Page 50

CHAPTER 50

J ason stayed a safe distance behind the Mercedes.

Olive kept her eyes glued to the vehicle. She didn’t want to lose this guy. He could have the answers they needed.

“Anyone want to tell me what we’re doing?” Nova asked from the back seat.

“That’s the car Rebecca’s so-called cousin was driving when I saw them arguing in the parking lot. I still haven’t been able to figure out who he really is, and this might be our opportunity.”

“Interesting,” Nova said. “I’ll see if I can run his plates while we follow him.”

“Great idea,” Olive said.

Jason did a good job remaining unseen. But as the man headed out of town, that would be more difficult. Traffic on the road would become sparser.

Olive kept her gaze on the vehicle, determined not to lose this guy. “You think he knows we’re following him?”

“Not yet,” Jason said. “But if we’re not careful he will soon enough.”

Olive nodded in agreement.

“Bad news, guys,” Nova murmured as she tapped on her computer. “I don’t have a strong enough signal out here to run the search on that car’s plates. But I’ll run them as soon as I can.”

They’d left Oasis and headed west on a lonely road through Texas Hill Country. But this wasn’t an unfamiliar road to Olive. She’d been down this very road this very week.

She didn’t dare speak her theory out loud. She needed to wait to be certain.

But sure enough, the man turned right onto another lane.

A lane that only led one place.

“I know where he’s going,” she murmured.

“To the shack,” Nova said.

“The shack?” Jason questioned.

“The one we traced back to the IP address from the cameras in Rebecca and Matt’s house,” Olive explained. “But the place looked abandoned.”

“Maybe we missed something,” Nova suggested dryly. “But probably not.”

Olive’s thoughts exactly. “Let’s find out.”

Jason continued to keep a safe distance behind the Mercedes, especially as the road became more and more isolated. If that guy saw them now, it would be too obvious he was being followed.

The trees cleared up ahead, and Olive directed Jason to pull over before they got too close. He parked behind a cluster of live oak trees.

Then he turned to her. “What now?”

Olive drew her gun. “We go the rest of the way on foot. We can’t afford to be spotted, and I’m not ready to confront this guy until I know a little more about what we’re facing.”

“Understood.” Jason drew his gun also before turning to Nova. “Maybe you should wait here, just in case.”

“I’m not really ready for a gun battle, so I’d be more than happy to hang out here and keep watch.”

With one last glance at Nova, Olive and Jason climbed out. They stayed in the shadows of the trees as they walked closer to the property.

They paused at the edge of the woods.

Olive squinted. The Mercedes was nowhere to be seen.

“This guy had to come this way,” she muttered. “This is a dead-end road.”

“Agreed. There’s no garage here so he didn’t pull into that.”

So where did he go? It didn’t make any sense. The car hadn’t just disappeared. There weren’t that many options around here either.

Olive supposed the driver could have pulled to the other side of the property, behind the house.

But they wouldn’t know unless they walked back there—and walking back there was risky. As soon as they left the safety of these trees, which were only on one side of the property, there would be nothing to protect them—just wide-open space.

“What do you want to do?” Jason asked.

Olive knew without a doubt what she wanted to do. “I want to get closer.”

Jason nodded and gripped his gun. “I figured you’d say that. Let’s go.”