by Rachel Lacey
Several of Dogwood’s finest stood nearby, keeping watch, but this was as peaceful as a protest could be. Olivia and the other protesters held up their signs, passed out pamphlets, and chanted various catchy phrases like “Treat them with respect” and “Down with abuse in Dogwood.”
“Will Pete be here?” Merry asked.
“Not on this side of the fence. He’s working today.”
“Is he working the protest?”
Olivia wished she knew. “I don’t think so. He’ll probably keep his distance if he can. He was not terribly pleased I’m doing this.”
Merry pursed her lips. “Puts him in kind of an awkward situation, I guess.”
As pissed as Olivia was about it, Merry was probably right. No matter his personal opinion on her actions, it would be awkward for him to work crowd control at a protest with his girlfriend standing behind the picket lines.
Around ten thirty, Olivia felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She turned to find Pete’s sister Maggie standing there, sign in hand.
“Maggie, hi! I didn’t expect to see you here today.”
Maggie smiled sheepishly. “It sounded kind of fun. I’ve never protested anything before.”
“This is my friend Merry Atwater.” Olivia turned to Merry. “Merry, this is Pete’s sister, Maggie.”
Merry’s eyebrows raised. “Nice to meet you, Maggie.”
“You too,” Maggie said. She turned to Olivia. “After we met the other day, I looked up your website. I was pretty grossed out by what Halverson is doing.”
Olivia thought pushing her brother’s buttons might be part of the reason Maggie was here too, but either way, she was glad for the company. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”
Maggie shook her head. “It just so happens today is a teacher work day. I’ll stop by this afternoon, but I’m the art teacher so I don’t have as much lesson planning to do as the primary teachers.”
“Well, we’re so glad you’re here.”
Maggie turned out to be quite an asset too. She knew a lot of people in town and handed out a lot of pamphlets. Around eleven, Diana Robbins from Channel Two news arrived with her film crew. They shot some footage of the protest, and then Diana interviewed Olivia.
“So this is just the latest battle in your war against Halverson Foods,” Diana said.
Olivia nodded. “Changes need to be made. The chickens inside that factory are being beaten and subjected to other horrible forms of abuse before they’re slaughtered. All living beings deserve respect and dignity, even if their purpose in life is to feed us.”
“But nothing’s been done.”
Olivia shook her head. “No. We have undercover video showing the abuse going on in there, and still no charges were filed.”
“You were in fact arrested for vandalizing their factory last month,” Diana said.
“Yes I was. I made a bad decision, let my emotions get ahead of my better judgment. I broke the law, and I’ve suffered the consequences. I was arrested, and I’m serving my community service hours. Halverson Foods is breaking the law, and no one is holding them accountable.”
When the protest ended just past noon, Olivia felt euphoric. They’d made a big splash, passed out over three hundred pamphlets, and secured another eye-catching segment on the news. She’d been checking the Facebook page from her phone, and already she was up over fifty new “likes.”
To celebrate, she, Merry, and Maggie walked down Main Street to Red Heels, her favorite martini bar and site of many a girls’ night out. They ordered a table full of vegetarian appetizers and a round of martinis.
“To Olivia.” Merry lifted her glass in a toast. “You rocked that protest today. I hope it gives you the leverage you need.”
“Thanks.” She took a sip of her strawberry martini and sighed. It had gone well.
Maggie grinned. “Maybe I should hang out with you guys more often.”
“You totally should.” Merry nodded wisely. “We have a lot of fun. You like dogs?”
“I love dogs.”
Olivia brightened. “Want one? I bet you’d love Bailey.”
“Who’s Bailey?” Maggie asked.
“She’s my foster dog. Merry runs Triangle Boxer Rescue, and I foster for her.”
“Well I have thought about getting a dog,” Maggie said. “Maybe I’ll come over and meet Bailey sometime.”
“Or if you’re not ready to adopt, we can always use more foster homes.” Merry waved her glass in Maggie’s direction.
“I’ll think about it.”
“Speaking of foster homes, I volunteered at the women’s shelter the other day, and the director, Nancy Sheerin, mentioned that she’d been looking for an animal rescue who could help with families who have pets. Animals aren’t allowed in the shelter, and a lot of families have to leave their pets behind.”
Merry blanched. “That’s horrible. Why doesn’t she allow pets?”
Olivia rolled her eyes. “She saves people, Merry. Women and children. And she wants to find a way to help their pets too.”
Maggie swirled her martini. “Nancy is amazing. Did Pete tell you we stayed there once?”
Olivia felt an uncomfortable pinch in her chest. “Sort of.”
“Sign me up,” Maggie said. “I’d keep someone’s pet for them while they stay there.”
“Really?” Olivia sat up straighter in her chair. “Me too. Let’s do it.”
They toasted their decision with a second round of martinis as they munched their way through vegetable spring rolls, stuffed mushrooms, edamame, and mozzarella sticks.
“Pete didn’t bring you to supper last night,” Maggie commented, as she popped another mushroom into her mouth.
“I moved back home a few days ago.” Olivia tried to dull the sting by downing the last of her martini. It didn’t work.
