Page 38 of Obscurity
“This is disappointing.” Though she was undercover, her words were sincere.
This was honestly shocking—even worse than she’d imagined. If she’d actually paid for this, she would be furious.
Max’s smile became more strained. “Like I said, luxury is relative out here. You’re sleeping under the stars, breathing pure mountain air?—”
“For five thousand dollars,” Jason interrupted, his eyebrows suspended. “We paid five thousand dollars each to be here this weekend.”
Max’s expression hardened slightly. “You’re paying for the experience, not just the accommodations. Wait until you hear the music tonight. It will blow your mind.”
Olive had serious doubts.
This whole festival was a disaster—in more than one way.
CHAPTER 23
After Max left, Olive and Jason stood in awkward silence, staring at their pathetic campsite.
Around them, other festivalgoers were discovering similar disappointments, their voices carrying through the air in various stages of disbelief and anger.
“Well . . .” Jason finally said as he stared at their tent. “This is cozy.”
Cozy was an understatement. The tent was tiny with barely enough room for both of them. Sleeping at night would be more awkward than she’d imagined.
Not only that, but she was kind of hungry. She’d grabbed a hot dog earlier, but it wouldn’t hold her over for long.
Olive dropped her voice to barely above a whisper. “We need to talk, but not here.” She glanced around at the neighboring campsites, noting how sound would carry in the open area. “Too many ears.”
Jason nodded. “Later.”
They spent the next few minutes setting up their pitiful accommodations.
Finally, when she was confident they weren’t being watched too closely, she unzipped the tent and crawled inside. Jasonfollowed, and for a moment they were alone in the dim interior of what was supposed to be their luxury suite.
“This is a disaster.” Olive kept her voice so low it was almost inaudible. “But that’s not the worst part.”
Jason settled beside her in the cramped space, close enough that she could feel his warmth. She ignored the fact that her heart began to pound faster.
“What did you find in Elias’s office?” Jason asked.
“Incident reports going back years. Missing person cases, search and rescue operations that turned up nothing.” She pulled out her phone and found the photos she’d taken earlier. “There have been way more disappearances than just the three we knew about. And all the reports have notes in the margins—things like ‘too close to Grayfall’ and ‘ignored safety protocols.’”
He pressed his lips into a tight line before saying, “So someone has been covering up these incidents for a long time.”
“That’s what it looks like. Plus, remember the man on the trail?” Olive shivered despite the warm air inside the tent. “I think he knows something we don’t.”
Jason’s expression tightened. “What kind of something are you thinking he knows?”
“I don’t know yet. But between his warning, the missing person reports, and this joke of a festival—” She gestured around their pathetic accommodations. “I think we’re dealing with something a lot more dangerous than financial fraud.”
“You think they’re planning to?—”
Before Jason could finish his thought, voices erupted outside their tent. Loud, angry voices that suggested other festivalgoers had reached their breaking point with the accommodations.
Olive and Jason exchanged glances. This could be the distraction they needed to do more investigating, or it could be the moment everything fell apart completely.
“We should see what’s happening.” Olive already reached for the tent’s zipper.
Whatever was about to unfold, she had a feeling it would reveal more about what they were really dealing with in Grayfall.
