Page 57 of No Hope of Rescue

“Did you see anything? Hear anything?”

She shakes her head.

“What was in the room with you?”

“It was a kid’s bedroom, with like rocket covers or something. They had put the massive thing in the corner.” Glancing up, she looks at Trent, and for the first time, she doesn’t seem scared to talk. “I don’t know how to describe it.” She uses her hands and spreads them as wide as she can. “Whatever it was, it was huge, like a big block of concrete or something. It was wrapped all in paper and strapping tape. They used a dolly—those handcart things—to get it in.”

Trent leans back and nods to Brock. “Exactly what we’re looking for. That,” he says, leaning forward and putting a hand on her knee, “is a T-Rex skull worth quite a bit of money, missing for nearly five years. Anything else, Codie?”

She shakes her head. “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

“And then you escaped?”

“Yeah. They untied me so I could use the bathroom again, and I crawled out a window. I don’t really remember much about it, though.” She is very convincing. I just hope Brock doesn’t try to correct the story. It’s not what I just told him in the kitchen.

“But you took an artifact.”

“I did?”

“Well, this?” Trent sets the piece on the coffee table next to him.

Her surprise is genuine. “If I took it, I don’t remember.”

“It’s okay,” he says, his voice soft. “You’re in shock. Hey. If it’s okay with you, I might stop by here tomorrow after you’ve rested up. I don’t want to stress you out too much.”

“How long are you going to be here?”

Trent’s answer is clearly for all of us: “Until I wrap this up.”

He stands and Brock sees him to the door. “I’m just glad you two are safe,” Trent says with a nod to Codie. He claps a hand on Brock’s shoulder and says something to him before letting himself out.

We all watch the agent disappear around the corner. In a moment, a white Toyota rental zooms by.

“Well. That was stressful. How are you doing?” Ross asks Codie.

“We need to tell them now, Codie,” I say, reaching into my back pocket.

“Tell us what?”

I can’t look at Brock’s face. “We have a problem.” I set the burner phone on the coffee table right where the artifact sat minutes ago.

΅

Brock wipes a hand over his eyes. “I don’t understand. You’ve had this since the hospital?” The three of us are clustered in the kitchen, whispering so we don’t keep Codie awake.

“I thought it was a boyfriend thing.” I’m not about to apologize.

“When were you going to tell me?”

“I was going to tell you when I walked through the door, but there was an FBI agent in the room. I didn’t want to—”

“Yeah, I get it.” Brock sighs. “You wanted to check with me first.”

“Right.”