“Well Mom and I would love to see you next Thursday, if my brother’s not too pigheaded to invite you.”
“I don’t think he meant to bring me last week,” Olivia confessed.
Maggie scrunched her nose. “Maybe he didn’t, but you’re the first girl he’s brought home since Rina. That means something, whether he knows it or not. So don’t give up on him. Sometimes he can be a little slow on the uptake when it comes to matters of the heart.”
Olivia blew out a shaky breath. “I won’t give up on him.”
* * *
Pete felt his jaw drop as he watched the news coverage of the protest. His sister was standing right next to Olivia on the picket line.
What in the world?
He dialed Maggie.
“You saw the news,” she said with a giggle when she answered.
“Yeah, I saw it. Why were you on it?”
“Because it was fun.”
“Fun?” Pete squeezed his neck. His sister was starting to sound an awful lot like Olivia, and he wasn’t sure at all how he felt about that.
“I like your girlfriend. We made plans to hang out again this weekend. You’d better bring her to dinner next week. Gotta run!” Maggie hung up with a solid click.
Pete just sat there staring at his phone in disbelief. Then he walked outside to his Forester and drove across town to Olivia’s house.
She greeted him at the front door, wearing jeans and a loose sweatshirt. “I’m still a little bit pissed at you, you know.”
Yeah, he’d been a total ass on the phone yesterday. The sheriff had read him the riot act when he’d gotten wind of their relationship, and Pete had taken it out on her. “I’m sorry I gave you a hard time about the protest.”
She took a step back. “Really?”
“Really.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re corrupting my sister now?”
She gave him a wry smile. “I had nothing to do with that. I think Maggie has a bit of a wild streak in her.”
She did, at that. He followed Olivia inside. “I’m glad it went well.”
“Thanks. I know I put you in an awkward situation, and I hate that, but I can’t change who I am
.”
“And you shouldn’t have to.” Pete didn’t like it either, didn’t like the pressure Linburgh had put on him about it or the way the sheriff talked about Olivia and her fellow protesters. The truth was, they had all behaved perfectly. Not a single person had broken the law or even stepped out of line.
And he’d probably lost his shot at detective for defending her. He’d do it again in a heartbeat. He pulled her against him and stood there for a long minute just absorbing the feel of her in his arms, inhaling her scent, fantasizing about tents and wildflowers and champagne under the stars.
She wound her arms behind his neck and pressed her cheek to his. “I’m sorry that me-being-me makes things awkward for you at work.”
“You should never apologize for being yourself.” Because she was amazing, the most amazing woman he’d ever met. And he should have broken things off with her long before they got to this point. “But in the long run, it won’t matter anyway.”
“Why?” She pulled back and stared into his eyes. Neither of them said a word for a long minute, but she was good at reading him. She always had been. And whatever she saw, she didn’t like. “Because you and I are only short-term?”
He looked away. Bailey watched them from the doorway. She wiggled her tail stub hopefully. There was no way out of this for him without hurting Olivia. “I told you I can’t commit to anything more than that.”
“And you honestly think that’s all we have going on here?”
Not even close. “Liv—”
To his horror, tears pooled in her eyes. “You’re a jackass, Pete Sampson.”
Yeah, he was a jackass. Because he’d known better than to lead her on the way he had. He’d treated her like this was something special, because she was special. So damn special. “You’re right. I am. I wish I could give you all the things you want, but I can’t.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” She swiped a tear from her cheek. “All I want is you. And you could. You did.”
“It’s not that simple.”
Her nostrils flared. “Sure it is. We need each other. We’re good together. So why won’t you give us a chance?”
“I—” He clenched her hands in his. How did she always manage to muddle him up until he’d forgotten all the reasons he shouldn’t be with her?
Her eyes softened. “Is it your ex-wife?”
No. He couldn’t pin this on Rina. “Leave her out of this. My fuck ups are my own.”
She lifted her chin. “Then don’t fuck this up.”
“I already have.” He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching for her again. “I’m sorry, Liv.”
“So you’re just going to walk away?”
“It’s the right thing to do.”
She shook her head, then planted her fists against his chest and pushed him backward out her front door. “Wrong again. If you ever come to your senses, you know where to find me.”
The door closed behind him with a solid thunk, and he was left with the sinking feeling that he’d just made a stupid, horrible mistake. Maybe the worst mistake in his entire life.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
After he left, Olivia indulged herself in a good cry. As hurt as she was, she was mostly mad at herself. She ought to have learned her lesson by now where men were concerned. Why did she always fight the losing battles?
But even if she was destined for a lifetime of heartbreak with the men in her life, she was not losing her war against Halverson. If she kept fighting and making noise for long enough, sooner or later, someone would listen.
And she was really good at making noise.
Even when her heart was broken.
She went upstairs and splashed cold water on her face, then freshened up her makeup. She’d drive out to MacArthur Park and meditate until she’d made peace with things. Her phone had been dinging like crazy in her purse since before Pete left, one notification after the next.
So many people showing their support after the protest this morning. It really had gone well, and the news segment was the icing on the cake. She was going to ride this momentum all the way to the finish line.
