“Hmmm. Well…” Olive tapped her lower lip in thought. “What about that maintenance position we’ve been trying to fill for the past year? I hate to say it, but filling that one isn’t likely to draw too much attention. We can all agree how much the janitorial staff is overlooked. And…” Olive put up a finger, her expression opening as she had her eureka! moment, “… he’ll have the keys to everything!”
“She’s right.” Levon wondered why neither of them had thought of it before. He even had the uniform in his truck. “Does the maintenance staff interact much with the students?”
“No, not directly.” Principal James capped and uncapped his pen thoughtfully. “But we don’t need to let that stop us. Olive, why don’t you act as Mr. Asher’s informant? Relay any relevant student communication to him. Anything you might overhear.”
“R-really?” Olive sat up a bit straighter and blinked. “You want me involved?”
Levon wanted to roll his eyes at the principal’s suggestion, since that was basically what they were already doing, but instead said, “I think the maintenance position would be perfect. And hey, you’re lucky—I actually have the skillset to fill that job.”
“You’re way overqualified,” Olive muttered as they all rose. Levon shook the principal’s hand—a first—and left the man’s office without a detention slip.
Also a first.
8
“What are you doing?” The question was out of his mouth almost before he was through the door to his apartment.
All day, Levon had been daydreaming of the moment he would arrive home. Indulging in fantasies wasn’t exactly conducive to focusing on the mission, and getting the work done, but he couldn’t help it; the instant he let his concentration lapse, his imagination dropped him back in bed with Olive, petting her hair, just like he had the previous night. Allowing his hands to drift and start stroking other things—which hadn’t happened, but that didn’t stop his imagination from picturing how it could have gone. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep his thoughts from straying—and as soon as they escaped the half-hearted mental pen he had built for them, they got lusty. They got downright dirty. He knew things were difficult enough for Olive right now without him getting hard at just the thought of her, so he fought to master his desires, and looked forward to seeing her when he got home that evening.
What he hadn’t expected to see was her duffel bag, already half-packed, and fast approaching its zipping point.
Levon stood in the doorway to the bedroom and crossed his arms, filling the doorway until there was no way she could wrestle past his planted feet and squared frame. Olive paused on her way back from the bathroom with her toothbrush; she pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked him over. Assessing the situation. He saw it the moment she made the same calculation about fighting her way past him and almost had to laugh.
Except nothing about this was funny.
“I’m getting ready to go,” she said.
“And where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going home.” Olive now avoided his direct stare as she sealed her toothbrush inside its portable plastic case. “There’s no point in me staying here. I’m just getting in the way.”
“You’re not getting in the way,” replied the man who had made it his current mission to get in her way.
He watched Olive bite the inside of her cheek, and wondered if she was angry. He could deal with her anger—what he couldn’t deal with was her putting herself in harm’s way when she had the option of staying here, where she was safe.
“Listen, Levon. I’ve been thinking.” She straightened and folded her arms.
“I’m listening,” he said.
“You don’t look like you are. Not with an open mind.”
“Why don’t you try me?”
Olive huffed her frustration, and the breath she directed upward fogged her glasses. It was one of the single most endearing things Levon had ever seen her do, but he ordered himself not to be distracted. Focus. “I get that it’s not safe for me to stay home alone. But that doesn’t mean I have to stay here. I’ll go to my neighbor’s. You met Tom this morning. He’s an ex-cop. His wife’s super nice too. If anyone can look after me, it’s someone with law enforcement experience. Plus, he has a great security system. I already called him, and he didn’t ask for any sort of explanation. He said I’m welcome to stay as long as I need to.”
Levon didn’t relax a muscle. He wanted to refuse outright; to demand; to direct. He wanted to tell Olive exactly how it was going to be... but he saw the way she jutted her chin stubbornly, and he saw that spark of challenge in her eyes. She was ready for him. This might well end in a skirmish if he didn’t think his way tactically through their conversation.
He needed to keep her close. He needed to protect her. But he didn’t have to pitch it to her that way.
“Olive, it’s your choice where you stay, but before you go...” He swallowed, not to suppress his own words, but to lubricate his throat for the thing he knew he had to say next. “It’s not my usual M.O.,” he said finally. “To ask for help.”
“Help?” Olive stared at him like he had just grown a second head, like maybe it was that head asking her for help. Levon couldn’t blame her for reacting that way. He’d always been something of a lone wolf, and that inclination certainly hadn’t changed over the years.
But he’d do just about anything to keep Olive from walking out the door right away. And it wasn’t a lie to say he needed her help—he really could use her more intimate knowledge of their hometown. If she ended up staying over at his place for hours to answer his questions and help with his investigation and it just happened to end up being too late for her
