Page 116 of Deception

He was also resistant to sparking a romance between them again. But she didn’t know why.

Maybe because she’d already broken his heart once?

Either way, she needed to put the almost kiss out of her mind and pretend it had never happened.

She glanced at the clock. It was 7:00 a.m., and the fundraiser started at eleven.

If she truly wanted to stop all this before more people lost their money, then they would need to act quickly.

She desperately wanted to know if there were any updates on the scene yesterday.

Chelsea had promised to call them back when she could. Olive didn’t want to risk calling her and catching her with her husband there. No need to add any marital strife.

Instead, Olive quickly showered and got ready. Her body ached more today than it had yesterday even. Not only that, but her bruising was deeper and uglier.

She might have to go back to the store to get another turtleneck if she couldn’t cover up the big scratch at her neck.

Instead, she dug through what she had brought and settled on a black T-shirt with a beige linen shirt over it and a long, thin brown knit scarf that she could wrap around her neck.

“Very artistic,” she decided when she looked in the mirror.

When her phone rang, she didn’t recognize the number. She answered anyway.

“Is this the film producer?” a female asked.

“It is. Can I help you?”

“I met you in the hospital yesterday,” the woman said with a whisper. “You were asking questions about Rebecca.”

“That’s right. I’m trying to get some clips from various people in her life.”

“I don’t want to be on camera. I don’t want to be on record, for that matter. But there are a few things I know that I should mention. I couldn’t really sleep last night because I kept thinking about it. I kept thinking about all the people that she’s hurt.”

Olive’s heart beat harder. This was exactly the information she needed.

“Can you meet? I am available this morning.”

“No,” the woman said. “That’s not a good idea.”

Why did she almost sound scared?

“Then can you tell me whatever it is here on the phone?”

“Yes, but I need to make it quick. I don’t believe that Rebecca has cancer. I’ve had my doubts for a while now, but my friend—the one you met yesterday—stopped me from saying anything.”

“Why did she do that? And why do you sound so nervous now? Are you afraid of hurting your friendship if you’re wrong?”

“No, that’s not it.” The woman paused.

Olive’s breath caught. “Do you think somebody hit Maria on purpose?”

“I actually do,” she murmured. “As their housekeeper, she had seen things and heard things. She talked to them about it, and they didn’t handle it well.”

“Wait . . . so are you telling me that you think that Rebecca or Matt killed Maria?”

“Either they did, or they hired someone to do it. It’s not that far off especially when you consider all the money that they’ve brought in through these fundraisers.”

“I see.” Olive didn’t want to say too much.