The decision to take a back road had been Tom’s. He didn’t think DJ would risk sticking to the interstate. This road was the fastest way north other than I-5, and it cut through Yuba City, where DJ had owned a home. He’d be familiar with this road.

Tom wanted to snarl, but she was right. “Okay. Give me scenarios.”

“I will. But first, be straight with me. Is Liza your ‘friend’ or more?”

“More.” His voice broke and he had to clear his throat. “Everything.”

“Honest again.” Croft rubbed her temples. “You shouldn’t be here, Tom. Why are we here?”

“Because I’d go all by myself anyway, and at least you’re here with me to keep me from doing something stupid and clusterfuckish?”

“Fair enough. Scenario one: We can’t find Eden.”

No. His brain couldn’t accept it as a possibility. But it was valid, nonetheless. “We keep looking. I keep looking.”

She sighed. “You’ll give up your career to keep looking? Because after this, you’re not going to be allowed within a light-year of anything Eden.”

“Yes. I might have already given up my career anyway.”

“You’re not wrong,” Croft murmured. “Damn, kid. I was getting used to you, too.”

He really didn’t give a fuck, but he wasn’t going to disrespect her. “What’s scenario two?”

“I’ll throw you a softball. You find Eden, and Liza is there, but DJ has dynamite.”

“Attempt hostage negotiations. Protect the innocents. Bring snipers in to take him down.”

“That’s a good start. Scenario three: You get there and Liza’s not there, but DJ is and he won’t tell you where she is.”

“But she’s alive,” Tom gritted out.

“Yes.”

“Offer him the fifty mil. We could have taken it at any time. We didn’t for the same reason that we never mentioned Eden to the media—they would have known we were after them.”

“What? I mean, I knew you could have taken it, but you’d give it to him?”

“No. I’d offer it to him. There are lots of ways to do what appears to be a money transfer.”

“Huh. That’s actually not a horrible idea.”

“Thank you,” he said dryly, then braced himself. “And scenario four?”

“She’s dead,” Croft said quietly.

A wave of nausea hit him hard. “No.”

“Then pull over, because you don’t belong in this car.”

Tom gripped the wheel tighter. “Then I retract my answer and take the Fifth.”

She sighed. “That’s what I thought. You should drive faster.”

He was already driving twenty over the limit with his flashers going, but he sped up. “Which back roads will take us up to Lassen?” he asked. “And when do I have to choose a route?”

Croft checked her phone. “You’ve got till Oroville. Either you stay on this road and come at the caves from the west or cut across at Chico and approach from the east. Either way, there’s no easy way to get there from anywhere, and the thought that we’ll pass DJ on the way is like a fucking needle in a haystack.”