I straightened the papers in the folder Caroline gave me earlier. “Do you think you could stop by her place, maybe drop something off, and check it out for me? If something is going on, you’re one of the last people Dominic would suspect being in the know. I’m going to talk to Fannie again. She knows something, and I’m pretty sure she’ll tell me if I nudge her enough. Will you, please?”
“Oh sweetie, I don’t think that’s a good idea. Everyone knows we’re friends, especially after—” she paused, “what happened with Heather and Savannah.”
That was true. Several months prior, something terrible had happened, and Caroline and I were in the thick of it. Everyone knew. “Okay, you’re right, and besides, you’ve got a family now, you don’t need to be involved in this.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Really, Lily, maybe they’re right. Maybe she had no intention of meeting you?” Her shoulders relaxed, and she smiled, though it was more of a smile of compassion than anything. “I’m sure she’ll call me back, and when she does, I’ll let you know.”
* * *
Fannie walked along her front sidewalk watering flowers when I stopped by.
“Those are beautiful. What are they, mums?”
She didn’t take her eyes away from the hose. “You’re wasting your time coming here, Lily.”
“Your friend could be in trouble. Don’t you think she’d want you to tell someone something that might help her?”
“Not you, that’s for sure.”
“But you agree with me, don’t you? You think something’s wrong.”
She bit her lip again. “Maybe, but I don’t know.”
“Maybe’s good enough for me.” I touched her arm. “Please, tell me what’s going on.”
She pressed a button on the hose sprayer, and the water stopped. “Let me see what I can find out, okay? That’s the best I can do right now.”
I nodded. “I guess that’s better than nothing.”
As I walked back to my car, Fannie said, “Do you really think her husband would hurt her?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, but I wouldn’t rule it out.”
I drove over to Carter’s townhome to check on the progress. As I grabbed the front door handle, it opened.
“Hey there, Lily. You come to check on me?” Johnny held the door open for me. “It’s looking good in here. Should be done sooner than planned.”
I entered and went straight to the stairs. “How’s the upstairs?”
He followed behind me. “Never know anything happened. In fact, I spoke to Miss Ryann yesterday, and the furniture should be delivered in a few days. Once it’s all here, you can come by, and we’ll help you get everything set up nice and fancy so you can sell the place.”
I prayed that would go just as he’d said. “Thank you, Johnny. You’re amazing, have I mentioned that?”
He blushed. “No ma’am, but thank you for saying it now. It sure is nice to hear.”
“Well, I intend to recommend you to everyone. In fact, I’m a little bummed we didn’t use you for the work on our rental.”
He shuffled his feet. “It’s okay. I’ve got plenty of work for my crew, and there’s other people that need it, too.”
Knowing the townhome was running on schedule relieved some of my angst, but I still couldn’t let of go my concerns for Magnolia.
Chapter 8
Fannie Noble walked up behind me as I unlocked my office door. Her eyes shifted back and forth across the side walk. “I have a friend thinking about moving to town, Lily, a friend from college. I told her I’d get some brochures from you.”
I held open the door. “After you.”
I set my bag on my desk and prepared to start my work day, late as it was. “So, what kind of place is your friend looking for?”
Fannie examined the space, glancing every so often at the door or out the window. She turned to me. “Uh…”
I pulled a few file folders from the pile on my desk. They each had copies of listings and pending listings, and various other information about the county and area around it. “Here, let’s sit at the conference table.” Fannie followed me, sitting to my side as I spread the folders on the table and opened one. “You don’t really have a friend looking for a place in town, do you?”
She looked me in the eye and spoke softly. “I stopped at Magnolia’s, but no one answered the door. I called her three times and each time it went to voicemail.” Her eyes shifted toward the door, and she held up a piece of paper from the opened folder. Her hand trembled. “I think something’s wrong.”
I played along with her display, shuffling through another file and showing her a paper. “Do you think it has to do with Dominic?”
She nodded, pointing to the paper.
