Page 43

CHAPTER 43

O live turned the possibilities over in her mind a moment, weighing each option.

Finally, she said, “Rebecca and Matt are at the hospital right now anyway, and I suspect Matt won’t be coming home tonight. So let’s wait on the decision. I don’t suppose you can see anything historical on the camera feed, can you?”

“No, I don’t have access to the server. Just to the feed in real time.”

“Good to know. Thank you for your work on that. And I’ll let you know about the camera feed.”

“Sure thing.” He paused. “If you need anything else, call me. In the meantime, I’ll look into that house. Go ahead and send me the address.”

“Will do.”

Olive ended the call, sent over the address, and then turned to Jason, studying his expression. His gaze showed he was deep in thought, analyzing the conversation.

She’d always appreciated people who didn’t have knee-jerk reactions to situations.

“I think your response was a good call,” Jason said. “It’s one thing to have cameras on people when they’re in public or even in an office setting. But I’m not sure how I feel about spying on someone in their own home.”

“I agree. There are some ethical dilemmas that come with this job, unfortunately.”

“I can only imagine.” Jason turned toward her, tilting his head. “You look tired.”

“I guess you could say it’s been a long day.”

“Talk about an understatement.” He threw her a knowing look before pausing. “Thank you for all your work on this, Ollie.”

The low tone of his voice caused her cheeks to flush again. “Of course. I only hope we can find some answers for you.”

“You will.”

She cleared her throat, trying to forget just how attracted she was to this man, even after all these years. Time had only filled him out more and made him more handsome—something she shouldn’t be thinking about.

She cleared her throat again. “How long are you sticking around for?”

Jason shrugged. “I’ll probably play it by ear. I took the rest of the week off, and I don’t have to be back at work until Monday.”

“Are things going well at Conglomerate?”

He let out a breath. “As well as can be expected.”

Something about the way he said the words made Olive pause. Last she heard, he loved his job. Had something changed?

She wanted to ask. But she didn’t. She could stay up all night catching up with him. She couldn’t afford to do that, however. Plus, she needed to keep her distance, no matter how hard that was.

Jason seemed to sense her exhaustion and rose. “Listen, it’s getting late, and I’m going to let you get some sleep.”

Olive stood also. “Where are you staying?”

“Actually, I’m staying here too.” He flashed a smile. “It’s the best of all the hotel options in the area. I could stay with Chelsea or Dominic, but I thought this would be easier.”

A sense of relief washed through her. It would be good to have him close, although she wouldn’t admit it.

“If you want my help in the morning, call me, and I’ll be there. But I didn’t come here to get in your way or to cramp your style.”

More relief filled her. “I appreciate that.”

She didn’t want Jason to feel obligated to help her. But since he’d offered, she wouldn’t turn down having another set of eyes—especially given the danger that had arisen.

His gaze lingered on her a moment longer, almost as if he wanted to say—or do—something more.

Olive licked her lips, trying not to think about what it would be like to kiss him right now.

Honestly, kissing him right now would simply be painful—and she wasn’t just talking about emotionally. Her lip was busted, and her cheek hurt.

She would need to think of how to explain her injures to people later.

For now, romance was the last thing she needed to think about.

Her phone buzzed, pulling her from the moment.

She stepped back and glanced at the screen.

Reid Harrison’s name appeared.

“Who’s Reid Harrison?” Jason squinted as he glanced at the screen.

Olive shrugged and quickly clicked off the call. “Just someone I worked with on my last case. He calls me on occasion to catch up. I can call him back later.”

Jason suddenly felt a little cooler. “I see.”

He opened the door and gave her a nod before leaving.

Being alone right now and clearing her head just might be one of the best things she could do for herself.

After Jason left, Olive sank into the couch and let her mind wander through everything that had happened, starting with Jason.

She could hardly believe he was here, and she wasn’t sure if she was excited or anxious about it. Honestly, both emotions could exist at the same time—and they did. She’d wondered when—or if—she’d see him again. Now they were back in Texas together.

