Page 74 of Smokescreen

Olive studied Tevin a moment as he sagged in his seat. “I wish I had some dill-flavored sunflower seeds for you.”

“I could go for some of those right now.” He offered a feeble smile.

He still looked pale, and she was worried about him. But Tevin had insisted he didn’t want to go to the clinic.

With Trick now present, they went through the same story Tevin had told them in the truck about what had happened.

Trick’s gaze flickered with anger that someone had hurt his colleague. “Do you think someone knows who you really are?”

“I’m not sure.” Tevin shook his head, his gaze dull. “It probably has more to do with what I picked up on with my drone.”

Olive scooted closer to the edge of her seat. “What did you see?”

Tevin’s gaze locked on hers. “I saw a body.”

“What?” Surprise laced Reid’s voice.

“A man was lying by the stream,” Tevin continued. “But it was probably ten miles west of where I was operating the drone. Too far for me to go check it out myself.”

“Do you think it could be Andy?” Olive turned to Reid.

He rubbed a hand over his frown. “Without seeing an image, it’s hard to say. I certainly hope not.”

So did Olive, but she knew the odds. Someone could have left a body out in that wilderness, knowing it was likely to never be found. Turkey vultures would eat it first and scatter the bones.

“Do you think you can find the image?” Trick asked Tevin.

He grabbed his computer. “Let me work on it.”

Just as he started typing, someone knocked at the door.

They all stiffened.

Reid motioned for everyone to stay put. Then he walked to his office door and stepped out. His voice still carried through the door, however.

“Cooper,” he muttered a moment later. “What’s going on?”

Cooper murmured a few things that Olive couldn’t make out—and she definitely tried.

Finally, Reid stepped back into the room, the lines on his face hard.

He closed the door and turned toward them. “The fewer people who know we’re meeting, the better. Even though Cooper is my right-hand man, I still want to be careful.”

“It’s only wise,” Olive said.

Reid remained by the door, his jaw visibly tightening. “Cooper just told me that some of the guys heard gunshots out in the woods.”

“Is that normal?” Olive asked.

“No, it’s not,” Reid said. “He’s going to check it out, just to be sure nothing is wrong. Most likely, it’s hunters.”

Olive frowned. “I don’t like where this is going. As soon as it’s daylight, I need to find that body.”

“I think I found an image . . .” Tevin murmured as he tapped away on his computer.

They all gathered around him. He enlarged an image from his drone and showed it to them.

Reid let out a grunt. “That looks like Andy, but it’s hard to say for sure.”

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