“Tell me what you know.”
She shook her head. “If he finds out I know, he might do something to me, too.” Her eyes locked with mine. “There’s a lot you don’t know, a lot we both don’t know.” She smiled, but it wasn’t real, and I could tell. She pointed at something on the sheet. “And she doesn’t care about the growth here, Lily. I mean, of course she does to a degree. We all do, but not like she’s behaving.”
“So she’s doing all this for her husband?”
She shook her head. “No, no. She can’t be. She despises Dominic. She said she wanted to leave him.”
“Do you think she told him and he did something to her?”
“I don’t know.”
I shifted the papers around on my desk. “You should go to the police. Tell Dylan your concerns. He can help.”
“Lily, you don’t know how dangerous that man is. I…I don’t want to put myself—my family—in danger.”
Great. She didn’t want to put herself at risk, but wasn’t concerned for my safety one bit. “Fine, I’ll talk to Dylan. But Fannie, it’s going to get out, and when it does, Dominic is going to blame Magnolia’s friends, so you need to be prepared.”
* * *
Dylan sat on the corner of my desk. “Did Fannie say what made her think Magnolia might be in danger?”
“Just what I said, but it’s clear she thinks Dominic’s done something to her. Can you send someone to her house to check on her? Please?”
“Dominic’s not stupid. If he’s done something to his wife, she’s not going to be at the house, Lily.”
“But at least you’ll let him know you’re onto him.”
“Right now that’s the last thing I want him to know.”
I saw the tension in his shoulders, and the strain in his neck, and I knew he was concerned. “So, what are you going to do?”
“Keep an eye on him for now, see if Magnolia turns up and do a little more research into his background. For all we know, they could have had an argument and Magnolia decided to visit friends or something somewhere and just didn’t want to deal with explaining that to her friends.”
“You don’t believe that do you?”
“Let’s just say I need more to believe otherwise.”
“But—”
He sighed. “Lily, right now my hands are tied. I need something more on Scratachelli than what ifs and maybes, but I promise, I’ll do my due diligence and see what I can find.”
If that was the best he could do I had to take it, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t do a little investigating myself. “Okay. You’ll keep me posted?”
“I’m sure you’ll make sure of that whether I want to or not. In the meantime, please, whatever you’ve got stirring in that amazing brain of yours, be careful.”
I nodded. “I always am.”
Dylan left, and I got to work. I did another internet search of Dominic Scratachelli, and I paid for a background check from one of those websites that says they can find all kinds of information on someone. Dominic Scratachelli hid his nefarious activities well because nothing showed up on the background check.
The best way to find the right house for a client is to ask them what they want, but not just that one and only question, a series o
f questions to discover what my client wants but doesn’t know they want. The deeper I dig, the more I find out, and the better chance I have of finding them their dream home. If it worked in business, I had to believe it worked in other things, too. So, I decided to hit the best sources I could, leaving one out for the time being.
Caroline had given me the Women of Society membership manual so I could complete the tasks necessary to get my official pin. The tasks weren’t all that complicated, just time consuming, and required me to interview members to learn about their involvement in the club. In the manual was the list of members and their contact information. I sent Emma Crimmins a text message asking her to be interviewed, and she reluctantly agreed. Had she known I’d planned to talk to her only about Magnolia, she probably would have said no.
I worried someone would see us together, someone connected to Dominic Scratachelli, so I picked the interview spot carefully. It needed to be some place private, and some place that she’d feel comfortable enough to open up to me. It was a long shot, but it was the only shot I had at finding out what I needed to know.
I parked my car in the recently paved driveway of the cabin Belle and I bought a few months ago. Belle met me outside and squeezed me into a bear hug. “It’s no fun not seeing my best friend for days.”
I hugged her back. “Yes, especially since you leave me to do all the hard stuff at work.”
She kept the garage door open so both Emma and Fannie could pull their cars in, just in case. “Lies. So, you sure you want to do this?”
“I don’t think I have any other option.”
