A Cutthroat Business (39 page)

I must have made a noise, for he added, “Do you know her?”

I nodded. “I took real estate classes with Lila Vaughn. We get together for lunch every once in a while.”

“I saw her on the news yesterday,” Heidi mumbled, spraying another shower of crumbs across the table. The donut box was slowly emptying out.

“They interviewed her?” That sounded like Lila. She was an aggressive go-getter, willing to do pretty much whatever it took to get ahead, and she probably considered the news coverage free advertising. I could easily see her pushing through any fear or discomfort she was feeling to get her face on TV.

Heidi nodded. “Black girl, pretty, with long, curly hair.”

“That’s her. What happened?” I looked around the table.

“The same thing as last time,” Tim said. “Just before the open house was over, a group of men showed up. They tied Lila to a chair and spent twenty or thirty minutes carrying everything of value out of the house. Electronics, jewelry, rugs, paintings. The house was full and they got it all.”

“Was Lila hurt?”

Tim shrugged. “The news didn’t say. The owners found her when they came home later.”

“Gosh,” I said, “she must have been terrified.”

We all thought about Lila’s ordeal and – I’m sure – thanked God it had happened to her and not to us.

“In light of all this,” Tim broke the silence, “those of you with open houses scheduled for this weekend may want to take some extra precautions. Get a friend to come with you so you don’t have to be alone. Keep the doors locked between visitors, or stay on the porch or outside in the yard where people can see you. Arrange to call a friend every fifteen minutes. You know, all the usual things.”

“The same things my daddy told me when I was sixteen and started dating,” one of the women said with a grin.

Tim nodded. “And that reminds me...
Savannah
, I can usually count on you to host an open house for me, but if you’d rather not, under the circumstances...” He let the sentence trail off suggestively. I grimaced. At the last open house I hosted, someone had tried to kill me, which didn’t make me particularly eager to try again. Until the open house robbers were caught, I’d just as soon not tempt fate.

However, I couldn’t in good conscience say no. Tim was, for all intents and purposes, my boss, now that Walker was languishing in jail, and although he couldn’t really order me to do anything – like all Realtors, I’m an independent contractor and responsible only to myself – I didn’t think it would go over very well to refuse. In my roughly eight weeks on the job, I hadn’t brought in so much as a dime in commissions.
 

“Sure. I’m happy to help.” I don’t think I sounded happy, but I got the words out.

“Excellent.” Tim showed all his capped teeth in a blinding smile. The conversation went on to the houses he and the others wanted to hold open next weekend, and I tuned out while I let my mind wander.

Poor Lila, what a horrible thing to have happen. She wasn’t the most delicate of women, bless her heart – not by a long shot – but still, surely something like this would be enough to put the wind up anyone. I’d had to deal with some scary stuff myself in the past few weeks, and I was becoming quite an expert on heart-stopping terror. I should definitely give her a call to commiserate, once the meeting was over. It must be a couple of weeks since I’d seen her in any case, and maybe, if I scraped the bottom of my purse, I could come up with enough change to pay for lunch.

“Does that sound OK,
Savannah
?” Tim’s voice said. I nodded vaguely. “I’ll put you down for that, then. Thank you.”

“No problem.” I had no idea what I’d just agreed to do, but I wasn’t willing to admit I hadn’t been paying attention by asking him to repeat it. I’d figure it out later.

Tim giggled. “If you’re worried, maybe you should ask Mr. Collier to keep you company. He looks like he’d be able to handle any number of robbers.”

Rafe would be more likely to be aiding and abetting them, but I didn’t say so. “I’ll keep the suggestion in mind,” I said instead, cooly.

“Do that, darling. And if you don’t, maybe I’ll ask him to guard
my
body instead.” Tim tittered.

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t be surprised if you find yourself tied to a chair, in that case.”

“Darling!” Tim bleated, seemingly overcome with emotion. He fanned himself with a limp hand as the rest of the room laughed. I blushed.

# # #

NEW FROM JENNA BENNETT – a paranormal romantic comedy:

Eros, Greek god of love, has been down-on-his-luck (and neglectful of his job) since ex-wife Psyche left him for some Viking himbo. Drowning his sorrows in his buddy Dionysus's wine isn't helping, nor is the nagging from the goddesses assisting in his New York-based matchmaking firm.

When his misguided attempt to set up cute and lonely baker Annie Landon goes awry, he lends her his broad shoulders, not to mention a few other luscious parts of his anatomy, for comfort.

But falling for yet anot
her mortal is the last thing Eros needs. Thus begins his quest to win the heart of a mortal man for Annie, which will also rid him of the maddening desire to keep her for himself. It's the perfect plan ... if only Eros can bear to let Annie go.

Can a woman looking for love, and the matchmaking god who wants her to find it—
with
someone else—have a shot at a happy ending? May the best god—or mortal—win.

* * *

“Tall, Dark, and Divine is just as fun and flirty as Bennett’s mysteries, with great dialogue and characters you’d love to meet in real life. … Eros is to die for, and my favorite character of Bennett’s to date. Annie is relate-able with her insecurities, and few extra pounds, and totally loveable. The characters in this novel jump off the page and into your heart..” - Book End Babes

Read an excerpt of Tall, Dark and Divine, Bagging a Greek God #1, on
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Jenna Bennett writes the Savannah Martin mystery series, as well as the
New York Times
bestselling Do-It-Yourself home renovation mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime under the pseudonym Jennie Bentley.
For Entangled Publishing, she writes a variety of romance, from contemporary to futuristic
,
and from paranormal to suspense.

For more information, please visit Jenna’s website:
www.JennaBennett.com

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS

Savannah
Martin Mystery #1

Mobi edition

Copyright © 2011 Bente Gallagher

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.