Page 106 of Misdirection

“So I finally figured out a better way to protect it.”

Olive tilted her head as she tried to figure out where he was going with this conversation. “I thought that’s why I was here—to do that for you.”

“I finally figured out another solution. I split up all the information on the project. Even if someone did manage to get into the secure network to get the project plans, they won’t get all of them.”

Brilliant plan. “But where is the second part?”

“In a safe in my office. It was the only thing I knew to do.”

Olive supposed that was fair. “Who else knows you did this?”

His gaze locked with hers. “No one. Only you and me. I thought someone else should know . . . just in case.”

“Just in case what?”

“In case things go south.”

That was a possibility Olive didn’t want to consider.

CHAPTER 46

EIGHT YEARS AGO

“Ican see it in your eyes, Olive.”

She looked up at Tom as she did her math homework at the dining room table and squinted. “See what in my eyes?”

He sat across from her, still in his suit and tie after work, studying her. “You’ve got all the right traits to be an investigator.”

She scoffed. That had been the last thing she expected him to tell her. “Why would you say that?”

“You show good attention to detail—when you wash dishes, I always know they’re done right. You’re great at researching—I’ve seen you looking into colleges and checking out what each of them has to offer. You’re patient—you literally listened to our neighbor talk about daffodils for an hour. You’re smart—that goes without saying. And maybe most importantly, you can read people.”

She couldn’t argue with anything he said, yet she couldn’t help but feel like a twist was coming. “Are you going to tell me I shouldn’t pursue it?”

Tom shook his head, the circles beneath his eyes appearing especially deep today. “No, that’s the last thing I’m going to do. But if you decide to choose that career path then I want to teach you the basics.”

“Really?” Surprise rang through her voice.

“Really.” Tom told her. “There are some tricks to the trade I’ve learned over the years.”

For the next hour, as Jill cooked dinner and the savory scent of lasagna wafted through the house, Tom talked to Olive about tips he’d discovered over the years.

None of his real kids had gone into law enforcement. One was a homemaker, another an engineer, the third a physical therapist, and the youngest a teacher.

Tom told her about the importance of documenting everything.

He told her about gathering multiple sources of information. About mastering the art of blending in. About building reliable networks. About reading body language.

Nearly everything he told her contrasted sharply to what her dad had unofficially taught her.

Olive remembered that one time her dad had showed her a magic trick.

The key to perfecting a sleight of hand trick is to make sure to make people look in one direction so they don’t see what’s happening in the other direction.

He then demonstrated by taking the wedding ring off his hand. He placed it under one of three cups. Told Olive to keep her eye on the ring.

So she had.

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