Page 42 of Smokescreen

Once the vehicle faced away from them, the driver tore down the road in the opposite direction.

Olive released the pent-up air from her lungs.

Then she turned to Reid and lifted her palm for a high five. “Good job.”

“Well, thank you.” Reid dropped his voice to a lower tone as his hand caught hers.

Their gazes locked.

“Maybe I’ll become a PI if this ranching thing doesn’t work out for me,” he murmured.

“No, I definitely think you should stick with ranching.”

The two exchanged a laugh.

Olive was all too aware of her hand in Reid’s. It felt . . . nice.

But it shouldn’t feel nice. She had no business feeling this way or flirting with a client.

She hesitated before pulling her hand out of his and resting it in her lap instead.

Feelings only complicated things. She needed to remember that.

Reid’s smile dropped, and he turned back to the road. “I guess we should get back.”

“I guess so. I got that guy’s license plate. I’ll send it to Tevin and see if he can find out who was behind the wheel—or at least who owns the truck. I’m assuming you didn’t recognize it?”

“I did not. But I’m anxious to find out who it belongs to.”

They headed on the back road toward the ranch house.

The person behind these attacks was growing bolder, Olive mused. The previous incidents looked as if they could be accidents. Being chased today didn’t fall into that category.

And that wasn’t a good sign.

Back at the Homestead, Olive escaped to her room.

She’d halfway expected to see another threatening message waiting for her there. But whoever had left that doll last night hadn’t made another move.

Given enough time, they might. Someone clearly wanted to scare her away.

She certainly had her job cut out for her.

After she checked the room to make sure it was safe and had no bugs, she sat on her bed and called Tevin. Speaking in quiet tones—just in case anyone was listening—she gave him the license plate number for the truck and asked him to run it. He said he would.

“What about that security footage I sent you?” Olive asked. “The one from the night that doll appeared in my room?”

“It appears the power to those cameras was switched off for the duration—that means nothing was recorded. So you’re not going to find any answers there.”

But the person responsible had known which breaker the cameras were on. That meant they were familiar with the ranch, most likely.

“I also have an update,” Tevin said. “After your last text, I went into town, and I was able to locate this Edgar guy. He was in the bakery when I found him. Anyway, I put a tracker on his vehicle—which just happens to be a blue sedan and not a black truck with tinted windows.”

“Good to know.” There went that theory.

“I’m going to keep an eye on his movements,” Tevin said. “I’m also going to run that license plate you just gave me. I’ll call you back as soon as I have the information.”

“Good work, Tevin. Thanks.”