Chapter 29
CHAPTER 29
O live watched as Jason turned away from her and ran a hand through his hair. Then he wandered to the stairway and sat down hard on one of the bottom steps.
Loki whined and sat in front of him.
Dogs . . . they were so loyal. For a moment, she envied Jason for having a creature that loved him so much.
Then she remembered the entirety of this situation, and the envy disappeared as quickly as money being illegally transferred from a bank account.
Olive gave Jason a moment to gather his thoughts.
She waited until he looked at her, questions in his gaze. Then she pulled out her phone and showed him the photo of Adriana and Beau together.
Confusion flashed through his gaze. Then he asked, a slightly breathless tone to his voice, “Where did you get that?”
“It’s a long story. Let’s just say I have my ways.”
He continued to study the photo. “Is it real? Or is it a deep fake?”
That was a question Olive hadn’t considered, even though she should have. “It appears to be real.”
“I can’t believe it.” He shook his head, his shoulders drooping.
Great. Olive had come here to confront him, and now it looked like she would have to comfort him instead.
“Tell me about Adriana.” She sat down on the stairs with him, Loki in front of them. “How did the two of you meet?”
His jaw tightened as if he didn’t want to go back in time to that day. Instead, he began to absently stroke Loki’s head.
In the background, the slight murmur of a TV sounded.
“When I first came to Chicago, I stayed in an apartment while I was figuring out what I wanted to do with this place,” Jason finally started. “One night at three a.m., the fire alarm went off. Everyone in the building had to evacuate. Some of the residents got a little overeager going down the stairway. They nearly trampled a few people.”
“Adriana was one of those people?”
“Being trampled or doing the trampling?”
Against her better instincts, she chuckled. “Good question.”
“She fell on the stairway, and people weren’t slowing down. I blocked everyone from stepping on her, helped her to her feet, and carried her the rest of the way down. Her ankle was sprained.”
“How romantic.” She wanted the words to be sincere, but they came out sounding sarcastic instead.
His gaze darkened. “Afterward, she insisted she take me to dinner as a way of saying thank you. I told her that wasn’t necessary, but she wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Olive had to wonder if Adriana had set off that fire alarm as a way of meeting Jason. She didn’t voice that question aloud, however. This wasn’t the time.
“Our dinner went well, and we began to see each other. I haven’t seen any red flags—and, believe me, I look for them. Especially now that I have my grandfather’s money.”
She didn’t want to feel sorry for him. She really didn’t.
But compassion still coursed through her.
Jason liked Adriana a lot. It was obvious. His hurt was real.
“What does Adriana do for a living?” Olive asked.
“She’s a consultant for an international marketing company. She says it’s pretty boring, but it pays well.”
“Does she talk about any details with you? Or is her job talk all generic, easily made-up information?”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Jason studied her face without apology.
“She could be lying about multiple things. Are you sure she really works at this international company?”
He shrugged. “I’ve seen her work badge. Her office. Nothing struck me as suspicious.”
Whoever this Adriana woman was, she was good. Maybe even a professional.
A professional like Olive?
Guilt flashed through her.
How would Jason feel if he ever learned Olive was working undercover? That she wasn’t everything she portrayed herself to be either?
She swallowed hard. He didn’t need to know.
There was no reason to tell him. When this assignment was over, she’d leave. She’d make no promises to anyone while she was here—no commitments, no connections.
Remaining unattached was what she was best at.
“I can’t believe she’d do this to me.” Jason ran a hand through his hair. “Has she been using me this whole time?”
His grief seemed real, and Olive actually felt bad for him. This whole confrontation hadn’t gone the way she’d planned.
Then Jason’s gaze shifted from disbelief and hurt to anger.
He grabbed his phone from his pocket. “I need to know what’s going on. Now. And Adriana is the only one with those answers.”
As soon as Olive realized what Jason was doing, she snatched his phone from his hand. “Wait! Don’t talk to Adriana yet.”
He stared at her in shock. “Why should I wait?”
“What are you going to say to her?”
He shrugged impatiently. “I’m not sure. But it probably won’t be nice.”
“You need to think this through first. For starters, where is Adriana, and when is she coming back?”
“She’s been working in London, and she’s supposed to be back in the morning. Why?”
Olive locked gazes with Jason. “Think about this. What if she doesn’t know that you know? Could you use that to your advantage?”
He squinted. “You mean, I should play along with her charade in order to get answers?”
“Exactly.” Olive continued to stare at him as she waited for his response.
He was considering it.
In the meantime, she had another issue to address.
She leaned closer. “I know you were in the SCI corridor the day Beau died.”
Jason blinked with confusion. “What?”
“I saw the real video—the unedited one. You were there after Beau entered the corridor and before I came.”
He shook his head, a wrinkle of confusion on his forehead. “No, I wasn’t.”
More denial? This was getting old.
She let her head fall to the side. “Jason, I saw the video.”
“Well, the video is wrong. I didn’t go down that corridor.” He paused. “I want to see this footage you’re talking about.”
Olive hesitated before finding it on her phone and showing him.
He watched it, his gaze flickering as he did.
When it finished, he looked up at her. His nostrils flared slightly, and his brown eyes were like a dark, swirling abyss.
“Where did you get this?” The words almost sounded like a growl.
“That’s not important.”
“I’d say it is! This makes me look guilty. It’s been tampered with.”
Loki whined and nudged himself closer as if sensing the tension in the air.
“Why do you say that?” Olive asked.
His gaze burned into her. “Because I wasn’t in the corridor that day. Someone created that video to make me look guilty. Someone is trying to set me up.”