Page 33 of Artifice (Pros and Cons Mysteries #4)

“ D on’t panic,” a familiar but unwelcome voice murmured. “It’s just me.”

Olive’s shoulders slumped—with relief and irritation. “Simon?”

“I needed to catch you alone.”

She didn’t try to hide her annoyance. “What are you doing here? And who are you?”

“I could ask the same of you.”

“You know who I am. Liv Bettencourt. Apparently, everyone in town knows who I am.”

“Right. But who are you really ?”

Her gaze shot to the rearview mirror. Simon sat in the shadows wearing dark clothing. She could only see the outline of his head and his broad shoulders.

She couldn’t show any weakness, any doubt. If Simon was playing a game with her, she needed the upper hand.

She raised her chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I have the feeling there’s much more to you than you’re letting on.”

“Being wealthy is very complicated, if that’s what you mean.” Was that the best response she could have used?

Maybe not.

But this guy was really pushing her buttons. And he was getting too close to the truth.

Olive couldn’t let this man blow this whole assignment.

“As you may have ascertained, something shady is going on at Lighthouse Harbor,” Simon said. “You need to be careful.”

So he was doing all this out of concern for her?

Olive had a hard time believing that.

But maybe she could get some information from him right now. “And exactly what is it that’s going on there?”

“That’s the question of the hour, isn’t it?”

Not helpful.

“So you hopped in my car just to tell me to be careful as I contemplate how to donate my money?” Olive glanced at him again in her mirror.

“Mostly.” He said the word so nonchalantly, like this was a normal way of communicating.

“What else is it that you want, Mr. Long?”

He leaned forward slightly. “I think you should keep your money and move on. Get out of town.”

She turned in her seat to face him. “What happened at the school today—was that staged?”

Simon’s expression darkened. “I don’t know. But what’s going on there is connected to something bigger than you realize—and something dangerous.”

Olive pulled up to the bed-and-breakfast but didn’t get out of the car. It was too risky to make her calls inside. However, she needed to talk to Tevin and Rex.

She started by giving Tevin the update on everything that had happened today.

“Do you want me to come back to the B&B?” His words came out fast with worry.

“I just need you back here tonight. I’ll need someone with me when I meet Abe.”

“It could be a setup.”

Olive had thought of that also. “I know, that’s why I want to take all the precautions necessary.”

“I’ll be back right after dinner.”

“Thanks, Tevin.”

As soon as she ended that call, she dialed Rex on FaceTime. Her boss’s tanned face appeared on screen.

Rex was in his early forties, and he wore his age well. With his square jaw and blond hair, people often compared him to a Ken doll. The man was a former Navy SEAL who’d gone on to work for the State Department before starting Aegis.

“You’re calling with an update, I assume?” His intense gaze met hers through the camera.

Olive usually sent him updates via encrypted messages every couple of days while on assignment. But she wanted to talk to him about this face-to-face—as face-to-face as the phone screen allowed.

“I may have a problem.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

She told him about Simon—about the ordeal at the warehouse, about their conversation in her car, and about the incident at Lighthouse Harbor today.

Rex’s eyes narrowed. “Do you have a picture of this guy?”

“I managed to snap one earlier today.” She sent a photo over.

She watched as Rex squinted at the screen.

“I don’t recognize him,” he finally said with a shake of his head.

“Do you think he’s FBI maybe? DEA? Maybe he’s actually secretly investigating?”

His eyes narrowed into an unreadable expression. “It’s a possibility. But it’s also a possibility that he’s working for someone else, someone with less honorable intentions. I need you to be careful, Olive.”

Something about his words caused her blood to go cold. “I will be. And I’ll keep you updated.”