Page 34 of Artifice (Pros and Cons Mysteries #4)

A fter talking to Rex, Olive quietly slipped up to her room. She didn’t see anyone—not even Mrs. Potts—on her way upstairs.

As soon as she stepped into her room, something on the floor caught her eye.

Two footprints left a dirty outline on the floor near her window.

Her heart pounded harder.

Someone had been in her room . . . again.

And she didn’t think it was Mrs. Potts. The woman’s feet weren’t that big. And these appeared to be work boots, if Olive had to guess.

Tension pulled taut between her shoulders as she crept through the room, searching for anything that had been disturbed.

Best she could tell, everything was still in place.

She grabbed her laptop—she’d put it in the safe—and quickly pulled up the camera feed.

Then she sat on her bed and began reviewing the footage from when she’d been gone. She had to know who’d been inside.

Had Mrs. Potts sent someone to fix the faucet? If so, why had this person walked to the window?

She fast-forwarded through most of the day.

Her breath caught when she saw someone step into her room.

Finally, the man turned toward one of the cameras.

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.

She couldn’t ignore the look of concern on his face.

“Listening device?” His eyes were wide as he waited for an explanation.

“I checked my cameras, and it was Mr. Thorne, the groundskeeper at Lighthouse Harbor, who went in my room. I’m nearly certain someone put him up to it.”

Tevin’s gaze darkened with worry. “That means someone is onto you, Olive.”

She nodded grimly. “I know. And if that’s the case, I’m not sure how it happened. I’ve been careful.”

Tevin paused, his gaze narrow with thought. “I have more to tell you. But first, anything else you want to share?”

“I managed to get a lead on those tunnels. Simon mentioned them specifically—said they’re ‘connected to something bigger than you realize—something dangerous.’”

Tevin’s eyebrows shot up. “That matches what I found out today. I spoke with some of the locals who work at the marina. They said there’s unusual activity around those cliffs—the same thing the hikers said.

Large boats coming in after dark, staying just long enough to load or unload something, then disappearing before dawn. ”

“Wouldn’t it be difficult to load and unload things near the cliffs?”

“It would be. But a competent captain could maneuver a vessel into one of the caves down there.”

“Caves?” she asked.

“That’s right. They’re all over those cliffs.”

Olive chewed on that thought a moment. “So, maybe this is a smuggling operation?”

“Seems likely. But smuggling what? Or who?”

Olive felt a chill run down her spine. “Human trafficking?”

Tevin gave her a pointed look. “It would explain why Colin went missing after asking too many questions.”

She swallowed hard.

She hoped that wasn’t what was going on here. But it was a possibility she had to consider.