Page 101 of Smokescreen

She turned toward him from where she sat in front of Reid’s desk. “Let’s hear it.”

“I’ve been trying to hack into Lucy’s email.” Tevin glanced at Reid. “I know that sounds terrible, but it’s just what we do sometimes.”

“And did you happen to discover she’s trying to buy this property in case this fake will she materialized doesn’t work out?” Reid asked.

Tevin let out a soft, short chuckle. “No, unfortunately, it wasn’t that cut and dry.However, I did find some emails she sent to someone.”

Olive leaned forward, anxious for him to continue. “And?”

Excitement grew in his voice. “And our theory was right. One of the reasons Lucy is so determined to get her hands on this property is because, since she’s become a vegan, she totally opposes any type of animal farming. She thinks if she can get hold of this property that she can start ‘dismantling the system.’ Those were her words not mine.”

“So are you saying she forged that will?” Olive asked.

“I believe she hired a graphic artist who could recreate the will exactly. And that law firm she said looked this over for her and is representing her now? It doesn’t exist.”

“But Wayne said it did . . .” Reid wrinkled his forehead.

“That could be because someone is helping her set up a fake website for the firm. If someone didn’t look at the website closely, they might have thought the site was legit.”

“Okay . . .” Reid tapped his pen on the table, his gaze heavy with thought. “So Lucy went to the extreme of creating this fake will that made it appear she’d get some of the property. I’m assuming she was eventually hoping to get even more of the property so she could shut me down?”

“It’s not clear exactly how far she was willing to take this,” Tevin said.

“How did that copy get planted up in the attic?” Olive asked.

“The only way I can think of is that Lucy has someone helping her here at the ranch, a man on the inside, so to speak. That person could have put this will up in the attic in hopes that someone might find it and show it to Reid, who would then second-guess if it was real or not.”

Reid began to tap his pen again as if in thought. “I guess this is good to know, but . . . you gathered all this from emails?”

“That’s correct.” Tevin nodded quickly.

Olive shifted toward him. “Who were these emails to?”

Tevin’s gaze locked with hers. “Believe it or not, it looks like she was talking to . . . Andy.”

CHAPTER 46

Olive remained sitting in Reid’s office as she thought through what Tevin had just told them.

So Lucy had somehow connected with Andy. Maybe she was trying to convince him to help her out in acquiring this property. In fact, maybe he was the one who put that document in the attic.

But who had killed Andy? Was Lucy truly behind all this? Even Andy’s death? Had he turned on her, so she’d lashed out and killed him?

Olive had a hard time believing that. Lucy didn’t seem like a cold-blooded killer. Save the animals, but human death is okay? Did those two thoughts even fit together?

Not in theory.

They still had some details to think through before all the pieces fit.

“Can I see that video again of the man Jon and Edgar met with in the woods?” Olive asked.

Tevin sat in the chair beside her and put his laptop on his lap. “Of course. I can pull it up now.”

“Is there a way you can cast it to the TV?” She nodded to a screen perched in the corner.

“I should be able to do that.” Tevin continued to look at the screen and tap on the keyboard. “Just give me one . . . little . . . second.”

Reid grabbed the TV remote and flipped the power on.