Page 91 of Smokescreen

“As a matter of fact, yes. I have a small one at least.”

Her pulse quickened. “I’m listening.”

“I heard back from Mitzi,” Tevin started, his tone low. “She ‘accidentally’ ran into Lucy at a restaurant in Seattle. The woman had already had a few drinks, so her lips were pretty loose.”

Though Olive wasn’t a huge fan of indulgent drinking, it did work in their favor sometimes. Alcohol could be a great lip lubricant in their investigations.

“Did Mitzi find out anything?” she asked.

“It turns out that Lucy has begun to focus a lot of her attention recently on veganism.” Tevin watched her reaction.

Olive hadn’t expected to hear that. “That’s . . . interesting.”

“As part of her push for veganism, she’s become very adamant that animals shouldn’t be eaten. She’s made it a moral thing.”

“And that means she would be adamantly opposed to a ranch that raises cattle . . .”

Tevin pointed at her with finger pistols. “Exactly.”

She stored that clue in her mental vault.

“Do you think someone set this fire on purpose?” The thought had been simmering in Olive’s mind ever since she heard the news.

Tevin’s eyes widened. “You mean as a way of sabotaging the ranch?”

“Exactly. If this property is destroyed, it won’t be worth as much. It could be a tactic to drive Reid away.”

“But for someone to take it this far . . .” Tevin twisted his neck, his face pinched with doubt. “I don’t know. And if it’s the land someone is after, why destroy it? It will be less valuable to them also.”

“Unless they’re in it for the long game.” Olive stared at Tevin, watching his response.

“Maybe. But they’re putting other properties in this area in danger also. They’re literally playing with fire.”

“Selfish people don’t generally care about things like that.” Olive hesitated as a thought struck her. “Do you think Lucy could have set this fire? But then again, she wouldn’t want to do that because it might harm innocent animals, right?”

Tevin shrugged. “In theory. But some people don’t exactly think things through.”

“I can’t argue that.” Olive rubbed her arms and continued to stare at the mountains. “This is serious.”

“I wish there was another way I could help.” Tevin frowned as he stared in the distance also.

“Me too. I hate just standing here. But I also don’t want to get in the way. Reid and his guys are trying to move all the cattle to safety now.”

Olive realized she hadn’t told him about the Hannah situation, so she updated him.

When she finished, he frowned and shook his head. “That’s suspect.”

“It is. I also know Daphne is still in town. So are Jon and Edgar, though I’m not sure what they’re still doing here or what they want to prove.”

“Maybe they seriously felt threatened by you when you saw them in Skip’s office,” Tevin suggested.

“Maybe.” Olive frowned. “They’re either trying to scare me off or to silence me for good.”

“Maybe they just want to know what you know.”

“Maybe. Then there’s the dead body you saw. I can only assume those men moved it.”

Tevin let out a sigh. “Seems like a good deduction.”

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