That would take some time to process.

Then there was the man who’d attacked her at her old house. She had no idea who he was. The mystery surrounding him bothered her. Was he connected with her past? With her dad’s past? It just didn’t make sense.

Then there was the man on the motorcycle who’d shot at them. He added another layer of danger to everything. And there was the man who’d been watching from the woods who’d swung that stick at her head.

Olive had so much to think about right now. Unfortunately, Rebecca was sinking to the bottom of that list.

Olive couldn’t let that happen. Rebecca was the reason she was here. Rebecca was why she’d been hired.

Maybe the best thing she could do right now was to get some rest—although she halfway expected Mitzi to call with an update about her date.

She glanced at the time. Nine p.m. It was still relatively early, she realized. Mitzi probably wouldn’t be home for another couple of hours. Was it worth it to sleep for only a few minutes, only to be woken again?

Possibly. Her body was achy and tired, and her mind needed to rest.

She leaned back into the couch. Olive still couldn’t get over the fact Matt had been married when he’d met Rebecca. Or the fact that Rebecca had always told stories to make herself seem important or special.

But none of that concretely proved she was lying now. That was what Olive needed.

Solid proof.

Olive would keep working on finding it.

For now, she stood and stretched and got ready for bed. Then she checked the locks on her door one more time and turned off the overhead lights. She climbed under her covers.

But just as she plugged in her phone to charge it, the device rang.

Surprise washed through her when she saw the name on the screen.

Tom Greer, the FBI agent who’d taken her in after her family was murdered. He rarely called her unless he had something important to say.

Olive stared at the phone a second before answering. Caution pulled tight between her shoulders—a sense of foreboding overcoming her. Was everyone okay?

“Tom . . .” Her voice sounded raspier than she’d anticipated.

“Hey, Ollie. How are you?”

She didn’t even know how to answer that, all things considered. She settled on, “Staying busy.”

“I bet you are.”

“Everything okay with you? Is Jill doing okay?”

“We’re both fine.” He paused. “Look, I don’t want to beat around the bush, so I’ll just tell you why I called.”

“Please, do.”

“I just got a cryptic text message.”

The tension at her back pulled tighter. “Okay . . .”

If he was telling Olive this, it was somehow connected to her.

“The text read, ‘Tell Olive to stop looking into her father or else.’”

Her heart pounded in her ears. “Someone sent you that?”

“They did. Is there anything that you want to tell me, Olive?”

She let out a sigh as she thought through her response. She didn’t usually discuss cases with Tom, but there was no harm in doing so now. Olive trusted him—as much as she trusted anyone, she supposed.

“I’m back in Oasis for an assignment,” she admitted. “Since I was already here, I went back to visit my old house a couple of times. Tonight, there was a man hiding inside. He attacked me.”

“Oh, Ollie.” His voice turned fatherly. “Are you okay?”

She shrugged, even though he couldn’t see her. “I’ll make a full recovery. Do you think that’s why someone sent you that text? Did you just get it?”

“About twenty minutes ago. I was trying to figure out how to proceed after I read it. The number was from a burner phone, of course.”

“How did someone get your number?” she asked.

“If someone is determined enough, they’ll find a way.”

Her thoughts raced. “I’ve gotten two strange text messages over the past few months also. They both claimed that the sender knew who murdered my family. He was basically taunting me.”

Tom remained silent a moment—the type of silence that spoke volumes about his unease. “Did you respond?”

“No, I figured it wouldn’t do any good.”

“And you have no idea who sent them?”

“No idea at all. But when I went back to my old house the first time, someone had left a note for me there.”

“What did the note say?”

“‘Like father, like daughter.’”

Tom paused. “I don’t like this, Ollie.”

“I don’t either. But I also want answers.”

“I can’t tell you what to do,” Tom said. “And you’re going to do whatever you want anyway. But, Ollie . . . please, be careful.”

“I will be.”

However, the more she dug into this, the more danger she would uncover. She knew that without a doubt.