Page 43 of Deception

Olive listened to her friend’s updates. She was happy Sabrina was doing well. She deserved only good things.

But she kept thinking about what Sabrina had said.

Was Rebecca really going shopping when she was supposedly at her medical appointments? At this point, it wouldn’t surprise her. Olive only wished she could prove it.

After eating some lasagna and catching up with Sabrina, Olive went back to the hotel, anxious to talk to Nova and see if she’d found out anything.

A new excitement filled Nova’s gaze when she ushered Olive into her room, almost as if she’d discovered something important.

Olive settled on the couch and waited for her colleague to start. More empty containers of Chinese food sat on the table, adding the scent of steamed broccoli to the air. Several pairs of dirty socks were scattered on the floor, and Nova’s equipment was set up on every available surface. The woman was brilliant but a slob.

“Okay, I’ve been chomping at the bit for you to get back so I can tell you a few things.” Nova lowered herself on the couch also, wearing plaid pajama bottoms and a black top as she sat cross-legged.

“Sorry it took me so long,” Olive said. “I ran into an old friend, and we had dinner together. I was trying to feel her out about what she might know about Rebecca. But I can share that with you later. I’m much more interested right now in hearing what you have to say.”

“Okay, then. I’m going to start with this camera we found. I believe someone else put these cameras in Rebecca’s house.”

Olive sucked in a breath. “Why do you think that?”

“I managed to connect the camera to my computer. I did a few more technical things—I can spell them out if you really want.”

“Not really.” Technical details generally bored her. “I trust you.”

“That’s what I thought. Anyway, long story short, I was able to trace the IP address where the footage is being sent.”

“And?” Olive held her breath.

Nova held up her phone. “I found an address about twenty miles from here.”

“You’re brilliant.” Olive meant the words. Her colleague was grumpy but amazing.

“I know.” Nova closed her computer and smiled. “But there’s more.”

Olive’s eyebrows shot up with surprise. “Please tell.”

“I kept thinking about what you said about Rebecca meeting with her cousin yesterday, so I decided to dive a little deeper. It turns out Rebecca doesn’t have any cousins.”

“What? Doesn’t everyone other than me have cousins?” Olive’s parents had been only children, and her grandparents were dead. Her family situation had always seemed unusual.

On more than one occasion, Olive had tried to look up statistics on how common that was, but she hadn’t been successful in finding any information.

“Actually, no, not everyone has cousins,” Nova said. “I know several people that don’t have cousins. I don’t have any cousins either.”

“Maybe it’s not as unusual as I thought.”

Nova shrugged. “So anyway, neither of Rebecca’s parents had siblings. Well, her mom had a sister at one point, but she died when she was younger. And her daddidget remarried, so he has a stepson, but this stepson doesn’t have any children.”

Olive tucked that information away. “What about Matt? Could the man have been one of his cousins?”

“I thought of that also and looked into it. He does have two cousins, but they both live in California. One, according to social media, is currently on a cruise, and the other is expecting a baby at any moment. So it wasn’t either of them.”

She loved it when Nova was so thorough. “Okay . . . so the man Rebecca met with isn’t a cousin. Then who is he?”

Nova shrugged. “Without seeing his picture or a license plate, it’s nearly impossible for me to know.”

Olive’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. “I guess that makes sense.”

“But there’s more.” Nova grinned and raised a finger. “I actually did more of a deep dive into Rebecca’s family. She said they lived in California, right?”