Misdirection (Pros and Cons Mysteries #1)

Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38

O live continued to stare at the house.

What was Adriana doing here? What was her connection to this person?

“I want to talk to her,” Jason muttered, his jaw twitching as he glared at the house. “Demand some answers.”

Alarm rushed through Olive. She had to convince Jason that was a bad idea.

“You should stick with the original plan and meet with her in the morning,” she rushed. “See what she tells you. It will be of more value to this case if you do it that way. You know Adriana won’t tell you the truth if you demand it.”

His gaze remained hard. “You told me the truth.”

“But I’m one of the good guys.”

Jason’s eyebrows flickered as if he didn’t quite believe her.

Olive couldn’t blame him. Yet she couldn’t let him blow this whole operation either.

She waited to hear his decision.

“Fine.” Jason crossed his arms. “I’ll wait. For now. But none of this is making sense to me.”

Her lungs loosened. Good. He’d listened.

“You’re not the only one who’s confused,” Olive murmured. “Someone is playing a deadly game.”

Just then, a black sedan screeched to a stop in front of the house.

Olive’s muscles tightened as everything seemed to happen quickly, yet also in slow motion.

Two men wearing all black jumped from the back of the vehicle.

Then the sedan sped away, leaving as quickly as it had come.

The men ran toward the house. She sucked in a breath.

They had guns.

Olive watched in horror as they kicked the door open and burst inside.

The next moment, gunfire exploded.

Then silence.

“What just happened?” Tevin muttered, his eyes wide.

Olive’s thoughts were still spinning. “Good question.”

Who had done the shooting? Adriana or the men who’d broken in?

Before Olive could stop him, Jason opened his door and sprinted toward the house.

Olive quickly glanced at Tevin. “Call 911. I’m going after Jason.”

She didn’t wait for Tevin to respond. Instead, she grabbed her gun and rushed from the van.

Jason had already entered the house.

She hoped he didn’t get himself killed. She should have tried harder to stop him. But it was too late for that now.

She had no idea what they’d find inside.

Olive ran into the house and paused, taking in the scene.

She sucked in a breath.

The man Adriana had been meeting lay on the floor, five bullet holes in his chest.

The gunmen were nowhere to be seen.

“They went out the back door,” Jason muttered as if reading her mind.

Their driver must have pulled up on the street behind them for a quick getaway.

She rushed toward Trey on the floor and put her finger to his neck.

But it was as she suspected. He was dead.

Then her gaze flew to Adriana.

She also lay on the floor near the hallway leading toward the bedrooms. Blood drizzled from her forehead—but not from a bullet. She must have fallen and hit her head.

Was she dead?

Jason squatted beside her. “She still has a pulse.”

“Tevin called the police. They should be here soon.” Olive’s jaw tightened with so much intensity that it ached. “This was a professional hit.”

“But it was still sloppy . . . why didn’t they shot Adriana?”

Great question. “Okay, so it was professional, but the best of the best weren’t hired. Maybe they heard us coming and ran.”

“Can Tevin see if he can catch up with these gunmen?”

Olive shook her head. “Absolutely not. He’s not trained for that. In fact, we should get out of here. If the police know we were here, it will only slow our investigation down.”

Jason started to argue.

Olive squeezed his arm, trying to bring him back to reality. “You know I’m right. We shouldn’t be here when the police arrive.”

His jaw tightened before he finally tore his gaze from Adriana and nodded. “We should go.”

As sirens sounded in the distance, they ran from the house and climbed back into the van.

But Olive had no idea exactly what had just happened.