Page 79 of Smokescreen

“I’m positive.”

Olive suppressed a sigh.

Those guys had clearly known Tevin had discovered the body. They must have come back last night and moved it.

This time, they’d covered up any evidence. She didn’t see any footprints or other indications that a body had been here and then been moved.

She paced among the rocks, searching for anything that might give them some answers.

Then the sun glinted on something.

She leaned down to get a better look, and her breath caught. Was that . . . ?

She pulled a glove from her pocket and lifted the object from the pebbles, holding it to the light.

“What is it?” Reid asked.

“A bullet casing. If I had to guess, it’s from a Glock . . . like the one I saw those two men putting in Skip Carson’s office drawer.”

“We just found our connection,” Reid muttered.

“Yes, we did.”

Andy hadn’t disappeared of his own free will. No, for some reason, he’d been killed, and his body hidden.

But why? What was his involvement in all of this?

As she pondered those questions, a stick cracked in the woods behind her.

Olive realized they weren’t out here alone.

CHAPTER 34

“You guys,” Olive murmured as she stiffly turned to face the woods.

“I heard it too,” Trick said.

He joined her, and they stared at the forest around them, preparing themselves for whatever might happen next.

But there was nothing. No more noises. No more sticks cracking under unseen weight.

“Someone want to tell me what’s going on?” Reid asked.

“I heard a noise,” Olive said quietly, her gaze still searching between the trees. “Someone could be out here with us.”

“You go left, I’ll go right,” Trick murmured to Olive. Then he glanced at Reid and Tevin. “You two stay here.”

“But—” Reid started.

“It’s nonnegotiable,” Trick said. “We can’t have our client getting hurt.”

Olive didn’t look back to see Reid’s expression, though she imagined he wasn’t happy. But Trick was right. His safety was their priority.

She drew the gun from her holster and crept into the woods. She kept her eyes wide open for any signs of danger—be it man or moose.

When she was three feet in, a figure darted out in a mad dash to get away.

“Hey!” Olive shouted before taking off after the man.