She pulled her phone out to have a quick look. She could use some warm and fuzzies right about now.
What in the world? This is very disappointing to hear, the most recent comment said.
Traitor! We believed in you.
The corporate buck wins again. Sad. Sad indeed.
Olivia frowned. What in the world? The recent flurry of comments all stemmed from a posting two hours ago, which was weird because she hadn’t posted since lunchtime…
She thumbed furiously to the original post.
After much time and consideration, I’ve decided to end my efforts against Halverson Foods. It was brought to my attention that some of my findings were inaccurate, and I’ve realized I was wrong to pursue these actions against them…
It went on for three paragraphs, detailing how she’d come to this decision, how she’d been mistaken in accusing Halverson Foods of animal cruelty, and how the Citizens Against Halverson Foods website and Facebook group would be closing shortly.
And what the actual fuck…she hadn’t written a word of it.
She’d been hacked. And not just any old hacking. No, this person hadn’t posted porn all over her Facebook page or sent spam emails to her contact list. This was personal. This was the work of whoever had been trying to shut her up since the vandalism started last month.
Already sick to her stomach, she clicked on her website. It was gone. Every last picture and blog post. In its place was a message reiterating what had been posted on her Facebook page.
Hands shaking, she got in her car and drove to the sheriff’s office. Pete wasn’t there, of course, but she didn’t want to see him anyway. Instead she headed straight for Deputy Hartzler’s desk.
“Miss Bennett,” he said with a curt nod.
“I’ve been vandalized again, but this time it’s my website and Facebook page.”
“Ma’am, we don’t handle cyber crimes. If someone hacked your website, you’ll want to report it to the cyber crimes division at the SBI, but unless they’re peddling kiddie porn or something, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do anything about it.”
“But—” She stopped herself and sucked in a deep, calming breath. “What’s the SBI?”
“The state bureau of investigation. People’s Facebook pages get hacked all the time, unfortunately. You’ll want to change your password and set up stronger security checks. A buddy of mine is a real whiz at setting up firewalls. I could give you his number if you’re interested.”
“Um, I guess. But this wasn’t just any old hack. They posted a message saying I was ending my efforts against Halverson Foods.”
“Reckon you’ve made some enemies around town. I’ll make a note in your file about it. Wish I could do more to help you, Miss Bennett, but it’s outside my jurisdiction.”
Fuming mad—and with the name of Hartzler’s computer geek friend tucked away in her purse—Olivia stomped out of the sheriff’s office. Today had gone from awesome to crap in the space of an hour.
She went home and changed her Facebook password, then deleted the offending message and posted one instead saying that she’d been hacked, Citizens Against Halverson Foods wasn’t going anywhere, and that, on the contrary, her efforts were stronger than ever.
Unfortunately things weren’t quite as simple for her website. After a lengthy phone conversation with her web host, she found out that her blog posts weren’t backed up anywhere—that cost extra, and she hadn’t sprung for the extra cost when she opened her account. So while she was able to default back to the basic layout of her website, everything she’d blogged about for the last two years had been lost.
Someone was going to pay for this. And one way or another, Halverson Foods was going down.
* * *
“Have you talked to Olivia yet today?” Maggie asked.
Pete frowned into the phone. “No,
why?”
“I’ll let her tell you. Call her.” The line clicked, and she was gone.
Pete swore at the all-too-familiar prickle of awareness that snaked its way up his spine at the mention of Olivia’s name. He’d spent Saturday morning burying himself in work that had nothing to do with her or Halverson Foods, desperate to get his head back on straight. To quit thinking about her. To ease the pain that had been in his chest ever since she’d pushed him out the front door of her house last night.
But what did Maggie mean? Had something happened?
He dialed Olivia. “Something going on?” he asked when she answered.
She made a sound that vaguely resembled a dog growling. “Nothing that concerns you. I’ve already talked to Deputy Hartzler.”
He sat up straighter in his seat. “Tell me.”
“My website was hacked. But apparently that’s not your jurisdiction.”
“Hacked?”
She sighed into the phone. “Someone hacked my website and Facebook page with a message that said I’d been wrong about Halverson, they weren’t evil after all, and I’d be shutting down Citizens Against Halverson Foods.”
“That’s not a random hack.” His mind was churning over this latest bit of information. Who would have done that? Frat boys? Why? As far as he could tell, they had no motive to mess with her website.
“Nope. Lucky me. Well it won’t work. I generated a lot of positive press for our efforts yesterday.”
“This doesn’t make sense.”
“Of course it does,” she said. “I obviously pissed off someone at Halverson, and they hired someone to hack my website.”
“Olivia—” He didn’t like anything about this, not one damn bit. This felt personal, and that sent all his protective instincts into overdrive.
“Just don’t. You’re not even assigned to this case, and it has nothing to do with the fact that you and I are no longer a thing, so really, we have no reason to even be talking about it. You shouldn’t have called.”
He scrubbed a hand over his face and swore. “I still care about you, okay? And I care about this case. I don’t want to see you hurt.”