Time to get into character.
I opened the realty shop’s door and glanced around the open room to find seven polished mahogany desks but only three agents busy at work. Lucky for me, I spotted Jane Bauer from my research. Averting my eyes from the other agents’ gazes, I beelined for Jane’s desk.
“Good morning.” I stuck out my hand. “I’m Roxy and I’m looking to buy my first house. My friend told me about this agency—actually she mentioned a broker, Ebba Nilsson—so here I am. Are you her?”
Jane shook my hand. I could tell she bought my cover story, so I relaxed. “No, Ebba left a few weeks ago, but her specialty was really commercial properties, anyway. I’m Jane Bauer, a residential property specialist, and I’d be happy to assist you.”
“Oh, terrific.” I took a seat, mentally telling myself not to tip my hand too quickly.
“So, Roxy, are you new to town, or have you been here long?” Jane smiled pleasantly.
“I’ve been here almost two years,” I lied. “To be honest, my boyfriend and I are breaking up, and I need to get out of our apartment and away from the memories, you know?”
She made a sad face. “Oh, yes, I do. I’m sorry about that, but a pretty little place of your own will show him what he’s missing, won’t it?”
“For sure.” I grinned, hoping to keep my lies straight.
She took out a yellow legal pad and wrote my name across the top. My mother would admire her picture-perfect penmanship. “Tell me what you’re looking for.”
“Something new but small. Two bedrooms, max. I like an open floor plan.” Hopefully, a natural opening to bring up Ebba again would happen soon, but while I was there, I might as well learn what the town had to offer.
Her expression turned more serious. “Would you be willing to look at condos?”
“I wasn’t thinking about them, but maybe. What’s your opinion?”
“Well, a lot of single women like condos because they don’t have to deal with yard maintenance, they like the amenities like pools and small gyms, and they like the built-in community.”
“Ooh, I didn’t think about that. I suppose condos are filled with people my age.”
“Including men with good jobs.” She smiled conspiratorially.
Ugh. I couldn’t think of anything I’d like less than a group of ambitious prepster dudes barking up my tree, but this kind of chatty conversation could pave the way to bringing up Ebba. “Good point. It’s hard to find single men around here.”
“Tell me about it.” She rolled her eyes.
I cackled like we were long-lost friends. “Okay, let’s look at condos. Now, I don’t have a huge budget. I was thinking two hundred grand tops.”
“That will limit our options, but I know of two developments with open units in that price range. One has a nice pool and party room, too.” She smiled and punched a bunch of stuff into the computer.
“Sounds perfect! Maybe I could move in in time to break out the bikini.”
“It’ll be like living in a resort.” She waved a hand in a “you go, girl” manner.
“I like your spirit.” I high-fived her. “I’m glad Ebba wasn’t here.”
“Thanks.” And then I saw it—a gleam in her eyes as if she was pleased to have been deemed better than the absentee broker.
“It’s weird, though,” I said, wading in carefully. “My friend gave me the impression that Ebba was a real go-getter. Top broker. Why’d she quit?”
“To be honest, it’s a little bizarre. She’d grown secretive all spring. We suspected she’d met someone, but she wouldn’t really tell us much other than that he was charming and successful and getting out of a ‘bad situation,’ which I guessed meant he was still married. We never saw her out with anyone, which also points to an affair.”
“Well, that’s really awful if it’s true. But doesn’t she still need a job?” Hopefully my curious-but-dopey act was working.
“No, actually. Apparently, they’re sailing off together—literally.”
“That sounds crazy.”
“Right? I like the Caribbean as much as the next person, but living on a boat full-time would be claustrophobic.”
“Exactly. Those islands could get boring fast.”
“Well, they won’t be there forever.” Jane looked around at the other brokers—one of whom was on a call, the other on his computer—then leaned a little closer, holding her hair to one side. “To be honest, Ebba was a good broker, but those awards started to go to her head. She got a little boastful, so when she quit, she did ‘casually’ mention how excited she was to become an international real estate investor. They’re sailing down the chain of islands all the way to some island off the coast of Venezuela. It sounded risky to me, but whatever. I bet she regrets it in about a year.”
“It does sound risky, especially if this mystery man actually was married. I mean, once a cheater, always a cheater.” And a thief. And an absentee father.
Jane planted her palm on her desk for emphasis as she said, “Ex-actly.”
“It sucks to be single again”—then for a second, Eli’s face flickered through my thoughts—“but it’s better than being with an asshole.”
“Amen, sista!” Jane laughed, and suddenly guilt swamped me for leading her on with my fake name and pretend house-hunting. I couldn’t ever use her as a Realtor without her exposing the truth about me, but I would send her business whenever I learned of others who were looking to upgrade. “So shall we go check out these two condos?”
“Right now? Oh, gosh, I really only stopped in to get the ball rolling. I assumed we’d need to set up appointments. How about you give me your card, and I’ll call you later today to do that? I’ve got a bunch of errands I need to take care of right now.”
“Sure.” She smiled and handed me a business card. “It’s been nice talking to you. I’m sure we can find you the right place to start over.”
I stood and shook her hand again. “Jane, you have no idea how grateful I am for all your help today.”
On that note, I turned and darted out the door, eager to share what I’d learned so the cops would have what they needed to trap Lyle. The drive across town seemed to take forever, but I smiled when I saw Amanda’s car parked in front of the house. I whipped into the garage and practically jumped out of the front seat.
“Hey!” I yelped after dashing into the kitchen. Not only weren’t Mom and Amanda baking, but I didn’t detect a whiff of sugar or browned butter. Mo hadn’t come running at me, either. My heart sped up, wondering if something else went wrong while I’d been gone. I cupped my hands to my mouth and yelled, “Mom?”
“Back here,” came a voice muffled by the closed kitchen window.
Was she hurt? I raced to the deck, where I nearly crashed into Amanda and Mom enjoying a cup of coffee. Mo’s tail wagged as he trotted over to greet me, but I was too shaky to pick him up.
Mom frowned at me, setting down her cup. “What’s wrong? You look wild.”
“I know where Lyle’s going!” The chair I’d yanked scraped against the deck before my butt hit its seat. Mo jumped on my shins, so I lifted him onto my lap.