Page 101 of Deception

Olive waited, halfway expecting the man to enter the bedroom.

A creak cut through the air.

Her lungs froze.

But the sound hadn’t come from the door to Matt and Rebecca’s bedroom, she realized.

There were two other bedrooms in the house. From what Rebecca had told Olive, one belonged to Willow and the other was a home office. She wasn’t sure which was which.

If Olive had to guess, the man had gone into the office. More suspicious information could be found there.

She took a step back and her foot hit something.

Out of curiosity, she reached to pick it up.

She squinted.

A burner phone had been stuffed into a shoe.

Why would Rebecca or Matt have a hidden burner phone?

More things didn’t make sense.

She wanted to take the device with her, but she couldn’t. If this phone went missing, it would be too obvious someone had taken it. Instead, she placed it back inside the shoe.

As she did, a new thought hit her. What if someone else was investigating this family? The police? The FBI? Even a reporter possibly?

Maybe that was who’d come inside.

Olive would never know if she remained hidden.

Drawing in a deep breath, Olive pushed the door open and slunk out. She wanted a better look.

But she couldn’t be caught. She needed to be very careful.

For that reason, she decided to stay in the bedroom and peer into the hallway.

She quietly walked toward the doorway.

Just before she reached it, the floor squealed beneath her.

She froze, her heart racing out of control.

Had that man heard her footstep? Had she just blown it?

She was about to find out.

Olive’s heart pounded in her ears.

She couldn’t just stand here. Yet she couldn’t afford to make any more sounds either.

She imagined the man coming into this room and seeing her. Reacting to her. Attacking her.

Her body still ached from the fight last night. She wasn’t as strong today as she’d like. Her body needed more time to recover.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket.

It was probably Jason, checking to make sure she was okay.

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