning." Joe's voice was flat. Certain. "They want her gone."

The emotion that shot through him was raw and intense. Gone. That wasn’t acceptable. Wasn’t going to happen. Not on his watch.

"Johan's still digging," Joe continued. "But he confirmed the search originated from a private security contractor. The kind that doesn't ask questions and doesn't leave witnesses."

"Yeah. Sounds about right, unfortunately. Liv witnessed an organized crime execution. Trigger guy’s name is Russo. Damian Russo. I don’t imagine they’re the kind of people to leave loose ends in the form of witnesses.”

Joe swore, started typing. “So, we are dealing with mafia.” Mike had mentioned that earlier, but without facts, he hadn’t wanted to assume. And organized crime sects were one of the hardest to trace digitally. “At least we’ve got a name now. Should make things easier.”

“Can you trace the IP computer?”

"Working on it. But these guys are good, Mike. Really good."

Mike scrubbed both hands over his face. "So what do we do?"

"We make sure they can't find her." Joe leaned back in his chair. "And if they do? We make damn sure they regret it."

Mike nodded. "I need to tell her."

"I know."

"She's gonna want to run."

"I know that too."

Mike looked at his brother. "I can't let her go, Joe."

"Then don't."

When Mike walked into the kitchen, he paused. Liv was alone, staring out the window as though she could see through the dark and ward off whatever was coming. He’d passed Heather in the hallway as she was ushering Charlotte to bed.

He didn't say anything at first. Just came up behind Liv, slid his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder. “Hey.”

She flinched and then relaxed. “Hey back.”

They stood like that for a moment. Breathing together.

"You okay?" he asked.

"No. But getting there."