Page 122 of Deception

Olive had no choice but to see what would play out next.

She’d been patted down. Her weapons taken—they’d found all three.

Then she’d been carried, kicking and screaming through the warehouse. She had heard doors open and close. Heard footsteps around her.

She was placed in a chair. Ties had been put around her wrists and ankles.

Then someone snatched the bag from over her head.

A bright light blinded her, and she blinked as her eyes tried to adjust.

The first person she saw was Mitzi.

Her colleague sat in a chair in the other corner of the room, her wrists and ankles also bound. A gag stretched across her mouth. But her eyes were feisty and angry.

Then Olive glanced up at the man in front of her.

She had expected to see Dr. Peters. After all, he and Mitzi had gone on their date.

It made sense that he might abduct her.

Olive blinked in surprise when she realized it was . . . Ellis.

Sabrina’s husband.

“You’re behind this?” The words came out rough and full of accusation.

“That’s right. And you’re trying to ruin my plans.”

The facts that had been trying to click in place in her mind suddenly all fit.

Well, maybe they didn’t all fit, but they were getting closer.

“You found out what Rebecca was doing and you blackmailed her, didn’t you?”

He said nothing.

“How did you find out?”

He smirked. “Dr. Peters and I went to college together. He’d had too much to drink one night and started talking a little too much. Meanwhile, I was about to lose my job in sales, and I didn’t know how I’d support my family. Paisley was still a baby. Then an idea hit me. A brilliant idea.”

“You saw how much money you’d made from Rebecca and decided to spread your enterprise far and wide, I guess? Since Sabrina has helped with some fundraisers, you knew how much money they were raking in. You even hired people to help you. I suppose you and Dr. Peters split some of those profits.”

“Keep going.” He paused. “I find this all amusing.”

“He wanted out, but you knew just how much money was at stake and what a great salesperson Rebecca really was,” Olive continued. “People were practically signing over their paychecks to her after they heard her story.”

Ellis let out a chuckle. “I could tell from the moment I met you that you were a smart one.”

“You were holding not only the fact that Rebecca had been lying over her head, but then you began to threaten Willow, didn’t you? That’s why you had one of your guys go into her bedroom. You had him take one of Willow’s toys as a way of proving that nothing was out of your reach.”

Ellis began to pace. “You think you have this all figured out, don’t you?”

“You’re doing the same thing to other people who’ve been sick, aren’t you? Scamming them out of money?” She remembered the woman from Midlothian.

He smirked. “After this one started going so well, we realized that we needed to keep it going. We found people with the biggest platforms. And when it seemed like their journey of sickness was over, we informed them that it wasn’t.”

“That’s despicable.” Bile rose in her throat. “Exactly how many people are you doing this to?”