Page 48 of Obscurity (Pros and Cons Mysteries #5)

W ithin moments, two figures emerged from the forest—Max and Tom.

They stood at the edge of the crowd, their eyes scanning the festivalgoers with the methodical precision of hunters searching for prey. Max’s face was flushed from the chase, his expensive hiking boots now scuffed and dirty from crashing through the underbrush.

Olive kept her head down, using Jason’s taller frame to partially shield her from view while she watched the security team’s search pattern.

They were looking for someone who matched her general description—a woman in dark clothing who’d been inside the house, where she definitely didn’t belong.

Without her cap and hoodie, and now wearing just a plain gray T-shirt and jeans, Olive looked like dozens of other female festival attendees.

But if they got close enough . . .

Max’s gaze swept across the crowd, moving from person to person. When his attention passed over their general area, Olive turned slightly toward Jason as if he’d said something interesting.

She held her breath as Max’s scan continued, his frustration evident in his body language. Tom worked the other side of the crowd, but neither of them seemed to be having any luck identifying their target among the sea of festivalgoers.

After what felt like an eternity, Max pulled out his radio and spoke into it. Olive couldn’t hear the words over the terrible music from the stage.

Then both men turned and headed back toward the trees, apparently giving up their search for the moment.

Olive waited until they’d completely disappeared into the forest before allowing herself to back away from Jason and breathe normally again.

“Everything okay?” Jason asked. “What happened?”

“The important thing is that I got what we came for. We need to talk. Soon.”

She’d just escaped by the skin of her teeth.

But the information she’d gathered about the Grayfall experiment was worth the risk.

Now they had to figure out how to use it to save Chloe, Becca, and everyone else before Phase 3 of whatever nightmare they’d stumbled into began in earnest.

Jason guided Olive away from the crowd, leading her to the old mercantile building, which would provide shelter from prying eyes. The old stone walls offered both physical cover and psychological distance from the security team that had been hunting her.

Stepping through the partially collapsed doorway, they entered what had once been Grayfall’s commercial heart.

The interior was a ghost of its former self—empty wooden shelves lined the walls like skeletal ribs, their surfaces warped and splintered from decades of weather exposure.

Behind what had been the main counter, cubbyholes and small drawers hung open, their contents long since claimed by time and scavengers.

The floorboards sagged dangerously in places where the foundation had shifted, creating treacherous dips and valleys that required careful navigation.

Scattered across the uneven surface were the remnants of the store’s final days: rusted cans with illegible labels, fragments of glass from broken jars, and scraps of fabric that might once have been work clothes or household textiles.

Overhead, gaps in the roof allowed shafts of late afternoon sunlight to filter through, illuminating dust motes that danced in the still air. The space smelled of old wood, rust, and something vaguely sweet—perhaps the lingering scent of bulk goods that had rotted away long ago.

Despite the decay, the building’s thick stone walls provided excellent acoustics for private conversation, muffling outside sounds while amplifying whispers between them.

It was exactly the kind of sanctuary they needed to process what Olive had discovered in Brad’s house without fear of being overheard.

“Are you okay?” Jason’s voice sounded tight with worry as he turned to face her, his hands automatically moving to check for injuries. “You were gone so long, and then I saw those men searching the crowd . . .”

“I’m fine,” Olive said, though her hands were still shaking from the adrenaline crash. “But, Jason, what I found in that house?—”

Before she could continue, he pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly against his chest. The embrace was fierce, desperate, carrying all the fear and relief he’d been holding back while watching her nearly get caught.

“I should have never let you go there alone,” he murmured into her hair. “When I saw them come out of the woods looking for someone . . .”

“I know.” Olive allowed herself a moment to absorb his warmth and strength.

Despite everything between them, despite all the reasons she’d been keeping her distance, being in Jason’s arms felt like coming home.

But they couldn’t afford to lose focus now—not since she’d found out the information they needed.