Magnolia Drive by Rochelle Alers

Author:Rochelle Alers [Alers, Rochelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781455574964
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2014-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Keaton was still transcribing the notes from his interview with the librarian when his cell phone vibrated. A slight frown appeared between his eyes when he saw the name of the caller. It was eleven on the East Coast and that made it eight o’clock in L.A. He couldn’t imagine why his real estate broker would call him on a Sunday morning. Unless… he’d been out all night partying and had forgotten what day it was.

“What’s up, Aaron?”

“I’ve got good news, my friend. I have a buyer for your house.”

Keaton grinned like the Cheshire cat. He’d thought with the slow upswing in the housing market it would take months if not a year to sell his house. “That is good news.”

His real estate agent’s distinctive, horsey laugh came through the speaker. “I have even better news, my friend. I’m sitting here staring at a copy of an electronic transfer payable to you for twice the amount of the original asking price.”

A knot formed in Keaton’s chest, making it difficult for him to draw a normal breath. Aaron Cosgrove had earned a reputation for being a pimp and street hustler before straightening out his life to dabble in real estate. Men were usually won over by his smooth, persuasive demeanor, while most women were taken in by his incredible resemblance to the heartthrob actor Rob Lowe. “I hope you didn’t sell my house to a drug dealer.”

“Come on, my friend. I don’t know people like that anymore.”

“Who’s the buyer, Aaron?”

“Some Middle East oil dude bought it for his twin sons who are here studying on student visas. It’s apparent the boys have been running buck wild and their father decided if they live in a gated community with an American uncle sharing the house to monitor their actions they won’t bring shame on the family name. The uncle told me they wanted to move in ASAP, but when I told him the owner had to arrange for someone to pack up the contents of the house and ship them across the country, he told me to name a price and he’d purchase the house and everything in it.

“I asked if he could wait twenty-four hours because I needed time to get in touch with the owner to see if you’re willing to sell the furniture, because you’d employed the services of L.A.’s foremost interior decorator to the stars for your new home. I kinda stretched the truth a bit when I said you’d been on a wait list for three months. Meanwhile, I had someone, who will remain nameless, investigate this dude.”

Smiling, Keaton shook his head. You could take the man out of the hustle, but with Aaron you couldn’t take the hustle out of the man. “What did he find out?”

“My friend, are you sitting down?”

“Yes.”

“The uncle and his recalcitrant nephews are close cousins of a Saudi prince. It was like hitting the super trifecta in all of the Triple Crown races. I told him if he’d match the selling price, then he could move in within forty-eight hours of the transfer of his bank draft.

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