Page 12 of Deception

Olive raised her eyebrows. “That takes some nerve to ask you for money considering what you’re going through.”

Rebecca let out a sharp laugh. “Tell me about it. But I’m not that surprised. I had to ask him a few months ago to leave me alone. The stress he added to my life, on top of the stress of going through this cancer journey, was just too much.”

“That’s understandable.” Olive patted Rebecca’s arm, careful to act compassionate. She needed to earn this woman’s trust. “Stress only makes things worse. I’m sorry he’s not respecting your boundaries.”

“Me too.” Rebecca drew in a shaky breath. “Thanks for listening and, again, I’m sorry you had to see that.” She pointed to a white Lexus SUV two vehicles down. “I really need to run.”

A teacher who could afford that Lexus on top of her cancer treatments and medical bills? It was possible Rebecca had bought this before her diagnosis. But the vehicle looked new.

Olive wouldn’t ask Rebecca about it now. But she stored that information away, adding it to an already long list of doubts, questions, and things to investigate.

Olive had one more stop before she headed to the hotel—but it was a stop she dreaded.

Still, the meeting couldn’t be avoided. She’d set it up in advance.

She climbed in her Jeep and plugged the address into her GPS.

Then she pulled away from Main Street and headed toward a house located on a country road about fifteen minutes away. As she drove, she kept an eye on her rearview mirror.

She didn’t think Motorcycle Man would show up again—but she couldn’t be sure. Until she knew what this guy was up to, she needed to be on guard.

Thankfully, she reached her destination without incident. She pulled up to a small white house with a beige carport beside it and numerous children’s toys scattered around—trikes, a plastic slide, a bright red sandbox.

An old Datsun sat beneath the carport, indicating someone was home.

Before Olive even climbed from her Jeep, the side door of the house opened, and Chelsea Stewart Johnson stepped out with a toddler on her hip.

Olive sucked in a breath. She hadn’t seen the woman in nearly ten years, and Olive wasn’t sure how the woman would react to being around her.

Chelsea was Jason’s older sister—three years older to be precise. The two looked nothing alike since Jason and all his siblings had been adopted. But Olive remembered that Chelsea had always been the quiet, level-headed one of the group.

Olive hadn’t known her well. Chelsea had been away at college when Olive and Jason had dated. But Chelsea was the one who’d told Jason her concerns about Rebecca—she was the whole reason Olive had known about this potential scam and had come here.

Olive knew from Jason that Chelsea had four children, which sounded like enough to leave anyone exhausted. Her husband was a local cop, and she stayed home with the kids.

“Hi, Olive.” Chelsea sounded neither warm nor cold.

Olive paused at the bottom of the chipped brick steps and nodded. “Chelsea. It’s been a while.”

“It sure has.” Her tone remained neutral, not giving away her feelings.

“And who is this?” Olive tilted her head toward the toddler in Chelsea’s arms. The tow-headed boy was probably two with big eyes and an adorable toothy grin.

“This is Henry.” Her voice warmed. “He’s my youngest. The rest of the kids are in school.”

“Nice to meet you, Henry.” Olive cast a wide smile at the boy.

The boy smiled back and waved his hand before burying his face in his mom’s chest.

Chelsea nodded behind her. “Would you like to come in?”

“That would be great. Thanks for agreeing to meet.”

Olive couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so nervous about talking to someone. But this was a necessary conversation.

She may not have known about what her father did.

But in this case the daughter would pay for the sins of the father.