Page 9 of Deception

“I’d like to get started right away.” Olive pushed her plate away. “The initial filming would be ideal at your house. It would let people have a glimpse into your life. Would that work?”

“That sounds fantastic. I’m not sure how clean it’s going to be.” She let out a self-deprecating laugh. “My housekeeper went AWOL and stopped returning my calls earlier this week, then she never showed up yesterday.”

“Good help is hard to find,” Olive said.

“And I know it sounds weird that I have a housekeeper, but cleaning my house takes so much energy. It’s a splurge Matt and I allowed ourselves.”

“It makes sense.” Olive patted her hand. “You have enough on your mind without worrying about how clean your house is.”

“I appreciate your understanding.” Rebecca paused. “I watched some of your other documentaries, and I have to say I was really impressed. I was a little skeptical when you first called me. The last thing I’d want to do is to agree to do a documentary with someone sketchy. But I’m so glad we met because you seem like the perfect person to partner with. I think our paths crossed for a reason.”

Olive forced a smile. Rebecca was good.Reallygood. She had what came across as a genuine sweetness and sincerity about her.

The best con artists did.

“I think this is going to be a great opportunity.”A great opportunity to get to the truth.Olive kept that thought silent.

In Olive’s years going undercover, fooling people still bugged her to an extent. However, she usually tricked the bad guys. Those people deserved consequences for their actions.

Other times, Olive had to fool people who were decent humans. Those instances were the ones that haunted her.

If it turned out Rebecca Hansen truly did have cancer, Olive would feel terrible for investigating her. That was why she had to proceed very carefully.

Olive was primarily doing this assignment for Jason . . . though she had to admit shedidhave an ulterior motive.

She’d lived in this town at one time, and she was determined to figure out what her father had really been up to.

Was he a con artist who preyed on the innocent in order to take their money? If that was the case, then why were his financial accounts at zero after he was murdered? Where had all that money gone?

Or was what her father had told her true? He’d told her he secretly worked for the government, taking on new roles and identities in order to investigate classified crimes in different areas of the country.

Olive wanted to believe her dad was one of the good guys.

But what if he wasn’t?

That was the question she struggled with.

Maybe being here in Oasis would help her find some of the answers she desperately sought.

CHAPTER 5

Olive took some cash from her wallet and dropped it on the table. “Lunch is on me, of course.”

“You going to eat that?” Nova pointed at some leftover bread that had come with Olive’s soup.

“Don’t plan on it.” Olive nudged it closer to her colleague. “Make me some lumpia and pancit later, and we’ll call it even.”

“It’s a deal.”

Nova was notorious for eating people’s leftovers. And Olive was notorious for asking for lumpia and pancit in return. The crispy spring rolls and Filipino noodle dish were her favorites. When she’d gone to visit Nova’s mom once while on a work trip, the woman hadn’t stopped offering her food.

Nova said it was the Filipino way—guests always had to be well-fed.

“Thank y’all so much for lunch.” Rebecca paused. “So, what time should I expect you to come over tomorrow?”

Before Olive could answer, an older woman with gray hair walked by and stopped to talk to Rebecca, mentioning how much she loved her and was praying for her.

“Her granddaughter was one of my students,” Rebecca explained after the woman walked away.