“You can’t just ghost me, Christine. Call me back.”
By the third, Marcy resorted to a whiny voice.
“Hello? Christine? Why aren’t you calling me back? Are you threatened by me?”
Amanda stopped the voicemail from playing out. “We’ll need to have a chat with Marcy, find out the story between her and Christine.”
“Agreed. It doesn’t sound too friendly.”
Amanda shook her head. Could it be as she thought earlier? That a rival agent had targeted Christine?
The other message that had Amanda’s attention was from a woman who wasn’t in Christine’s contacts. It was left at ten thirty on Friday night.
“It’s Melanie. We’re at the house. There’s a Lexus in the drive, but there’s no answer at the door. If you’re inside, call me back. We’ll wait around for five minutes, but after that we need to leave.”
Amanda saved the message and looked at the call log attached to the number. “There were two calls on Friday from this number. Presumably, one requesting the viewing, and the follow-up that landed in voicemail. But there is also one from two weeks ago and a return call from Christine the same day.”
“They’ve been in touch for a bit, but that doesn’t necessarily exempt this person from suspicion. I say we track the number back to who it’s registered to and follow up.”
“Easy enough. Did you notice the woman saidwe? There were at least two people here to see the house.”
“Right. Well, a partnership could be responsible for this.”
“From the call history, Melanie never tried reaching Christine again. Leaving this message could have been a defense ploy.” She offered this, realizing it was what Malone had said about Spencer. “Whatever the case, we need to track these people down and have a chat.”
“Same goes for Marcy Maxwell, but we have two other stops to make first.”
“Yes, I know. But I’m not notifying Spencer until we’ve gotten a hold of Christine’s daughter, and this isn’t news I want to give her over the phone.”
TWELVE
Amanda shared the update on the victim’s identity with the CSIs, and she and Trent were on the road again. Their first stop took them to Christine’s house to see if Riley was home. When that failed, Amanda called her and had to leave another voicemail. “No answer again.”
“So I gathered. What are you thinking we should do next? Want to head back to Best Home Realty to have a chat with Marcy Maxwell, or speak to this Melanie who requested the viewing?”
“Considering it sounds like Melanie was there around the time of Christine’s murder, I say we start with her. In the least, Melanie might have seen something that could help with the case.”
“I can get behind that. But I really need something to eat before we do anything. You all right with that?”
“Why not?”
A handful of minutes later, they had hit a drive-thru and were eating fries and chicken strips in the car. She with plum sauce, and he with honey.
Trent’s phone rang, and he pulled it out. “It’s Kels. I can let it go or…”
“Answer it. We don’t know where this night is going to take us.” If they were fortunate, they’d wrap this up and get Christine’s killer in the next hour. That’s what Amanda would love to believe, but life had taught her not to surrender to hope with a freefall.
“Hey there.” Trent was smiling when he answered, showing his relationship was going strong.
She pushed a fry into her mouth and shut the container, abandoning some. Just unable to eat any more. Her phone rang, and her caller ID told her it was “Dr. Handsome.”Becky!Her best friend must have gotten a hold of her phone and updated his name in her contacts. Amanda would change that before Carter saw it. She picked up his call.
“Wow. Is this Amanda in the flesh? Not a recording? I half-expected to wind up in voicemail.”
She heard his smile from the other end of the line, and unlike her ex, Carter knew what it was like to have a demanding job that didn’t adhere to fixed hours. His commentary on the voicemail was just a sign that he respected her busy schedule. “Well, you’ve got me, so what can I do for you?”
“Ooh, you know what you can do…”
She knew what he liked, but she flushed with heat thinking about his mouth over her ear, his breath on her neck. Then the way he’d nibble on the lobe, sending her into… She pulled herself out of the tailspin. “All right. Mind out of the gutter.”
