“Yes.”
“When?”
Daniel looked away.
Olivia noticed.
“You knew.”
Ryan turned sharply.
“Daniel?”
Daniel rubbed his forehead.
“Ryan—”
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Daniel looked at Olivia.
Then toward Miller.
Miller had become completely still beside the timer.
Olivia felt the pieces shift once more.
Ryan had always appeared to represent everything Forty-Two was designed to reject.
Arrogant.
Dominating.
Obsessed with his reputation.
The kind of officer who mocked someone he thought weaker.
Except—
He had accepted Daniel’s disappearance without exposing the investigation.
He had spent months pretending not to care.
He had willingly risked public humiliation because a missing friend had left instructions.
He had never retaliated against Olivia after losing.
And when he thought Shaw might be responsible, his anger had not been about his own career.
It had been about seven strangers.
Olivia looked at him.
“The gym.”
Ryan’s expression tightened.
“What about it?”
“Why did you really provoke me?”
“I told you. Reyes said—”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Why the performance?”
Ryan glanced toward Daniel.
Daniel gave one small nod.
Ryan exhaled.
“Because Mercer was watching.”
Olivia froze.
“What?”
“The visiting officer near the wall.”
“Mercer wasn’t there.”
“No.”
Ryan looked up toward the observation window.
“She was upstairs.”
Olivia remembered.
A faint reflection behind the glass.
Somebody moving.
Ryan continued.
“Daniel told me Mercer monitored candidates she suspected might be connected to Forty-Two. If I acted like I already knew who you were, she would know we were working together.”
“So you acted like an idiot.”
“I have range.”
“Why the takedown?”
Ryan gave a faint smile.
“I hoped you would stop at humiliating me.”
Olivia almost laughed.
Then she saw Daniel watching her.
Something still remained unsaid.
“What?”
Daniel reached into his pocket.
He withdrew a folded piece of paper.
“I was told to give you this only after Mercer was arrested.”
Olivia unfolded it.
Another note from Vance.
One sentence.
THE PERSON WHO PLACED YOUR NAME ON THE BOARD WAS NOT RYAN.
Olivia slowly looked up.
Ryan frowned.
“What?”
“You said you changed the pairing.”
“I did.”
“To place me against you?”
“Yes.”
Olivia read the message again.
“No.”
She looked toward the electronic pairing board.
Memory replayed in her head.
Ryan’s explanation.
He changed the pairing.
Miller later checked it.
Shaw’s double entered afterward.
Mercer.
Olivia walked toward the board.
“Daniel.”
“Yeah?”
“Who was Ryan originally paired with?”
Daniel looked confused.
Miller answered.
“Staff Sergeant Kelley.”
“And when Ryan edited it?”
Miller thought.
“He changed Kelley to Grant.”
Olivia turned.
“Did he?”
Ryan stepped closer.
“I typed your name myself.”
Olivia looked directly at him.
“What exactly did you type?”
“Grant.”
“First name?”
“No.”
“Personnel number?”
“No.”
“Just Grant?”
“Yes.”
Olivia’s stomach dropped.
She moved to the pairing system.
Search directory.
GRANT.
Three archived entries appeared.
Olivia M. Grant.
Samuel Grant.
Rebecca Grant.
The system should have required an identifier.
Unless the pairing had already been preloaded.
Ryan had not placed Olivia into the match.
He had only selected a name someone had already inserted.
Daniel understood at the same moment.
“Oh, no.”
Miller said, “Mercer.”
Olivia shook her head.
“No.”
Mercer had entered afterward.
She had changed something, but she had not created the original pairing.
Shaw appeared again in the doorway.
“What is it?”
Olivia turned toward her.
“Who created my temporary training profile?”
Shaw frowned.
“Administration.”
“Who exactly?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
Miller was already working at the terminal.
His face changed.
“That’s impossible.”
“What?”
“The profile was created fourteen months ago.”
Ryan stared at him.
“She got here three days ago.”
“I know.”
Olivia felt the entire gym disappear around her.