Page 67 of Deception

And it hadn’t been like that when she was here yesterday.

CHAPTER 37

Olive stepped inside the house and glanced around, waiting for trouble.

But there was no one in the kitchen.

She paused. This place looked just like it had nine years ago when she’d lived here.

Dark wood cabinets that were too ornate to be in style. A subway tile backsplash and dark-green granite countertops. Beige tiles stretched across the floor. A bay window bumped out from one wall. A wooden table that had been outdated when Olive lived here, but was now even more outdated, still nestled against those windows. Even the curtains were the same—dark blue with a yellow striped pattern.

Memories hit Olive of her dad making blueberry pancakes for her and her sisters. More memories of sneaking in this back door late at night. Living here had been the beginning of Olive’s rebellious phase.

More than once, she’d been caught and grounded—but that hadn’t stopped her from doing what she wanted.

Her disobedience had caused her mom some stress. A pang of remorse ached in her chest. Olive now wished she could take that back. But hindsight, as the saying went, was 20/20. She couldn’t go back and make life easier for her mom, but she’d always regret that.

The floor squeaked beneath her, and Olive snapped back to the present.

She’d gotten too caught up in her memories. She needed to keep moving, to remain on guard. After all, this door had been left open.

What if it had been left open on purpose?

Steeling herself to search the rest of the house, Olive crept through the kitchen and eased into the dining room.

She swung around the doorway, gun raised, searching for signs of life.

There were none.

She stepped back into the kitchen and headed into the living room.

Again, more memories filled her. Memories of family movie nights with popcorn. Memories of having her sixteenth birthday party—her first guy/girl affair. Memories of her dad arguing with those men in the middle of the night and then denying it.

Olive paused near the front door and glanced up the wooden stairway. The bedrooms were located up there.

She wouldn’t leave here without checking them out.

Just as that thought crossed her mind, a creak sounded above her.

Her breath caught.

Someone could be in the house.

If so, Olive needed to figure out who.

Olive briefly considered calling backup.

If someone was inside this house, she didn’t want to battle them alone.

But that would require calling Nova, and Nova was in no position to protect her.

Olive had no one else to turn to right now.

This wasn’t supposed to be a dangerous assignment, so she hadn’t thought she’d need backup.

And just because Olive had heard a creak upstairs didn’t mean she was in danger. Maybe it was the wind. They’d had a few strong gusts today, after all. The breeze could have knocked something loose, and that could have been the sound she heard.

She’d never know unless she checked it out.