Page 8 of Smokescreen

“That was close,” Tevin said as he sped away from the sale barn.

Olive climbed into the passenger seat and clicked on her seatbelt. Then she pulled her wig off and ran a hand over her hair, which had been pinned into a tight bun. “You can say that again.”

“Those guys weren’t playing.”

“No, but this only confirms that something fishy is going on. I need to find out who those guys are. One of them mentioned his sister was married to Skip Carson.”

“I’ll get right on that. We’ll figure out their identities. I have a system in place for that.”

Thirty-two-year-old Tevin was tall and lanky with curly, dark hair and dark-framed glasses. The man was smart as a whip and was a tech genius. Of everyone in her life, Olive trusted him the most. He was like a brother to her.

She stared at the country road ahead of them, both sides surrounded by open pastures and grazing cattle. The sun was high in the sky, and the early spring breeze added a chill to the air.

“Something is going on here, Tevin,” Olive murmured. “Why were those men putting a gun in Skip’s office?”

“Sounds like there’s more to this, and we’re just skimming the surface.”

Olive rubbed her neck. “Yes, it does. We need to figure out why someone wants Reid Harrison’s property so much. Is it secretly rich with oil or some type of mineral? That’s the first thing that comes to mind.”

“I thought about that too. I’ll see if I can find out if his land is sitting on something valuable. It’s a good starting place, at least.”

“That would be great,” Olive said. “But if not natural resources, then what?”

Tevin twisted his head. “I’m not 100 percent sure. That’s what we’ll need to figure out. I’ve already started a spreadsheet to keep track of everything.”

Next week, she would head to Reid Harrison’s ranch for the rest of her assignment. Today, she’d had to strike while the iron was hot. This had been her opportunity to glean information.

She glanced at the letter she’d taken a picture of.

It detailed the complaint against Reid, claiming some of his employees had purposefully injured livestock belonging to competitors before the last auction in order to garner more money for themselves.

The name of the person who’d filed this complaint, however, had been whited-out and redacted.

She frowned.

Whatever was happening, millions of dollars were at stake. With that much money involved, things got dangerous fast. In fact, some people were willing to kill for it.

CHAPTER 4

“Thanks for coming.” Reid Harrison closed the door to his massive office before returning to the seat behind his thick, wooden desk at Thunder Ridge Ranch.

Olive and Trick followed him inside and took seats across from him.

They’d just arrived in town and, in order to stay in character, Reid had sent someone to the airport to pick them up. They’d both been escorted inside his massive house, and their luggage had been placed near the front door.

Olive preferred having her own vehicle to use while she was on assignment, but she’d have to make the best of this situation. Being pampered was part of her persona.

She’d flown into town to spend time with Reid under the guise of being his new girlfriend. Trick had flown here to begin his job. Since there were so few flights in and out of the local airport, it made sense that they’d arrived at the same time.

Olive glanced at Reid Harrison. Even though she’d spoken with him via video call and had seen pictures of the man, Reid was taller and fitter than she’d envisioned. He wore tight jeans with a blue-and-white chambray shirt. His hair was thick and dark brown but cut short. A neatly trimmed beard and mustache covered his lower face.

She supposed that, by all definitions, Reid was a cowboy—a very wealthy cowboy—who dressed the part because he wanted to, not because he worked the land himself.

He was the heir of the Harrison estate—which included more than five hundred thousand acres of prime ranch land in the heart of Wyoming. His property was located about an hour east of the Grand Tetons, and only fifteen minutes from Vulture Gulch.

Yes, the nearest town was named Vulture Gulch. The name evoked quite a few mental pictures.

The county had three thousand residents, half of whom were ranchers or worked on ranches. The rest were either retired or worked in retail shops in town.

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