Page 51 of Misdirection

One thing was for sure. Olive wouldn’t find any answers by sitting in her office. She needed to get out there. To listen to some other theories. Maybe even to see what Bennett was up to right now.

With that thought in mind, she rose.

It was time to stop thinking about the fact Jason was on that video and time to get busy.

Just as Olive stepped into the hallway, she spotted Bennett disappearing around the corner.

She hadn’t intended on following him, but now that the opportunity had presented itself . . .

Keeping her steps steady as to not draw attention, she headed after him.

As she did, her phone buzzed.

Jason. But she couldn’t answer right now. She didn’t want Bennett to hear her behind him.

Besides, she wasn’t sure exactly what she’d say to Jason yet. She needed to figure that out before speaking with him.

Bennett skipped the elevator and went to the stairway instead. Olive hesitated before stepping through the door behind him.

She paused, waiting a moment.

Then she slowly opened the door, thankful the hinges weren’t squeaky.

Footsteps echoed through the chamber as someone headed downstairs.

Drawing in a quick breath, she stepped into the stairwell and quietly let the door close behind her.

As she did, her phone buzzed again in her pocket.

She grabbed it and glared at the screen. Jason was trying to call her for the second time.

What was so urgent?

It didn’t matter. She couldn’t talk to him right now. Not when she was following Bennett.

Whatever he had to say, it would have to wait.

Olive slipped her heels off, knowing they’d be too noisy and give away her presence. Then she began to pad down the stairway.

She resisted the urge to peek over the railing and see exactly where he was.

She couldn’t be caught, and taking the stairs at the same time as him might look suspicious.

Her heart pounded harder. If Bennett spotted her . . . any excuse she might try to sell him would be hard to believe.

That meant she couldn’t be caught.

A door opened in the distance and then slammed.

Bennett must have exited.

Based on the number of footfalls she’d counted, he was two floors below her.

But that would mean . . . he was on the second floor. The floor where the SCI corridor was located.

Why would he go down there? Most execs didn’t search for records themselves.

The company had something called burn bags. Whenever someone at the company requested confidential information, an employee with special clearance printed the needed documents from a secure network only accessible through computers in the SCI corridor.