Page 63 of Smokescreen

Olive planned on finding out . . . because as it stood now, he was one of her top suspects.

Olive looked for Trick but didn’t see him anywhere.

That meant she was on her own right now.

As Dippy walked around the side of the Homestead away from the crowd, Olive quietly slipped behind him. She paused at the corner and peered around it in time to see Dippy heading toward some outbuildings.

Moving quickly so as to not lose him, Olive followed.

He hurried across the lawn and disappeared behind the barn.

Olive darted toward the building, careful to remain out of sight.

She paused at the barn’s edge and peered at Dippy. He’d stopped behind the barn and pulled out his phone.

She crept closer, ducking behind an old combine where she wouldn’t be seen. Then she listened to his conversation.

“I’ve got what you need,” Dippy said. “Everything is going according to plan. It’s all on track.”

Thatsounded suspicious.

“It will all be over soon,” Dippy continued. “And Reid Harrison will never be the same.”

Dippy was behind this sabotage at the ranch, wasn’t he? This conversation was incriminating, to say the least.

Olive needed to confront him now while he couldn’t deny it.

She stood and stepped out.

As soon as Dippy saw her, his eyes widened.

“I’ve got to go,” he murmured before putting his phone away. He straightened as he turned toward her. “Olive . . . what are you doing here?”

“The question really is, what areyoudoing here?”

“Just talking to an old friend.” Sweat spread across his forehead.

She stepped closer. “You’re up to something, and I want to know what.”

“Why would you think that?” The beads of sweat across his skin continued to grow.

“For starters, you’re sneaking around behind the barn to make a phone call. I just overheard part of your conversation. Have you been trying to sabotage the ranch, Dippy?”

“What?” His voice rose. “You’ve got this all wrong.”

Olive crossed her arms. “Then you need to start explaining.”

CHAPTER 27

“Idon’t know what you think you heard, but it’s not what it sounds like.” Dippy took a step back and furiously shook his head.

Olive remained cool and in control, knowing that would only spook Dippy more. “Then what did I just hear?”

He raised his hands as if to prove his innocence. “My friend was a huge fan of Reid’s reality show. He was thrilled to hear I was coming to work here. So I took some pictures for him. He was over the moon.”

“Is that right?” Olive stepped closer, not breaking eye contact. “Now tell me the rest of the story.”

“What do you mean?” More sweat spread across his brow, and his ears turned red.

---