Page 11 of Obscurity

In fact, he looked exactly like . . . her father.

CHAPTER 6

“Olive.”

The familiar voice behind her made her heart flutter despite everything.

She turned to find Jason.

Jason with his short, dark hair. His square jaw. His broad shoulders and muscular arms.

Jason who’d gone from a small-town football player to an Army Ranger, becoming all man in the process.

Her throat still went dry at the sight of him.

Even after all these months that had passed since they reconnected, his presence still affected her in ways she tried to ignore.

“You’re here.” She prayed her voice sounded steadier than it felt.

“Made good time on the road.” He paused. “You have any problems getting here?”

She remembered the gas station and shuddered. She didn’t want to bring that up. Not yet.

Besides, it wouldn’t add anything to their investigation.

“It was fine,” she finally answered.

Jason’s gaze moved past her to the wall of photographs, and his expression changed. “Wait. Is that . . . ?”

She licked her lips. “It looks like my dad, doesn’t it?”

He stepped closer, close enough that she could smell his familiar woodsy cologne and feel the warmth radiating from his body.

Her heart pounded harder. Jason was the only man she’d ever loved.

Being around him right now was downright painful—yet thrilling at the same time. She wanted both to run and to draw closer.

“The resemblance is uncanny,” he murmured, squinting as he studied the photo. “Has he ever?—?”

“I have no idea,” Olive finished, her voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t know what he would have been doing here twenty-some years ago. But you know as well as I do that he never went anywhere without a reason.”

Jason’s jaw tightened as he gave a single, deliberate nod.

They’d both learned enough about her father’s cons to know that every location, every interaction, every seemingly random encounter had been carefully planned.

Her father had been brilliant. But, by all appearances, he’d used that brilliance for selfish gain instead of good. Though he’d claimed to work for the government, he’d secretly cheated good people out of money . . . even though Olive still wasn’t sure what he’d ultimately done with all that wealth he’d stolen.

She certainly hadn’t seen any of it—not that she would keep it if she did.

But that was just one more mystery surrounding her past.

“This can’t be a coincidence.” He rubbed his jaw as he shook his head. “Us being here, this case?—”

“Mr. and Mrs. Jones!”

They turned to find Elias approaching with that same perfectly calibrated smile. Something in his eyes had sharpened, however.

“Perfect timing,” Elias continued, not missing a beat. “I was just about to gather everyone for our evening meeting. We like to brief our guests on safety protocols while here in the mountains in addition to providing some information on scheduling for Grayfall.”