Page 48 of Smokescreen

She glanced up and saw a small sliding lock on the side of the molding. It wasn’t latched, however.

Olive reached up and pulled on the string.

A hinged staircase came cascading down.

Blackness stared at her from above like a mouth gaping open.

Should she?

Why not? It beat sitting in her room while Reid appeased Daphne.

Without any more hesitation, Olive started up the first creaky step, unsure exactly what she was going to find.

CHAPTER 20

Wooden rafters stretched above Olive. Several dormer windows lined a wall, and when lightning flashed, purple light filled the room, giving her a glimpse of the attic’s contents. Boxes neatly lined the edges of the space, along with some old, sheet-covered furniture.

Olive straightened herself to full height. At least the attic was big enough that she could stand up, and the floors were finished so she could walk without fear of falling through the ceiling. A stale, dusty scent lingered in the air.

Something about old attics filled with heirlooms had always fascinated her. It was like the past came alive in these spaces.

Her own family had moved around so much while she was growing up that they never had a chance to accumulate anything but memories. Which she supposed should be enough. But now most of those memories were tarnished, especially since she didn’t know the truth about her dad or if he’d been living a lie.

Olive glanced up and saw a thin string hanging from the ceiling. Taking a few steps, she reached for it and tugged.

A dim yellow glow from a lightbulb filled the room. It was better than nothing.

She sighed and glanced around again. As she’d guessed, the attic was huge—it ran the entire length of the house. Where did she even start?

First, she needed to see if anything had recently been disturbed. Though this space was highly organized, it clearly wasn’t on the cleaning rotation for the house—as most attics weren’t.

She grabbed her phone, noting she should have charged the battery earlier. She only had 10 percent left.

Maybe she’d find more lightbulbs to switch on up here as she explored.

She could hope, at least.

For now, she turned on the flashlight and shone it on the floor.

Sure enough, scuffle marks marred the floor as if the dust had recently been disturbed. However, there were no clear footprints so she couldn’t ascertain whether or not it had been a man or a woman who’d come up here.

Most people working at the ranch probably knew about this space, and anyone with access to the house also had access to this attic.

Olive followed the disturbances in the dust until she reached a stack of boxes.

She turned her flashlight off and stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Then she opened the box on top.

Papers stared back at her.

Legalpapers.

She sat on the floor, ready to dig in.

She began skimming the documents. Most of them were old receipts and tax documents. Olive was surprised these hadn’t been put in a safe since there was sensitive information here.

Reaching a legal-sized envelope, she slipped the papers out and balked at what she saw.

Reid’s father’s will.