Page 50 of Obscurity
“I overheard what Becca was telling you about the missing girl in Tennessee.”
“What about it?” Olive asked.
“I was curious, so I hiked just outside of town. That newer house you mentioned? The one where Brad is staying? Turns out there’s reception there. I managed to get through to Rex.”
Olive’s pulse quickened. “And?”
“Two things. First of all, he said he tried to call you before you reached the lodge, but reception was bad.”
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“He found out about another disappearance in this area.”
She sat up straighter. “Who?”
“A man named Hector Velasquez. He’s from Mexico City and moved to this area for some job opportunity.”
“Did he say what kind of job?” Jason asked.
Tevin shook his head. “No, just that it would be fast money that he wanted to send back to his family. One of his cousins is actually a lawyer in St. Louis. He heard about what happened and told the police. Otherwise, this guy would have probably just disappeared and never been heard about again.”
“Do you have a picture?” Olive asked.
Tevin nodded and scrolled on his phone. A moment later, he showed them a picture of a Hispanic man, probably in his late twenties, who stood smiling with dusty mountains in the background.
But it was what was on his wrist that caught her attention.
It was a bracelet . . . one that looked an awful lot like the one she’d seen by the blood on the trail today.
CHAPTER 30
Olive showed them both the photo she’d taken on the trail.
None of them could deny the truth.
“The list of missing people is growing,” Olive murmured.
“That’s not all. The missing girl from Tennessee? Her name was Jessica Houser. Twenty-one years old. She did intern for Brad and this new exercise app he tried to launch.” Tevin paused. “When her internship ended, she never returned home.”
Jason leaned forward. “You sure? We did a background check on Brad.”
“His name was buried in the paperwork. But it was there.”
Another puzzle piece clicked into place in Olive’s mind. “Just as we suspected, this isn’t his first time running a fraudulent scheme—or failed business venture.”
“These people are good at covering their tracks. Different company names, different financial structures, carefully laundered paper trails. Someone with serious resources is backing this operation.”
Olive thought about the mansion they’d seen, about Brad’s obvious love of money. “Question is, what’s the real purpose of these businesses? Is Brad just a terrible entrepreneur? If so, why the pattern of disappearances?”
She tried to think like her dad. If he’d been involved with something like this, what would his motivation have been?
She wasn’t sure.
“That’s what we need to figure out. But there’s something else.” Tevin pulled out his phone. “Your signal problems aren’t natural. Someone’s using a signal blocking device. It creates the appearance of cell service while actually preventing any real communication.”
“Why would they do that?” Olive was beginning to suspect she knew the answer.
“Same reason you jam communications in any tactical situation.” Tevin’s cheek twitched. “To prevent your targets from calling for help.”
