Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            “It’s fine.” She laughed softly, a deep husky sound for which she was famous. “Even if you’d woken me up it would be fine. You saved Mercy’s life today. Gideon and I are grateful.”

            Daisy was Gideon Reynolds’s girlfriend and had inadvertently started the official investigation into Eden when she’d grabbed a locket from the neck of a killer who’d been trying to drag her away. Through the investigation, she and Gideon had connected.

            “I did what any of you would have done.”

            “We’re still grateful. What’s up, Liza?”

            That Daisy got to the point wasn’t a surprise. Their friendship was a cordial one, but not on the same level as Liza and Mercy’s. “It’s Mercy.”

            “What’s wrong? Has DJ tried again?”

            “No, it’s nothing physical,” Liza assured her. “This whole situation is starting to get to her.” She would not share Mercy’s desire to make herself bait. That had been said in confidence. “I know Tom got a few leads today, but everything is still moving too slowly, and Mercy’s going stir-crazy. I was hoping you’d have ideas about a distraction, something she can do that will make her feel like she’s still got some control over this situation.”

            “Like what?” Daisy asked, curious. “A hobby?”

            “I think Mercy’s too intense for that right now. I was thinking more in line with something she can do to contribute to the search for Eden or to prepare for when the people there are finally rescued. Channeling her energy into a positive endeavor might help her right now.”

            Daisy hummed thoughtfully. “Like I’m doing with the escapees.”

            Liza’s brows shot up in surprise. “What escapees?”

            “Well, you know about the Eden tattoos, right?”

            “Yes. Boys get them on their thirteenth birthdays. They’re the official Eden symbol, the children kneeling beneath an olive tree, all beneath the wings of an angel with a flaming sword.”

            “Exactly. I started searching for other people with this tattoo on Instagram, looking for keywords like ‘olive tree,’ ‘children praying,’ and ‘angel with flaming sword.’ ”

            Liza was intrigued. “Oh, wow. Did you find anything?”

            “I did. Initially I found two. One was a close replica. A college kid had copied it from his lover—an escapee who’d taken his own life. That shook Mercy up. The second was exact—and belonged to an escapee both Mercy and Gideon had known. His Eden tattoo had been done in Eden on his thirteenth birthday, but he’d added a tat of a dragon breathing fire, like it was going to destroy it. His name was Judah.”

            Liza winced. “Was?”

            Daisy sighed. “He was killed in a car accident last year. I haven’t told Mercy yet. She’s been so sad, I didn’t want to add to it. Gideon took it hard enough.”

            Liza understood that. “You said you ‘initially’ found two tattoos. Did you find more?”

            “One more, another exact copy, but this one was done by the artist who posted it. The client who got the tattoo isn’t from Eden, as he’d have gotten it there, but he’s got to know someone who escaped. I found the tattoo artist on Instagram and we exchanged a few e-mails, but then he ghosted me after the Feds visited him at the studio where he worked. He’s taken down his Instagram page, so whatever happened, it rattled him. Artists use Instagram to advertise.”

            “Do you know where this guy is located? What’s his name?”

            “He was in San Jose. His name is Sergio Iglesias. He might have just changed studios.”

            “But he probably wouldn’t have taken down his Instagram if he only moved. Does he have a police record?”

            “No, but a lot of people get nervous when the Feds show up. They never actually got to talk to him. He skipped out the back door. He’s gone under, according to Gideon. He got the information from Tom, who got it from someone else because he wasn’t working that part of the case, but I’m not supposed to know any of that.”

            Liza’s chest warmed. Tom was a Dudley Do-Right, a stickler for procedure, but he had a huge heart. He was capable of bending rules if necessary to help someone. “I won’t tell anyone.”