Page 66 of Smokescreen

“How did they reduce the value of the property?” Olive asked. This was the first she’d heard of that.

“They decided to build a county dump beside Dan’s,” the woman said. “The state decided Pete had too many livestock on his property.”

“Too many livestock can degrade the soil, vegetation, and water resources,” Reid explained.

“Those families owned their properties for generations!” one of the neighbors said. “It’s not right.”

“You think shell corporations bought up this land,” Olive said. “But who owns those shell companies?”

“That’s an excellent question,” the woman said.

Silence stretched a moment as everyone seemed to let that sink in.

“Well, I heard the Bureau of Land Management knows none of us will want to give up our land,” Bob continued. “I also heard they have people sneaking on the property at night to look at it.”

That sounded like an overreach and slightly hard to believe. But would the government take things that far? Olive could ask Tom. Since he was with the FBI, maybe he had some connections who could offer them an answer.

Olive wasn’t sure.

But maybe they really should look further into it.

Besides, she’d seen those flashlights in the woods that night she was locked in the attic.

Could those lights have been from government agents checking out the land under the cover of darkness?

Maybe it was a possibility.

CHAPTER 28

After everyone left the barbecue and darkness had fallen, Olive and Reid remained downstairs, putting some things away from the get-together.

She’d told Reid about what Dippy said, and Reid said he was going to have a talk with him later. Right now, he had too many other things on his mind.

A knock sounded at the front door, and Reid answered.

Trick stood on the other side. “Can I have a moment of your time?”

Olive’s heart leapt into her throat.

If Trick had come here to talk to Reid, then something was up. Most likely, something big.

Reid nodded toward his office.

Without invitation, Olive slipped inside with them and shut the door. “I hope you don’t mind if I’m in here.”

“No, I need you in here also,” Trick muttered, lines of worry around his eyes.

“What’s going on?” Reid crossed his arms as he stood in front of them, waiting for an explanation.

“As you know, our colleague Tevin was flying his drone today, looking for anything suspicious here on the property, something that might provide us with some answers.”

Reid shifted. “Yes, I was anxiously waiting to see what he learned.”

“He was supposed to check in with me tonight,” Trick continued. “Earlier he’d said he found something we’d want to see.”

“What was it?” Reid’s voice caught with anticipation.

“That’s the thing.” Trick rubbed his jaw. “He never called me back. So I slipped away and tried to call him. He didn’t answer.”