Page 17 of Misdirection

However, opening up to others wasn’t something she was good at doing.

She paused as she considered her options.

Olive swallowed hard as she gathered her thoughts.

At once, she remembered when she and Jason had met the first time.

Her friend had forced her to go to a school dance. Olive hadn’t wanted to. She was tired of making friends only to move.

But her new friend had insisted.

Once at the dance, Olive had mostly stood in the background, not wanting to participate.

She’d gone to get some punch. When she turned around, she walked right into someone—and spilled her punch all over his suit.

It had been Jason. The star football player. The boy all the girls wanted to date.

She’d expected him to be angry. But he wasn’t.

He’d been gracious.

Then he’d asked her to dance.

She’d said yes—mostly because she felt bad.

She couldn’t believe it when he told her he hadn’t brought a date.

They’d laughed on the dance floor. Been goofy together. Found out they both loved Marvel movies and chicken tenders and stargazing.

They’d been inseparable afterward.

It was the only time in Olive’s life she’d ever felt that way.

Finally, she admitted, “I never thought I’d see Jason again.”

“It sounds like he meant a lot to you.”

“I loved him, and I’m pretty sure he loved me. But my family had to move. It was all very last minute. I didn’t even have a chance to tell him goodbye.”

Tevin squinted. “Why was the move so sudden?”

Olive didn’t normally talk to people about her family. But she’d make an exception for Tevin. She trusted him . . . as much as she trusted anyone, she supposed. But he’d proven himself time and time again.

She drew in a deep breath. “My dad worked various jobs, and each time those jobs required moving. He liked to make clean breaks, he said. That meant relationships as well.”

Tevin squinted. “What kind of jobs did he work?”

“It was for the government.” That was what Olive told people.

But her dad had confided to her that he actually worked special assignments for the FBI. That was why, when they moved, he always took on different jobs and used aliases. That was all the information he could tell her. His job and what he did was classified. Not even Olive’s mom could know the details, he’d said.

For most people, his story would have raised questions. Her family’s lifestyle definitely wasn’t ideal. But for Olive, she’d grown up that way, so it became her normal.

In the years since her family had died, she’d tried on the down-low to find out more information about what her father did. About which of the cases he’d worked on might have gotten him in trouble. Which cases might have made someone want to kill him and his family.

But everything was top secret, and Olive didn’t have the names or contact information for any of his superiors at the Bureau. Every time she asked questions, she was met withsilence. After hitting dead end after dead end, she’d given up searching that avenue—for now.

“You are a big mystery, aren’t you?” Tevin gave her a sideways glance.

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