Chapter 37
CHAPTER 37
O live tucked her hair behind her ear as her thoughts raced.
This was the moment, the pivotal point where she had to decide whether to keep lying to Jason or to tell him the truth.
But could she trust him with the truth?
She turned toward him. “What are you doing here?”
“Don’t try to turn this around on me.” He glared at her. “Tell me why you’re here.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tevin veer from his course and head toward the door instead.
“I know you’re with Olive,” Jason called to him. “So you don’t have to pretend like you two don’t know each other.”
Wow . . . Jason must have been watching her for a while. How had she not noticed? She was trained to have an eye for detail.
Either she was slipping at her job or Jason was really good.
She would choose to believe Jason was really good.
Tevin paused, seemed to contemplate what to do, and then he finally paced toward them. They all knew there was no need to keep pretending.
“Somebody, please start talking.” Jason turned to Tevin. “Who are you?”
“He’s a friend,” Olive jumped in.
Jason raised his eyebrows. “A friend?”
“I asked him to help me with something.”
His stare continued to burn holes in her. “You really go all in for your job, don’t you? Getting your friends to help you as well.”
Olive shrugged, trying to look casual. “What can I say? I’m dedicated.”
“There’s more to this story than what you’re telling me.” Jason’s glare deepened. “And I’m really tired of being lied to.”
Her heart panged.
She knew what it was like to be deceived. It wasn’t fun. That wasn’t what she wanted for Jason either. But she also had to protect the integrity of the case.
She cleared her throat, unsure what words would leave her lips.
But before any could, the elevator dinged again.
Out of the corner of her eye Olive saw a woman step out.
She was nearly certain it was Adriana.
If Adriana saw them, this would all be over. The whole assignment would be ruined, and Olive couldn’t let that happen.
She grabbed Tevin and Jason and pulled them out of sight, hoping she wasn’t too late.
Thankfully, neither Tevin nor Jason argued with Olive.
Instead, they slipped to the other side of the elevator shaft at the center of the large lobby.
By all appearances, Adriana hadn’t seen them.
At this point—assuming Tevin had spoken to the woman—Olive was the least likely to be recognized out of the three of them. For that reason, she peered around the corner to see what the woman was doing.
She watched as Adriana sashayed out the front door, her designer handbag slung over her shoulder.
The woman was even more beautiful in person—taller and slimmer than Olive had envisioned. Her features were defined and striking and her black hair perfection.
Was that a pang of jealousy that just rushed through Olive? Certainly not.
She focused on the situation instead.
Exactly where was the woman going?
They needed to find out.
“Come on.” She motioned to Jason and Tevin. “We don’t have any time to waste.”
Neither of them argued, though Olive was certain Jason would have more questions later.
They stepped outside. Adriana was headed toward a car in the distance.
“That’s hers,” Jason said. “It’s Adriana’s car.”
“We’re parked just across the street.” Olive made an executive decision. “We’ll take our van.”
“Your van?” Jason questioned.
“I don’t have time to explain right now,” she muttered.
She hurried across the street and jumped in the passenger seat while Tevin got behind the wheel.
Jason climbed into the back, his eyes widening as he glanced around and saw the setup in the rear of the vehicle. “What kind of operation do you two have going on here?”
Olive started to say it was complicated. But she was tired of the lies and secrets.
Tevin pulled into traffic, following after Adriana.
Once they were on the road, Olive turned to Tevin, knowing they needed to be on the same page. “I want to tell him more. We can trust him. I know we can.”
Tevin glanced at her quickly as if trying to read her expression. He must have seen the sincerity there because he nodded. “I’ll have to take your word on that.”
Olive looked back at Jason. “I was hired specifically to find a mole within Conglomerate. Tevin is assisting me.”
Jason narrowed his gaze. “You mean you were hired to find a mole in your job as an information security analyst?”
“Kind of. It’s a little more complicated. Duncan actually hired me after the CIA told him what was going on.”
Jason raked a hand over his face. “You’re telling me Duncan hired you to look into the company and that the US Attorney General also talked to Bennett about the same issue?”
“That was confusing to us also. But, yes. However, our contact is with the CIA.”
“Who is this ‘our’ you are talking about?” Slight accusation stained Jason’s words. “You and Tevin?”
“It’s not just us. We work for a private security firm and do deep cover assignments.”
He cocked his head in doubt. “You’re joking with me right now, aren’t you?”
“I’m not.”
“I’m head of security at Conglomerate, and no one thought to fill me in on this?”
As Tevin took an especially sharp turn, Olive reached for the dash to keep her balance.
“Sorry,” Tevin murmured. “I don’t want to lose Adriana.”
Olive glanced back at Jason and saw that his gaze had darkened.
She’d hoped he might be understanding. Maybe even admire her dedication to her job. Instead, he still looked infuriated.
A part of her couldn’t blame him.
Instead of explaining more, she waited for him to ask questions. In the meantime, she glanced at the street ahead of her.
Adriana had headed out of the city and into the suburbs. Where exactly was she going? How long would this drive be?
To Olive’s surprise, only ten minutes later, Adriana stopped in the driveway of a moderately sized house just outside Chicago.
Tevin pulled to the side of the road two house lengths away, and they watched as Adriana briskly walked toward the door. She didn’t knock. Instead, she punched in a code on the keypad and slipped inside.
From where Olive sat, she could see the outline of two people talking behind the curtain in one of the windows.
“You recognize the house?” Olive asked Jason.
“No, I don’t.”
Tevin grabbed his computer. “I can figure this out. Give me a few seconds.”
He tapped in several things and then announced, “It’s Trey Bartle’s place.”
“Who is Trey Bartle?” Olive asked.
He turned his computer and showed her a picture of a man with gleaming white teeth and thick, light brown hair.
She’d seen that man before.
Then she realized where.
He was the man in the photo in Bennett’s office.
Her lungs froze.
What if Bennett wasn’t as innocent as he claimed?