Page 26 of Misdirection

Now shehopedhe was still here. Hoped he would show his face.

Because she would find the person who did this to her family, even if it was the last thing she ever did. And she would make sure this killer paid.

CHAPTER 10

TODAY

Olive pulled her knees to her chest as she sat on her window seat and stared outside at the city around her.

In order to sell her cover story, Aegis had provided a furnished apartment in the city for Olive to live in until this assignment was complete.

Sometimes all the details seemed like overkill. But specifics were important. If someone from her work stopped by, she needed to be able to sell the story she was Olive Whiten, a Harvard business major with a 4.0 GPA who’d also worked for several other of the nation’s biggest companies.

As she stared outside at the twinkling lights of the city, she couldn’t get her conversation with Jason out of her mind. What he’d said just didn’t make sense.

Why would her father tell Jason’s mom that Olive was pregnant? Why would Dad demand money in order to keep his silence? She’d always known he was secretive, but was he also deceptive and self-serving?

She wanted to believe his demands were part of some type of assignment he’d been on. But Olive couldn’t imagine any type of case where that kind of lie would be necessary.

Unless maybe he’d used that story as an excuse to cut ties with their Texas community. To give townspeople something to gossip about when her family left town, instead of spiking their curiosity.

Olive had developed a lot of questions about her family over the years, things that didn’t make sense.

Every time any confusion set in, she assumed her bewilderment was because of her father’s job. He had to carry so many secrets as part of his career.

But even with that explanation, there were things that still didn’t make sense.

What Jason had told her was the biggest one of them all.

If her dad had done that to Jason’s mom . . . then that sounded dirty. There was no way Olive could justify his actions.

Was there any reason for her to be okay with what he’d done? None that she could think of.

She glanced at her phone, contemplating her next actions.

There was only one person who might have the answers she needed. But if she asked this person for the truth and he told her, that would mean he’d been lying to her for eight years.

Olive almost didn’t want to know.

But that wasn’t who she was. She didn’t hide from the truth.

She shoved aside her hesitation and dialed his number.

Tom Greer answered on the first ring.

His voice jolted her to the past.

The FBI agent had taken her in when she had nowhere else to go. She’d only had one year until she could live independently as an adult at eighteen. She didn’t want to go into foster care.

After her family’s murder, the FBI had been asked to help. The Bureau had sent out two agents, Tom being one of them.

She and Tom had bonded over the course of the investigation. He’d been kind and patient. He’d offered quiet advice. He’d never seemed like he judged her.

Then Tom had asked Olive if she wanted to stay with him and his family.

Olive had said yes. It seemed better than any of the other alternatives. She had no extended family. Both her parents had been only children, and both sets of her grandparents had passed away before Olive even met them.

She’d never known what it was like to be doted on or adored by a grandparent.

---