“Emma’s about as nice as a momma bear protecting her cubs, so good luck with that.”
We walked into the new mud room. “Wow. This is amazing. I can’t believe how good it looks.”
“That’s what happens when you get a place cheap and have a great mortgage broker that doesn’t charge extra.”
The addition was truly spectacular. Wanting to continue the look of a traditional mountain cabin, Belle, the interior designer extraordinaire, chose a ceramic tile that appeared so much like wood, most people wouldn’t know the difference. She’d lined the wall with dark wood panels, but not the kind in older cabins, the kind you’d find in modern farmhouses. She’d had our contractor build a shelving unit of six cubbies large enough to hold boots, coats and bags, lined the top of them with solid wood cabinets in a matching color, and added a large farmhouse sink on the opposite wall below another section of shelves and cabinets.
“It’s…I…” I hugged her again. “I’m speechless. It’s just incredible.”
“You should have come sooner and you’d be less surprised now.”
“I’m sorry.”
She smiled. “Honey, don’t sweat it. I’m having a blast. Matthew came last night, and it was like a romantic getaway. We sat outside on the deck gazing at the stars and enjoying a romantic evening.” She frowned. “After midnight, when he was done with you, I mean.”
I grimaced. “Whoops.”
“So,” she poured us each a glass of iced tea. “Exactly what are you going to say to Emma?”
I received a text message from Emma saying she was two minutes out. I suggested she pull into the garage and come in through the mudroom.
We met her inside the mudroom. Fannie walked in behind her.
Belle had made arrangements for the contractors to take an extended break by offering to give them a small bonus of breakfast the next day. A break and breakfast sealed the deal, and they were gone before I got there.
“Oh heavens, you’ve got a gorgeous view here, don’t you?” Emma Crimmins said.
Her sincerity surprised me. “Thanks. Belle picked the place out and has done a fantastic job on the remodel.”
Fannie walked through the newly enlarged great room and nodded. “I love the big windows. Belle, have you considered offering your services to the public? I’ve got a kitchen I’d love to redesign.”
Why were they being so nice?
“Uh, I hadn’t really thought about that.”
Emma slid her hand over the smooth material of the loveseat. “Well, sweetie, we should definitely have lunch. This place is to die for. You’ve got a talent. Who knew?”
And there it was, that same condescending tone she took with those thought beneath her.
We offered them tea and sat at the large square cement island in the new metal barstools Belle picked up on Wayfair. Their gray seat cushions were soft and comfy, and I complimented her on the pick.
We chatted briefly about nothing–the weather, football at UGA, that kind of thing, and then I got down to business. “I believe Magnolia is missing.”
Fannie played with a loose strand of hair. “I am worried about her.” She glanced at Emma and dropped her eyes to the counter top again. “Emma, you should tell what we know. I think she can help.”
“Emma, we don’t have to agree on anything about the county. All that matters at the moment is Magnolia.”
She shook her head.
“If you’ll help me, I promise I’ll quit the club. How’s that?”
Emma’s eyes stayed focused on the wall behind me, and she tapped her fingers lightly on the counter top. “What do you know?”
I sat up straight on the stool. “Dominic Scratachelli owns D.S. Development. Currently they own several properties similar to the mixed-use development here, and one of them they purchased well below price, conveniently after a rash of break-ins on the property. Last night I watched two men wearing black get into Magnolia’s Mercedes and drive to the development. One got out and took off running. The driver drove off. I believe Dominic is responsible for the vandalism, and up until recently, I believed his wife supported him, but now I’m not so sure.”
“So Dominic doesn’t want the townhome to sell until he buys the development,” Belle said.
“Exactly. If it sells high now, that drives the overall value of the development up, and his cost goes up. That’s why Magnolia told me to not sell it, not now anyway. Those were her exact words.”
Emma finally spoke. “Magnolia doesn’t want her husband to buy the development. She’s in love with someone else, another developer, and he wants to purchase our little development, too.”
