Page 25

CHAPTER 25

O live let out a gasp as her body plunged downward.

“Olive!” Nova yelled as she reached toward her.

But it was too late.

Olive’s feet slammed into the ground, and sharp boards pressed into her sides.

The jarring impact shot pain through her legs and into her torso.

She moaned. The floor had collapsed, Olive realized. Most likely because of age, based on the splintering of the wood.

“Are you okay?” Nova dropped to her knees beside the hole in the porch.

“I guess I should have been more careful.” Olive grimaced with pain. “Help me up?”

“Of course.” Nova took her hand and pulled.

It took a couple of tries, but Olive finally climbed out of the splintered hole and stood on the floor. She carefully tested the boards beneath her this time.

She glanced at Nova and gave her a knowing look. “Watch your step.”

Nova snorted. “You think?”

Olive glared—playfully. Kind of.

Then she stepped into the house and shined her flashlight around the place.

The interior looked as if someone had left this place frozen in time when it had been abandoned—possibly as long as forty years ago. Since then, critters had made their way inside. Spiderwebs hung in corners, and a hole—probably put there by a rodent—gaped from one of the throw pillows.

A pale-pink sofa and loveseat trimmed in glossy—but dusty—wood sat against two walls with a matching glossy table. Flowery drapes that matched the pink couch hung atop the windows, dry-rotted with age.

Olive slipped into the kitchen, which was more of the same. Except this time instead of pink, everything from the stovetop to the refrigerator and wallpaper was avocado green and mustard yellow.

The flecked Formica countertops were empty—other than a piece of trim that had fallen from the cabinets—almost as if the previous owner had left the place in good condition, just in case.

Just in case what? Someone wanted to buy it? In case the owners returned to it one day? Exactly what was the story behind this house?

Maybe Olive would look into it later.

For now, she searched the rest of the place, Nova on her heels.

When she reached the bedrooms, she expected to find one of them had been outfitted with high-tech equipment. She expected monitors with a feed showing Rebecca’s house.

Instead, Olive found an old queen-sized bed with an ornate wooden headboard and a marble-topped dresser.

She put her gun back into its holster and turned to Nova. “It doesn’t look like anyone has been here for years.”

Nova frowned. “You’re right. It doesn’t.”

“Any chance that IP address could be wrong? Could someone who knows what they’re doing daisy-chain it, so it looks like the address is pinging from here when it’s actually pinging from somewhere else?”

“You’re so close yet so far from sounding like you really know what you’re talking about.” Nova smirked.

Olive cast her another good-natured glare. “I try. Anyway, keep looking into it. Hopefully, we’ll find some answers soon.”

As Olive led Nova away from the shack, she couldn’t stop thinking about their visit.

She didn’t think she’d missed any clues inside. She’d even examined the floors to see if there had been any disturbances in the dust, but she didn’t see anything indicating someone had been there recently.

The visit felt like a waste of time.

Their feet crunched the dry grass beneath them as they walked. Even though it was late April, bugs were already out. The darkness around them felt like it could swallow them whole.

“I forgot to tell you that Rebecca sent me a list of other people who might want to be interviewed.” Nova’s voice pulled Olive from her thoughts. “I already set up one for tomorrow with Rebecca’s husband.”

“Perfect.” Olive really wanted to talk to him. “I look forward to hearing what he has to say.”

“Me too.” He had to be privy to the scam if that’s what this was. But maybe he wasn’t as good of an actor as Rebecca and would give something away.

Olive scanned the area around them again. “I’m also very interested in this fundraiser Rebecca has coming up. We have to stop more people from giving money to her if she’s faking this.”

Nova cast Olive a sideways glance. “You know you’re going to break this entire town’s heart if this is true.”

Olive frowned and slowed her steps. “Would they rather their hearts be broken or their wallets?”

If they were really doing a documentary, that would be another great line to use in promos.

“I’m not sure. That’s the thing about scams like this. One person preys on people’s kindness, and it ruins it for the people who really are sick and need money.”

Olive nodded and sighed. “I guess we need to get back and work on things for tomorrow. Hopefully, we’ll turn up some new leads then.”

They climbed into the Jeep, and Olive did a U-turn. Then she started back down the lonely lane leading away from the shack they’d checked out.

About halfway down the road, Olive glanced in the rearview mirror.

A headlight appeared behind her.

Not a normal headlight either.

A single headlight.

A headlight from a motorcycle.

Her muscles tightened. “It looks like our friend is back.”

Before she could attempt to lose the driver, a distinctive popping sound flew through the air.

Her back glass shattered.

Nova screamed and covered her head with her hands as she slid down in her seat. “Someone’s shooting at us?”

More popping sounds came from behind, answering her question.

“Stay down!” Olive yelled.

As wind rushed around them, Olive gripped the steering wheel, trying to prepare herself for whatever would happen next.