Page 67 of Artifice

Just as she thought.

Mr. Thorne.

He’d come into her room.

But why?

Frowning, she watched as the man walked to her lamp. He reached for the bulb, his motions obscured behind the shade.

A few seconds later, he stepped back and glanced around. Then he lumbered into the bathroom, only to emerge with a wrench a few minutes later.

He glanced around the room one more time before leaving.

He hadn’t gone through her things. He’d been here for another reason.

Olive leaned toward the lamp, peering up. She thought she knew what she’d find.

She was correct.

A listening device.

Mr. Thorne wanted to hear her conversations. He was suspicious.

Olive’s jaw hardened.

She didn’t think Mr. Thorne had done this on his own accord. No, someone had put him up to this.

Principal Denarau? Margaret? Simon?

Olive wasn’t sure. It could be any of those people.

Or it could be someone she hadn’t even considered yet—a thought she didn’t like.

A moment later, Olive’s phone buzzed.

She nearly jumped off the bed.

Glancing at the screen, she saw it was a text message from Tevin.

He was here. At the B&B.

Olive needed to warn him about the listening device before he came into her room and said something no one was supposed to hear. She would destroy the device—later. And she needed to check the rest of the room.

For now, she quickly rushed to the door.

Tevin’s eyes widened in surprise when he saw her there, and he stepped back.

“Meet me outside,” Olive mouthed. “Someone is listening to us.”

Realization rolled over his face, and he nodded.

A few minutes later, Olive left her room and hurried down the stairs. She glanced around when she stepped outside.

She saw no one.

Olive spotted Tevin’s van—which, on the outside looked rundown but on the inside was state of the art. She slipped inside.

He waited for her in the back where he had a mobile command center set up.