Page 25 of Deception

“Things went okay with Chelsea?” Hesitation marred his voice.

“She was great. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her. Henry was adorable.”

“He’s a fun kid. Being an uncle is the best.”

His words caused a strange emotion to lodge in Olive’s throat.

She imagined Jason as a dad one day. He would be great—stern but fun, protective but loving, gruff but authentic.

At one time, Olive had dreamed about the two of them having kids together. Now that dream was dead. She needed to be careful not to resurrect it.

“I appreciate you going to bat to take this case,” Jason said a moment later.

“Of course.” She paused. “I actually met with Rebecca earlier. She seems . . . charming, and her story is remarkable.”

“And false.”

“Maybe.” Olive was trying to be open-minded.

“Chelsea and her husband work hard for their money. It wasn’t easy to sacrifice their savings for Rebecca. To think they may have lost part of their retirement all so this woman could buy a new car and go to Disney? It makes me sick to my stomach.”

Olive understood the sentiment. “One way or another, I’ll get to the bottom of this. I promise you that.”

“I know you will.” He paused. “So, what’s it like being back in Oasis?”

It’s felt like someone wants to kill me . . .

She didn’t dare say that out loud.

Her lips twisted into a frown as she contemplated her response. “It’s been strange. This place has grown a lot since I was here last, and I doubt I even know many people anymore.”

“You might be surprised.”

She nestled back into the couch cushions. “How often do you make it back?”

“I try to come home at least once or twice a year—usually for holidays or birthdays.”

“That’s nice.” Olive tried to imagine what it would be like to have family to come home to.

Then she quickly put that idea out of her mind. Feeling sorry for herself would get her nowhere.

It would never happen. Her family was gone. They had been for 2,986 days.

She was solo on her journey called life.

She thought she’d accepted that idea. But lately, it felt harder than usual—probably ever since she’d run into Jason, if she were honest with herself.

Olive needed to keep up her walls—they were the only thing protecting her from crumbling.

Letting them down would only mean defeat.

As she and Jason continued to catch up, Olive stood and paced to the window, curious if all the fire trucks were gone.

She didn’t see them.

Her breath caught.

Because shedidsee a dark-green Mercedes pull out of the parking lot. It was too dark to see any details, but it looked an awful lot like the vehicle Rebecca’s cousin had driven.