Page 96 of Smokescreen

“I agree,” Reid said. “And I’d love to be kept in the loop if you hear anything.”

“Will do.” The sheriff nodded and started back to his vehicle.

But questions still swirled in Olive’s head.

CHAPTER 43

Olive had taken a quick shower before heading back downstairs. She found Reid in his office. He’d also cleaned up since she last saw him.

She’d just sat down across from him when Tevin knocked at the door.

“Olive, Reid, can I talk to you alone?” Tevin asked.

Olive and Reid exchanged a glance before nodding. Tevin stepped inside, his laptop tucked under his arm, and shut the door.

“What’s going on?” Reid asked.

Tevin sat in the seat beside Olive. “I’ve been trying to trace the number from the person who sent Hannah those messages. It was tricky because it’s a burner phone, of course.”

“Did you find something?” Olive asked.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I couldn’t trace the burner phone itself. But I was able to find out where it was purchased. It’s a long story, but to sum it up—I was able to hack into the security footage at the convenience store where the burner phone was purchased.”

Reid shifted in his seat. “Please, don’t keep us in suspense. Who bought it?”

“You’re probably not going to like this.” Tevin paused and swallowed hard. “But it looks like . . . it looks like Daphne bought that phone.”

“What?” Reid raised his hat just long enough to run a hand through his hair. “Daphnesent Hannah those messages?”

Tevin opened his laptop, typed in a few things, and then turned his screen around. He showed them the footage of Daphne using cash to buy the phone.

“I can’t believe this.” Reid leaned back hard in his chair. “Why would she do this?”

“Maybe she still hopes you’ll move to California.” Olive shrugged. “Maybe she thought she could drive you away from the ranch, and this was one way of doing it.”

Reid narrowed his eyes, a frown still tugging at his lips. “It’s possible. Does that mean she’s behind all this?”

Olive didn’t feel confident they could make that assumption. She couldn’t see Daphne starting that fire. And clearly Daphne wasn’t the one who’d abducted Tevin. Had the woman hired Jon and Edgar to do that?

“We need to get to the bottom of this.” Reid stood and grabbed his keys from his pocket.

“Where are you going?” Olive stood also, anxious to hear his thoughts and hoping he wasn’t planning to do something rash.

“I’m going into town to find Daphne, and I’m going to ask her some serious questions.” He headed toward the door and flung it open.

“I’m going with you.” Olive quickened her steps to keep up with him.

“I’ll keep doing my thing here,” Tevin called.

Olive couldn’t wait to hear what Daphne had to say. She hoped the woman might have some of the answers they needed . . . because Daphne definitely knew more than she was letting on.

Several minutes later, Olive and Reid pulled up to the motel. Reid grabbed a parking space closer to the road, backing in so they could observe the building.

Olive frowned as she stared up at it. “We don’t know which room Daphne is in.”

“Or if she’s even in town still.”

“If she’s trying to sabotage you, then I can only guess she’s still in the area.”

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