Page 27

CHAPTER 27

O live was thankful to be back at the hotel.

She’d managed to start the engine after discovering the fuel hose had been dislodged—probably from all the ruts in the road and their sudden stop. Olive had fixed it and then gotten the Jeep back on the road.

It had been a windy ride back, and pebbles of glass occasionally flew down from the broken windshield and hit them in the face. At least the weather was warm.

Olive had looked for Motorcycle Man as they drove but hadn’t spotted him. She didn’t think he’d be back tonight. He’d already made a statement.

All things considered, she and Nova were doing remarkably well.

But anger surged through Olive every time she thought about the confrontation.

That man must have followed them to the house and waited with his bike in the woods until they left. Then he’d decided to strike.

Olive should have been sharper. She should have seen him earlier. Should have been a more defensive driver.

Was she too distracted by her past to be on this assignment? Too preoccupied with thoughts of her family? She had to be stronger than that.

Thankfully, she and Nova were okay. This was just one more headache to deal with as she tried to find answers about Rebecca—this and that note she’d found that read, “Like father, like daughter.”

Her gut tightened at the memory. Who was playing these games with her?

Olive wasn’t sure, but she didn’t like it.

Then there was the man in the woods. The photo someone had sent of Olive and Mitzi. The message left on her hotel room mirror.

With her hair still wet from her shower, she leaned back in bed and crossed her legs at the ankles. Maybe a good night’s sleep would help.

Then her phone rang.

She glanced at the screen and saw it was Jason.

A surge of excitement rushed through her, followed by a frown.

Keep your distance, she reminded herself.

Since Jason had hired her to do this job, she couldn’t very well ignore his calls. Was this going to be an every-night thing?

Part of her liked that idea.

Olive swallowed hard before answering.

“Hey, Ollie.” Jason’s voice rumbled over the phone line.

Instead of feeling stressed, a wave of relief washed over Olive. He’d always had that effect on her. He made her feel safe—and that wasn’t a feeling she took for granted.

“Hey, you.” She settled back into her pillows. “How’s it going?”

“With me? Fine. I’m much more curious about how it’s going with you.”

How much did she tell him? For a moment, Olive wished she could pour everything out. But that wouldn’t be prudent.

After all, he’d hired her agency for this case, and she needed to remain professional.

Instead, she shared the most basic details of the case with him—nothing personal.

She told him about her interview with Rebecca, about finding the cameras, about following the IP address to that abandoned house. She told him about Mitzi’s work at the hospital, and what the gang would do next. She even told him about Motorcycle Man shooting at them.

At the end, she added, “And I ran into Sabrina.”

“Sabrina Novak? I haven’t seen her in years. But I did hear she was still in town.” Jason paused. “Did you have a nice time catching up?”

Olive remembered Sabrina saying how things changed so much after Olive left. About how Jason had changed. How he didn’t date anyone else and said he was going to go find Olive.

She swallowed hard, guilt swirling through her. “We had dinner together, and it was nice. I’m glad to hear she’s doing well.”

“I’m sure it’s weird being back in Oasis.”

Olive gripped the phone more tightly. “It is.”

A moment of silence passed between them.

“Listen,” Jason finally said. “I talked to Chelsea earlier. She was going to call you, but I told her I would pass along the message instead.”

She sat up straighter. “I’m curious now.”

“Chelsea was talking to a mutual friend—someone who used to live in Oasis but who moved to Galveston a year or so ago.” He drew in a breath. “Apparently, this friend, Diana, ran into Rebecca at the beach last year.”

“Okay . . .” He had her full attention now.

“I hate to gossip, but Rebecca was supposed to have this specialized cancer surgery. She raised a lot of money to go because this treatment wasn’t covered by insurance.”

“Keep going.”

“Here’s the weird thing. Diana’s friend had a similar surgery and wasn’t able to walk without assistance for a couple of weeks afterward. She was in too much pain, and sitting down was agony. Yet there Rebecca was, the day after her supposed surgery, going into the ocean. She even showed this friend a small bandage on her back and told her the surgery had gone amazingly well. There was no way Rebecca would feel up to going into the water right after a surgery like that. It would also be an infection risk to get in the water so soon.”

Olive clamped her jaw shut.

The evidence was definitely stacking up against Rebecca.

But Olive needed to be able to prove it. The fact that Rebecca was convincing only made this harder.

How far did the woman plan on taking this?