Page 100 of Smokescreen

Wayne arrived at the house thirty minutes later. He came to the front door, still wearing his tie, though he’d taken off his jacket. He’d also brought his briefcase and appeared ready to work.

Part of Olive felt guilty about deceiving the man, but he had to believe they were telling the truth. They couldn’t let him in on their secret.

“I’m so sorry to hear about the fire.” Wayne nodded over his shoulder toward the mountains in the distance. “I can only imagine what that was like, but I’m glad the blaze has been contained.”

“Me too.” Reid nodded toward his front door. “Why don’t we go into the office so we can have some privacy?”

“Of course.”

The three of them walked into the office together and sat down.

“You said this was urgent?” Wayne looked at Reid eagerly.

“It is.” Reid glanced at Olive, who gave him a reassuring nod. “Olive and I have had a lot of talks lately. We’re trying to figure out our future together and what that’s going to look like.”

“That seems fast,” Wayne said.

Reid shrugged. “When you know, you know. Right?”

“I guess so.”

Reid grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “As the two of us have been becoming more serious, we’ve realized we’re going to have to make some big decisions. This is really hard for me to say, but I’ve decided I might be interested in putting my property up for sale. I, at least, want to look at my options.”

Wayne blinked in surprise. “That’s quite the change of heart from earlier.”

“I think the fire really put things in perspective.”

“Are you sure about this?” Wayne gave him a skeptical look. “This property has been in your family for generations.”

“I know. I guess I’ve been in denial for a long time about the fact that there needs to be some changes in my life. I’m not sure my future is here or in ranching anymore.”

Wayne stared at him another moment before shaking his head. “This isn’t what I expected to hear. Are you sure it’s not a knee-jerk reaction?”

“Maybe it is.” Reid’s voice remained even. “But I’d like to begin gathering some information.”

Wayne remained quiet a moment before frowning. “The timing may not be right, not after this fire. It will drive the property value down.”

“I know,” Reid admitted.

Wayne finally nodded, still appearing thoughtful. “If this is something you’d like to do, then I can look into it for you.”

“I know I need to get a real estate agent involved,” Reid said. “But I’d like to know what I could get for this property and if there are any potential buyers who are still interested.”

“I do some real estate deals around here on occasion. I’ll see what I can find out.”

“I know you do.” Reid’s voice sounded decidedly more somber. “It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to this place. But maybe something new is exactly what I need.”

Wayne gave him a nod before standing. “Okay then. If that’s what you want, then I’ll get right on it.”

With any luck, word would begin to spread.

And just as Olive and Reid hoped, they could smoke out the person behind this sabotage.

For now, they needed to wait to see who came forward.

“You guys, I found something out you’re going to want to know.” Tevin stepped into the office, laptop in hand, five minutes after Wayne left.

Olive had been mentally reviewing their plan when Tevin appeared.

---