Misdirection (Pros and Cons Mysteries #1)

Chapter 41

CHAPTER 41

J ason! No . . .

Olive wasn’t sure, but a scream may have left her lips.

She started to run toward his burning vehicle.

Then arms encircled her waist.

Her instincts kicked in, and she jabbed her elbow back and began thrashing.

“Calm down,” a deep voice said. “It’s me.”

She froze then turned.

All the air left her lungs as a familiar face came into view. “Jason?”

He nodded.

The next instant, she flew into his arms.

He pulled her tight as he stroked her back. “It’s okay.”

“I thought . . .” Olive had been certain he was dead.

“I’m okay.”

A crowd had gathered on the sidewalk to watch the vehicle burn. Based on the phones they held, people were either recording this or calling the police.

Amazingly, no one appeared to be hurt.

“What happened?” Olive drew back from him so she could look him in the eye.

“I hit my remote start to warm the vehicle up. The next instant, the car exploded.”

She shook her head. “I can’t believe this. You could have been inside.”

“I know.” His jaw hardened as he frowned.

Then she remembered why she’d been following him. He’d gotten that text and abruptly left. He had to have a good reason for that.

She’d ask him later.

But first, they’d need to talk to the police.

After Olive and Jason had given their statements to the police, Jason turned to her on the bustling sidewalk. Most of the onlookers had cleared, but the tantalizing scent of garlic and onions remained.

Olive saw the questions in Jason’s eyes, but he kept them quiet.

“I need to figure out a way to get home,” he said instead.

“I’ll drive you.”

“I can call an Uber.”

She shook her head. “Don’t be silly. I insist.”

He stared at her another moment as if contemplating saying no again. Then he surprised her with, “Okay then.”

They quietly walked down the sidewalk. Too much was going on for them to talk. Too many people were around.

They needed privacy.

They reached her car in the garage, climbed in, and she plugged in his address.

He was the first to speak. “You were following me.”

“You got a text and started to act weird. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“You wanted to make sure I wasn’t up to something, you mean.” He tilted his head, softening his stare.

She shrugged as she merged into traffic. “That too. So you want to tell me who you got the text from and why you had to leave so suddenly?”

“If you must know, it was Sonny,” he told her.

“Why did Sonny contact you?”

“An alarm went off at work, and he became concerned. I was heading into the office to check it out. He just texted back a few minutes ago and said he figured things out.”

“And you couldn’t have told me that?” Olive was trying to understand his reasoning and keep her emotions at bay.

“I wanted to get more information before I shared anything.”

She cocked her head as she stared at him. “Why?”

Jason met her gaze. “Because it looks like Duncan caused the alarm to go off . . . I didn’t want to paint him in a bad light if it wasn’t necessary.”

Duncan? He’d fallen off Olive’s radar.

What if he shouldn’t have?