Page 65 of Deception

“Let’s hope.”

They climbed into the Jeep and took off down the road.

Nova hadn’t asked Olive what she was going to do. Maybe that was a blessing.

Because Olive should be pouring all her time and energy into this case.

But she couldn’t stop thinking about the man she thought she’d seen outside Matt’s office. The same man who’d met with her dad seventeen years ago.

Could he be the one who’d left that note on the back door of her house? The one that said, “Like father, like daughter”? The one who’d been in the woods and hit her over the head before escaping?

Maybe there were more answers in this town than Olive had assumed. Answers about her dad and what he’d really been up to.

She wanted to find out what they might be.

For that reason, she wanted to head back to her old house. Maybe talk to some neighbors. Maybe even talk to members of Jason’s family.

Someone somewhere had to know something.

Even though she had come here to investigate Rebecca, Olive was bound and determined to find some answers about her own past also.

CHAPTER 36

Olive dropped Nova off and then headed back to her old place. She wasn’t sure exactly what going there might prove.

But she needed to go. She wouldn’t rest until she could see it again.

Just as before, she pulled to a stop in front of her old house.

And just as before, there were no cars in the driveway or anything to indicate anyone lived here or had visited recently. It was dinnertime and still light enough outside to see everything clearly.

She climbed out of her Jeep and paused on the sidewalk, staring at the familiar house with a touch of dread.

The more she dug into her father’s background, the more chance she could discover something she might not want to know. Was she really prepared for that?

She thought she was.

“You back again?” someone nearby called.

Olive craned her neck and saw the neighbor she’d talked to yesterday. Just as before, he sat hunched in a lawn chair, both of his hands perched on a cane in front of him, as he watched the world around him.

There was a saying when Olive was growing up that the best prevention against crime was a nosy neighbor. This man needed a prize for that.

She paced closer so the man could hear her and handed him something she’d picked up on the way here. “I noticed you like these.”

He raised his shaggy brows before opening the bag. Then a grin spread across his face when he saw the bottle of lemonade inside. “This is my favorite.”

“I thought you liked that brand.” Gifts usually earned a lot of bonus points with people.

“Thank you.” He twisted the top and took a long sip. “Best lemonade around.”

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Olive smiled at his enthusiasm. “Anything new since I was here last?”

He shrugged. “Not really. It’s been pretty quiet. For someone who likes to people watch, there hasn’t been much to see.”

“That’s too bad.” Olive glanced back at her old house. She wasn’t sure why she was disappointed. Why she had wanted more—or expected there to actuallybemore.