Page 61 of Smokescreen

“Is Bella okay?” she asked.

“She’s fine,” Reid assured her. “But I’ll have one of my guys check her over just to make sure.”

“Thank you.”

Reid studied her another moment before finally nodding and rocking back on his heels. “Trick, would you mind helping Olive inside and getting her something to drink?”

“Not at all,” Trick said.

Olive knew Reid had set up the situation so she could talk to Trick, and she appreciated it.

But the fact of the matter was her head hurt more than she wanted to let on.

She couldn’t believe she’d been taken by surprise like that.

She was normally more on top of things.

That realization made her even more angry.

“So what happened back there?” Trick asked Olive as he walked her back to the Homestead.

Their steps were slow, which fit the situation, considering someone had just hit Olive over the head. But the pace worked in their favor since they had a lot to talk about.

Olive told him what had happened. Then she filled him in on last night’s events as well.

“You should have called me,” he muttered.

“I would have, but my phone was dead. Besides, as you know, I’ll only break my cover if I feel like someone’s life is on the line.”

“Do you think someone is onto you?” Trick glanced at her, concern in his gaze.

“I think someone wants to get rid of me. But I don’t think they know I’m undercover. They just think I’m in the way.”

“Please, be careful.”

“How about you?” Olive glanced up at Trick. “Were you able to discover anything else?”

“Not yet. I’ve been talking to all the guys, trying to find out more about Andy. He sounds like a pretty low-key guy. Apparently, he had been sneaking out a lot lately. The guys gave him a hard time, said he was meeting a secret girlfriend. That’s how far I’ve gotten.”

“Good to know.”

“But Tevin is flying his drone over the property today, and I’m hoping he might see something. We desperately need a lead right now.”

“Speaking of which . . . when I was locked upstairs last night, I saw some lights in the woods. Three different ones, most likely indicating three different people. You know anything about that?”

Trick narrowed his eyes. “No, should I?”

“All the ranch hands accounted for?”

“There were several out checking on the cattle, and Dippy was with the horses. So, no, not everyone was accounted for. But what would someone be doing out there in the woods?”

“I have no idea,” she told him. “Do you think you could check it out?”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

They reached the house and paused.

Olive had one more question for Trick while they could still talk. “What do you think about the will I found in the attic? Should I confront Reid about it?”

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