Page 103 of Artifice

“We have a new employee.”

“Oh?” She wasn’t sure why he was telling her this—and why he’d chosen this moment to do so.

A moment later, a new face appeared on the screen.

Olive barely contained her gasp. “Jason?”

“Surprise.” He grinned, but the expression quickly morphed into a frown. “Are you okay?”

She must really be a sight to behold. “I’m fine. But you . . . you’re working for Aegis now?”

“I wanted to tell you earlier, but contractually, I wasn’t allowed to.”

Rex came back on the screen. “We knew he would be the perfect fit for our agency. And since you trust him, we can also.”

But could she trust him? She hadn’t told anyone about her fears. She’d only asked Tevin to do some investigating.

What if Jason wasn’t trustworthy?

“I thought you’d want to hear the news right from us,” Rex said. “Jason will make an excellent addition to our team.”

“Yes, he will,” Olive finally said.

“We’ll talk more when you get back to Indiana.”

She forced a smile. “I look forward to it.”

She should feel excited. But she wasn’t convinced this was a good thing.

She needed answers now more than ever.

Olive had one more person to talk to before she wrapped up things here.

Simon.

Thankfully, he stepped outside and found her a few minutes later.

“You mind if we have a moment?” He turned to Tevin.

Tevin stared at him as if he wanted to say no, but he finally nodded and stepped away.

Simon and Olive began walking along the edge of the property together, their steps slow and purposeful.

“I have a few updates for you,” he started. “From what we’ve gathered so far, Henry Potts is the mastermind/scientist behind the mind-altering drug program. But he’s working for someone else.”

“Anton Karakov?” Olive questioned.

Surprise lit Simon’s eyes. “That’s our suspicion, but Karakov is a master at covering his tracks.”

“As every crime boss should be.”

“We’re still working on some evidence to nail him.”

“Good luck with that.”

“Anyway, as you know, Potts has been using troubled youth as his test subjects as he worked on perfecting the formula to make people completely compliant to commands.”

“Shameful,” Olive muttered.