My mouth fell open.
Fannie bit her lip. “And she was afraid to tell Dominic because she was worried he’d do something. That’s why she pretended to help him. You know, as a cover, but we think he found out anyway.”
“She said he’s aggressive, and she’s been afraid of him for a while now,” Emma said.
“Who is she having an affair with?”
“Well,” Emma played with the bow tied around her neck. “Harold Horwitz, from Atlanta.”
Belle almost choked on her tea. “Harry Horwitz, are you serious?”
“It’s Harold, and of course I’m serious,” Emma said.
“No, sweetie, it’s Harry. Ask his daughter Elise. She’s our sorority sister, and I’m pretty sure she’d know what people call her daddy.”
Harold Horwitz had to be my parent’s age, so a good fifteen years older than Magnolia. Maybe love really was blind? “Did she tell you it’s Harry, er, uh, Harold?”
“Not at first of course, but she had to eventually. I saw them at The Fox Theatre downtown a few months ago, acting all lovey-dovey. And we have rules, you know. Women of Society members don’t frolic with men like that, so of course it was my duty to discuss it with her. We don’t want our reputation tarnished.”
“Emma, if you’ve seen them together, it’s very likely someone else did, too.”
“Oh dear Lord.” Fannie stared straight at Emma. “Had we spoken to the sheriff days ago, maybe he could have stopped it.” Fannie cried into the palms of her hands. “Dominic Scratachelli is a bad man, and God only knows what he’s done to our Magnolia.”
Emma patted Fannie on the back. “Fannie Noble, as members of the Women of Society, it is our duty to keep the private lives of our fellow sisters private. You know tha
t.”
As if keeping secrets in a place like Bramblett County was even possible.
Belle and I both promised the women we wouldn’t share the information with anyone other than Dylan and Matthew, and that we’d keep their part in it anonymous.
We did a thorough check of the area before letting them leave in case someone had figured out what was going on, and then called our significant others on speaker phone right away.
“Did they actually tell you Magnolia said she was afraid of her husband?” Dylan asked.
“Yes.”
“Did they say she said she was afraid he would hurt her?”
“They said she was afraid he’d do something.”
“And you think he might have.”
“I have a theory.”
“Fill me in.”
I laid it all out for both of them to hear.
“Horwitz is huge in Atlanta,” Matthew said. “Everyone knows him.”
“Okay. Let me verify what you’re saying. I’ll check in with my buddy on the Alpharetta PD and see what they came up with there. If the pieces fit, we’ll bring Scratachelli in for questioning,” Dylan said.
I sighed, relief washing over me like a cool summer rain shower. “Yes. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear.”
“In the meantime, I need you to stay clear of the man for your own safety. Belle, too. Do you understand?”
“Yes, but will you let me know what you find out?”
“I’ll do my best.”
“That’s all I can ask. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Belle shook her head. “You’re such a liar.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you so well. You’re way too deep into this now to just sit back and wait for something to happen.”
I grimaced. “You think Dylan knows that?”
“If he doesn’t, he’ll find out soon enough.”
* * *
The sun had already begun to set, leaving a soft orange glow just above the mountain tops. I loved how the color made the green of the pine trees shimmer in the breeze. Bramblett County sat at the beginning of the Appalachian Mountains. We had too many hiking trails among those mountains to count, and so much beautiful scenery, I never tired of looking. I’d spent weekends camping with my family and hiking the various trails. My favorite place to hike, and one I’d taken Bo to many times was at Amicalola Falls. Bo loved the smells, and I loved the waterfalls. Neither of us much liked the trek up the six-hundred and four step stairs to the top, but the view of the falls was definitely worth the effort. My view on the drive over to Magnolia’s home wasn’t that kind of stunning, but it was lovely in its own right. It wasn’t a long drive in miles, but since most of the roads were back roads, I’d gotten stuck behind two tractors, a tractor trailer, and an old woman that refused to go anything over fifteen miles under the speed limit.
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