Page 99 of Smokescreen

Daphne scowled. “It was harmless. Besides, ever since you showed me your mom’s dolls I always thought they should be thrown in the trash. They’re downright creepy.”

Reid ignored her and asked, “How did you even know Olive was in the attic?”

“After you helped me with the shower, I thought I heard something. I ventured into the other wing and saw the attic stairs were down. Then I realized Olive was up there. I didn’t want to be caught locking the doors. So I had Hannah do it. It was kind of fun being there to see everything play out.” Some of Daphne’s embarrassment was replaced with a smirk.

A smirk Olive would like to smack right off her face if she were that kind of person, which she wasn’t.

“Did you cut the fence line so my cattle could get out?” Reid’s voice rose with irritation. “Are you the one who went after the surveyor I hired to do some drone footage?”

“What?” Daphne squinted and drew her chin back in surprise. “I haveno ideawhat you’re talking about.”

“Did you hire Jon and Edgar to do your dirty work?”

Daphne’s eyes narrowed even more. “Who are Jon and Edgar?”

Olive watched Daphne’s expression. She believed the woman. Those things wouldn’t have driven Olive away, whereas the doll and being trapped in the attic might have.

What they were dealing with here were two separate issues.

One involving Daphne trying to get rid of Olive and the second involving someone else trying to ruin Reid’s property.

At least she and Reid had a few answers.

But they still needed a lot more.

“Should I call the sheriff’s office?” Reid asked once he and Olive were back in his truck.

He made no move to go anywhere yet, so Olive made sure to keep an eye on everything around them—just in case. She didn’t see any signs of trouble.

She shifted to face him. “That’s up to you. I’m not sure how much they’ll do. Although the fact that Daphne was blackmailing Hannah could land her in some serious trouble.”

“I’ll talk to Hannah about it. We can figure out what to do.”

“I’m glad to have a couple of answers,” Olive said. “But we still haven’t found the true culprit behind this.”

“I know. I’m beginning to think it’s someone close to me.”

Olive thought the same. But still, she asked, “Why do you think that?”

“Whoever it is seems to be monitoring my reactions to everything and knows he can strike soon after his original plan doesn’t work.” Reid rubbed his jaw. “This isn’t an unseen enemy. It’s someone who’s been watching all this take place and waiting for me to give up.”

“That makes sense. I’m inclined to agree.” An idea began to brew in Olive’s mind, an idea she really liked. She slowly nodded as she thought it through more. “Maybe we should try to smoke this person out.”

“What do you mean?”

Olive quickly calculated how they might enact her plan. She wished she had more time to think things over. But she shared the basics with Reid.

When she finished, Reid studied her face, a touch of hesitation in his expression. “Do you think we can really pull this off?”

“I think it’s worth a shot.”

He gave her an affirmative nod. “Then let’s do it.”

“Perfect.” Olive straightened, her thoughts still thrumming. “Our first step is calling Wayne and seeing if he can come out and talk to us.”

“I’ll get right on that.” Reid grabbed his phone and made the call.

CHAPTER 45

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