“Not at all,” she said. “Or not any more than I already am.”
Which didn’t help any and he should have kept the words locked inside.
22
DREDGING UP THE PAST
At the end of the day on Friday, Gale walked into her condo building to see Rocco with another tenant. Town board member, Cindy Fryer. She wondered if that was who Rocco was told to contact two days ago. Cindy’s husband, Bill, was next to his wife.
Both men looked frazzled, Cindy’s face red, her arms crossed, and her stance combative.
Normally she’d hightail it past them because Cindy was nothing more than a pain in her butt always preaching about how much the McGregors do for this town. Cindy was the one pushing through projects as fast as she could.
Wonder if that was someone on the take or not? Wouldn’t surprise her.
“Hi, everyone,” she said. Everything in her body told her to be that nosy neighbor everyone was to her.
“Gale,” Cindy said. “Perfect timing. Have you been hearing noises in the building?”
“Nothing more than normal,” she said. She leaned closer to Cindy. “You know, like people getting closer to conversation than they should be.”
Cindy let out a huff and nodded. “Tell me about it. But I told Rocco that there are scratching noises in the building. As if animals are in the walls. I heard it first in the hallways and now it’s in our place.”
“That sounds annoying,” she said. She turned to Rocco. His face was flush as if he had a million other more important things he could deal with right now than these petty complaints.
“I told Cindy that it’s possible there are mice in the walls. Mice are everywhere. I can set some traps, but we’ve got exterminators coming to spray around the grounds. It will help.”
“We’ve got woods and trees all around us,” Bill said. “My wife seems to forget that.”
“It happens,” Gale said. “Maybe get a cat if you’re afraid of mice?”
“I’m not afraid of them,” Cindy said. “I find the noises annoying just like you said and slightly creepy. Especially at night when I’m trying to sleep.”
“Oh, I know a thing or two about creepy things,” she said, tongue in cheek. Might as well.
“I’ll go check in the basement,” Rocco said, turning to leave. “And set some traps. The exterminator will be here on Monday. Is there anything else you need, Cindy?”
“No,” Cindy snapped, then waved the back of her hand at Rocco. “Just get it taken care of. I paid a lot of money for this condo. I let Kane talk me into it when I would have rather stayed in my house.”
“That’s on you,” Bill said. “You wanted to sell.”
Rocco walked away and she moved toward the elevator. “Gale,” Cindy said. “What’s this I hear about that boy is back in town asking questions?”
So much for making a fast exit. Might as well talk and see what she could get. “What boy is that? You’d have to be more specific.”
“The girl who was murdered. Her brother. He’s in town and asking questions and dredging up the past. It’s not good for that to happen.”
She crossed her arms. “Why isn’t it good?”
“Because it’s a distraction when there are a lot of things in the works and if old news floats to the top again, people will be more concerned with that than expansion. We rely on these things for the community. You should know that as well with your practice and your brother’s business.”
“Expansion?” she asked, barely able to control her rage. If there were a stage for her to get on and start lecturing she would. “How about the young girl who was murdered? I didn’t think you’d be that cold.”
Bill snorted next to her. “My wife is all about protecting this area. She’s paying the price for her greed now.”
“Greed?” Gale asked, her radar lifting some more. “Anything to do with the noises in the building?”
Cindy obviously had an ear with the McGregors. Could they have asked her to put a note under her door? Cindy had come into the building shortly after Gale had left on Sunday, then no signs of her leaving again. Anything was possible especially if Cindy thought it’d affect any effort or her part in boasting about the economy.
