Realtors For Sale by Diane Rapp

Author:Diane Rapp [Rapp, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11—Follow the Money

Paxton stopped at a fast-food restaurant to buy lunch for his crew. The staff applauded as he walked into the conference room carrying burgers and drinks. “I get this reaction all the time,” Paxton said to Tamara.

“I’d applaud too if you brought me lunch,” she replied. Bentley cocked his head as Tamara opened her bag. “I’ve got doggie snacks for you, boy. You don’t need to beg for fries.”

She handed him a bunch of dog cookies and the poodle sat happily on the floor crunching. After the cookies were gone, he stared at the other humans until several hands snuck fries under the table.

Troy swallowed a gulp of coke and said, “We’ve narrowed the short list down to four possibilities.” He shoved files across the table. “All of these names are registered as brokers in all four cities, and they joined the Santa Barbara board this past year. You should take a look.”

Paxton chewed the burger and flipped fries into his mouth as he read the files. Tamara leaned over and examined the files herself. “I remember this guy, Travis Jenkins,” she said. “He stares at pretty women in a predatory fashion, made me feel creepy.”

“Can you show me a few of the listings he has in town?” Paxton asked Shirley.

She typed commands on her laptop and a short list scrolled down the screen. “Either he’s not very interested in signing up listings, or he just represents buyers.”

Paxton said, “Let’s start to…”

The other four workers said in unison, “Follow the money!” They all laughed as he tried to look stern.

“Am I that predictable?” Paxton asked, taking another bite of his burger. He pointed at the stack of files. “Don’t ignore the other three suspects, but I’d like to know all about Travis Jenkins, his business dealings, and where he gets his money. Does he buy property and hold onto it or fix it up to flip?”

Tamara turned pages in her MLS book. “It looks like he’s been buying and not selling anything.” She pointed at a sold listing in the book. “I had a buyer for this house and Jenkins swooped in to buy it out from under us. It’s a beautiful house with three stories near the Santa Barbara Mission.”

“Really?” Paxton examined the picture. “We should go for a drive this evening, don’t you think?”

Bentley sat up, obviously eager to go for another ride. Tamara said, “He said this evening, Bentley. Not right now. Sit and stay.” She murmured to Paxton, “He has no concept of time, so be careful when you say ‘d-r-i-v-e’ or even if you say the word ‘g-o’ in front of him.”

Bentley cocked his head and whined.

“I thinks he’s learned to spell, Tamara,” Paxton said and laughed as Bentley put his paw on her knee.

Tamara tried to ignore the poodle and kept reading through the other files. “I don’t remember these men, but it doesn’t mean much. We should take time to meet each one and see how Bentley reacts to them.”

Jerry

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