“The community? Is there something like that near Windy Vista?” I asked, not recalling seeing anything remotely like that.

He fiddled with his hands. “There could be,” he finally said. “Very soon.”

“Do you have the land?” I asked. I thought about what Kat had said, that she'd heard rumors of Harvey talking to Davis. Maybe, for once, the rumor mill has been right.  “Would it be possible to go see it?”

“Well, right now, we are still in the...development stage,” he said, emphasizing the syllables of the last two words. “And I'm not at liberty to disclose the exact locale. I could, however, put you on a contact list when the project comes to fruition.” He smiled. “And a down payment would most certainly guarantee you a lot when that time comes.”

It almost felt like he wanted to grab my purse and see how much cash I had on me.

“Let me talk to my husband,” I said. “And see what he thinks.”

His shoulders drooped a bit and he sighed. But he quickly recovered. “Certainly, yes. Talk to your husband and then stop back by before you leave town. Let's see what we can come up with.”

“I'll do that.”

He nodded. “Good, good.” He paused. “When do you think that will be?”

He was like a used car salesman and I'd suddenly had enough. I didn't want to commit to anything and I didn't want to continue the farce of being interested in something I most definitely was not.

“Soon,” I lied. “We're only in town for the week.” I stood up and thanked him for his time and we shook hands.

“Excellent,” he said. He handed me his business card. “I'll look forward to seeing you and your husband.”

I pocketed the card. I turned to go, then stopped. I looked back at him. “Was Harvey aware of this new development?”

Ellington had already picked up his sandwich and the bread missile was halfway to his mouth. His arm froze in mid-air and he looked at me over his half-eaten mess of a lunch.

“No,” Ellington said. “I don't believe he was.”

EIGHTEEN

“Hackerman is down there,” Jake said, stretched out on a lounge chair next to the pool. “Giving me the evil eye. So far, I've resisted the urge to drown him.”

I'd gone back to Windy Vista after meeting Davis Ellington and Jake had left me a note in the cabin, saying he was down at the pool. So I'd put the groceries away, changed into my swimsuit, grabbed a towel and walked down to find him.

I spread my towel out on the chair next to him and glanced down at the far end of the pool. Hackerman was ensconced in a corner of the deep end, his sunglasses on, a Twins cap pulled down tight on his head and a can of Miller Light in his hand. His mouth twitched when he saw me looking his way and he busied himself by tipping his beer back and taking a long gulp.

“Thank goodness for your patience,” I said. “Two dead bodies at this place in one week might be a bit much.”

Jake adjusted his sunglasses. “Yeah, well, if he keeps staring, someone's going to have to fish him out of the bottom of the pool.”

I sank down in the chair next to him. “You and your big talk.”

“I do not like that guy.”

“I know. I think everyone knows.”

He frowned at me. “Where were you?”

“I told you,” I said. “I went into town. For food. So we don't have to visit any more fine eating establishments around here.”

He eyed me from behind the sunglasses. “You took longer than you said you would. You never do that.”

He knew me too well. “What's too long?” I said instead of admitting to what I'd really been doing. “When was the last time you shopped for groceries at a convenience store?”

“You shopped for groceries at the gas station?” he asked..

“No,” I admitted. “But it might as well have been. They had one kind of marinara sauce. One. And two kinds of orange juice—one with pulp and one without.”

“Seems to me the lack of choices would have made your trip shorter, not longer,” Jake said.

“No, it took longer because I had to deliberate. Duh.”

“Over what?

I watched some kids play in the pool. There was a girl about Grace's age, diving under the water over and over, her sparkling purple swimsuit glittering in the sun each time she popped up. I felt a little twinge of homesickness. Kidsickness, actually.

“Over specifically what I wanted to buy,” I said.

“Hmm,” Jake said. “That still doesn't sound like you.”

I glanced down at the far end of the pool. Hackerman was pushing himself out of the water. He tossed his empty can into a trash bin and it clanged when it hit the bottom. He grabbed his towel, wrapped it around his shoulders, then walked around the opposite side of the pool, his eyes on Jake.

“Your friend is leaving,” I said.

Jake shifted his gaze and smiled thinly at him. Hackerman grimaced and pushed open the gate to the parking lot.

“I think you're trying to distract me,” Jake said.

“From what?”

“From where you were.”

I didn't want to out and out lie to him. But I didn't want to explain about my side trip, either, because I knew he'd tell me to keep my nose out of it. Not that he'd be wrong to tell me that, but I just wasn't in the mood to hear it quite yet.

“I'm doing no such thing,” I said. I stood up and repositioned my towel. “And I'm getting in the water because I'm hot and sweaty from all your questioning.”

“That's not even possible,” he said.

“It is for me,” I said. I put my hands on my hips. “These are hard questions.”

He shook his head and leaned back into the chair.

I walked toward the stairs and stepped gingerly into the cool water, staying on my tiptoes as I waded in deeper. I smiled at the girl in purple and she flashed me a gap-toothed smile. I navigated around her as she dove under again, her feet kicking up a spray of cool water. Her dad was in the pool with her and he offered a smile of apology.

“I have four of my own,” I told him. “There's usually more splashing than swimming going on when I take them to a pool.”

He chuckled.

The water lapped against my stomach and I tried to go higher on my toes. Jake always dove right in and I always took my time, trying to adjust to the water. It never worked and I'd eventually decide to just lower myself into the water and get it over with. But it was like I had amnesia because each time I hit the water, I'd do the tiptoe dance, as if this time I would somehow adjust better.

I made my way toward the deep end, where the water was out from the shadow of the clubhouse. It was a little warmer and, after taking a deep breath and mentally counting to three, I sank my shoulders into the water, biting back a squeal. One more quick breath and I went all the way under, the water like ice on my sun-warmed hair.

I slicked back my hair, cool and refreshed, and hung on to the side of the pool. Jake was still lounging back on his chair and I imagined he was probably napping. Again. Most of the other chairs on the deck were occupied and there were about a dozen people in the pool. A toddler tooling around in an inflatable duck, his mom steering it expertly in the shallow end, and a pair of elderly women doing what looked like water aerobics. I wondered if it was Water Aerobics day but couldn't remember the details of the activity. A few teens were huddled by the rope that separated the shallow end from the deep end, hanging on to the thick cording and talking animatedly. I was wondering what they were talking about when movement on the deck caught my eye.

Two girls walked in unison, which was the reason I noticed them. It was almost like they were robots synched together, their arms and legs swinging in perfect time as they crossed the pool deck. They wore matching orange bikinis that fit their bodies the exact same way—perfectly. They kicked off their sandals at the same moment and walked single file to the steps into the pool. I stared with unabashed fascination.