Page 22 of Between the Lines

She picked up her phone and opened her messages.

Maude, she typed. I just got the new resident list from the Colony office. Darcy Lane is on it. Moved here from Atlanta. I don’t have more yet, but I can request her for a Buzz interview. Not sure if she’ll say yes, but I have a feeling she will. Why do you want to know about her, if I can ask?

Didn’t take Maude long to answer. Paige ran into her at the fitness center. Darcy hinted she knew private things about Paige. Things she shouldn’t have. Not outright, but enough to feel like a warning. I’ve been digging online, but there’s not a lot there outside of her Atlanta ties. If you can get her talking, that would help.

Cece read it twice, her protective instincts kicking in. If this woman had an agenda concerning Paige, Cece wasn’t just going to let that slide.

She set the phone down and stared at the desk, at the legal pad with its neat checkmarks, at the paused waveform on her screen.

She was in familiar territory again. There was a story here and it wasn’t obvious. It was something she would have to dig for in a way that didn’t come off as digging. She could do that. She was good at doing that.

She typed back, Okay. That helps. I’ll proceed carefully. I’ll keep it professional and broad. She’s new to the Colony, getting a fresh start, that kind of thing. I’ll let you know what I get.

She sent it, then sat for a moment longer, thinking.

This wasn’t about catching someone out. It never was. It was about letting a person talk long enough to show you who they were. To let them feel like you were friends. Like you were someone they could confide in.

That’s when guards came down and surprises came out.

Cece turned back to her laptop and opened her email. She wrote the way she always did when reaching out to a new subject—polite, straightforward, clear about what she was looking for.

Hello Ms. Lane, My name is Cece Davenport, and I write a regular feature for The Buzz, the Colony’s community newsletter, that introduces new arrivals to the neighborhood.

I saw that you’re a recent arrival from Atlanta, and I wondered if you might be interested in sitting down for a short interview about your move and what drew you to the Colony.

If so, I’d be happy to work around your schedule.

Warm regards, Cece Davenport

She read it once more, checking that it was typo-free. Then she hit Send. The email disappeared from the outbox.

Cece pushed her chair away from the workspace. Peanut hopped up again, this time settling herself neatly onto Cece’s lap as if that spot was her right.

Cece petted her, making Peanut purr.

Whatever Darcy Lane thought about what life at the Colony would be like, Cece suspected she hadn’t counted on being interviewed by someone who was friends with the woman she’d just targeted.

Cece rested her hand on Peanut’s back and stared at the computer screen. She didn’t know yet what Darcy Lane was hiding—but she was going to make a good attempt at finding out.

Chapter Nine

Essie sat on a low beach chair with a towel draped across her knees, the sand warm beneath her bare feet. Mattie was several yards away, crouched over a bucket, utterly focused on filling it with wet sand only to dump it out again. Mira slept on a towel in the shade of the umbrella, her little chest rising and falling.

Liliana stood at the water line, watching the waves roll in, then came back and lowered herself into the chair beside Essie’s. She brushed sand from her hands and followed Essie’s gaze toward the water. “This is so beautiful. You’re so fortunate to live here.”

“We are,” Essie said. “And you know, Frank and I don’t come down here as often as we should. It’s a shame. I think when Frank gets back, he and I need to start taking daily walks on the beach. It would be good for both of us.”

“It would be,” Liliana said.

A few moments passed with both of them just watching Mattie and listening to the soft thrum of the waves. A seagull landed near Mattie, had a look at what he was doing, then took off again.

“I thought Sophie might have come down here,” Essie said. She kept her voice light, though the thought had been on her mind all morning. “She must have gone to the pool instead.”

Liliana glanced up and down the shore. “I haven’t seen her.”

Essie nodded. “I didn’t really expect to. I just wondered.”

Liliana shifted in her chair. “I know you’re worried about everything going on with her.”