Chapter Twenty-Nine
Olivia
The first thing Olivia saw when she woke up was a text from Aunt Carol.
Jim is looped in on everything. He actually had a crazy idea last night. Call us as soon as you can.
She didn’t waste time even getting up to use the bathroom or to brush her teeth. Olivia called right away. Carol answered and put it on speaker.
“All right, hear me out,” said Jim. “At first I was against this whole thing but I know how you two are when you get a notion in your heads about something so I knew I wouldn’t be able to persuade you or especially my better half over here.
So then I got to thinking about something you both could do other than just asking questions.
I started to ponder about the incredible access to the station you have, Liv.
If you really want to try to get info, I have a tool for you. ”
“A tool?” Olivia was picturing one of Jim’s hammers or saws. What would she do with that?
“Yup, I got up out of bed last night and ordered it on . It’s already here at the house. That crazy fast delivery they have.”
“But … what is it?”
“I got you a pen with a camera hidden on the side. You can record anything. Super clear audio and video and you can download their app to watch. Has a long battery life and only needs recharging every once in a while. I thought you could plant it in the weather office so you can see what Matthew is up to when no one else is around. Maybe hear his phone conversations, things like that. No one would notice a single pen on a desk, right? And Michigan is a one-party consent state so you are allowed to record things without the other person’s knowledge. ”
Olivia gulped, her mind starting to race.
“Geez, Uncle Jim, that’s quite an idea. I don’t know what to say. Aunt C, what do you think?”
“I’ll be honest, sweetie. At first I thought your uncle had smoked something funny but then he reminded me of a 48 Hours episode where a civilian cracked the case using just this item.
I don’t know, Liv, I worry about your safety but you do have more access than anyone else and I think we all suspect Matthew most of all, right? ”
“As of now, yes,” said Olivia. Her temple was starting to throb.
“We’ll leave it up to you. As Jim said, the pen is here if you want to use it.
We actually both stayed up so late talking about this that we called in sick today so we’re home.
We needed the rest anyway after the whirlwind few days we’ve had.
So if you want to look at it or play around with it, you can come over before your internship starts today. ”
“Let me think on this,” said Olivia. “It’s quite the idea, Uncle Jim. I just need time to digest it all.”
They hung up and Olivia let out a low whistle.
Her uncle and aunt were encouraging her to plant a spy device in the weather office to try and record and potentially frame the weekend meteorologist. And she was just an intern in her second week.
It was bananas. The whole world had gone upside down.
She curled into a ball and pulled the covers over her head.
Part of her wanted to call in sick too, to hide under these blankets all day.
She could feel Gizmo walking up the blanket, and he let out a soft meow. She pulled her head out and said, “Giz … what would you do if you were me?”
He nuzzled his head into her hair. She reached out to pet him and he started to purr.
Olivia lay there for a good ten minutes stroking Gizmo and listening to his deep motor noise.
The very sound of him soothed her. She had read that a cat’s purr was known to lower blood pressure, and she felt it doing it for her.
Her mind started to slowly rake back and forth over people and possible scenarios.
She thought of Faith. She thought of her mom and wished she had her advice.
She thought of Carol and Jim, of Laura the executive producer, of Steve the weirdo, of this mystery woman Kelly.
She thought of her career just starting and what would happen to it if she were caught spying on someone, but also what would happen if she turned in a killer and was a hero.
After ten minutes, one thought was dominating all others. There was a saying, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.” She couldn’t just sit by and be well-behaved when a person had been murdered.
The rascal side of her started to rise and the scared part was falling.
She had to plant that pen. And she knew it wouldn’t be that hard either.
Faith’s desk had a cup full of pens sitting on it.
Olivia could wait until Matthew was on dinner break that night and then wander into the closed-door office unseen and slip the pen in.
Whether or not it would yield something on the video was unknown but she would do her part.
And no one would ever figure that it was her.
Even if someone found the pen they’d likely think Faith had planted it before her death.
She remembered reading about the civil rights activist John Lewis in a class the previous semester. His famous quote stuck with her: “Get in good trouble.” She was ready to do so.
Grabbing her phone, she texted her aunt and uncle back.
I’ll be over in an hour to pick up the pen