Page 62 of Devil in the Details

As she was heading into the kitchen, she noticed that he’d pulled a phone out of his jacket pocket and was starting to take pictures of the living room and the downstairs powder room. Technically, he wasn’t supposed to take photos without her express permission, but because the house was vacant and he wasn’t really intruding on anyone’s privacy, she decided to let it slide.

Especially if his unexpected return signaled that the Aegis Group was about to make an offer.

Caleb might have some words to say about that, though, especially in light of what they’d discovered over the past couple of days. It wasn’t as if they’d found that the Aegis Group had been doing anything technically illegal, but the connection to Aaron Sanchez still stank to high heaven no matter how she tried to explain it away.

Well, then maybe she should be praying that Marcy Prescott’s buyers would finally get off the pot and make an offer. That would cut out Evan Matthews and Aegis altogether, and, with any luck, Delia would never have to deal with them again.

She put the leftover brownies and chocolate chip cookies in a Tupperware container and sealed it up, then got a sponge from underneath the sink and began wiping down the island. By the time she was done, Evan Matthews had reappeared from his tour of the home, looking almost pleased with himself.

“I’m glad I came back for a second look,” he said. “The other members of the board weren’t as keen about the property, since it’s fairly far from the Strip, but I think I have enough information now to convince them that this house is just what we’ve been looking for.”

Exactly what information he now possessed that he didn’t have in hand last week, Delia wasn’t sure. The online listing for the property had more than sixty pictures and a detailed write-up, but if a few amateur snaps were what the Aegis board required to reassure them the house would be a good investment, then so be it.

That didn’t mean she didn’t plan to send Marcy a quick text after Evan was gone to let her know the sharks were circling and that her buyers needed to make a decision, stat, if they wanted to buy the place after all.

Some people might have viewed such a move as slightly unethical. Delia didn’t look at it that way, though, especially since Marcy’s buyers were the ones who’d viewed the house first.

And also because Caleb would much prefer to sell the house to a private party.

“I’m glad to help.” She paused there before adding, “If there’s anything else….”

“No, you’ve been very helpful. Thank you again.”

Evan let himself out the front door, and Delia hurried over to lock it. She wasn’t expecting anyone else to come by, but still, the last thing she wanted to deal with right now was a couple of stragglers.

Also, she wanted to make one final pass of the property before she left. Although she didn’t think Evan had meddled with anything, she still needed to check and see that everything was where it was supposed to be.

But the furniture and the other decor appeared completely untouched, and if Mr. Matthews had scribbled pentagrams on the ceiling or done something else to the house, it certainly wasn’t evident to her.

Too bad her supposed psychic gifts hadn’t kicked in while he was here. A quick peek into his mind might have provided some of the information she needed.

But her telepathy…or whatever you wanted to call it…seemed to have taken a powder for the moment, and there didn’t seem to be much she could do about it.

Well, except gather her things and make a quick call to Caleb, just as she’d promised him she would, so he’d know how the open house had gone.

She went back downstairs and put the extra sales flyers in the leather satchel she used as a briefcase, then got her phone out of her purse. He picked up on the second ring, a sure signal that he’d been waiting to hear from her.

“How’d it go?”

“Pretty good,” she replied. “We had about twenty people come through.” Then she paused, realizing she should just go ahead and blurt it out. “Evan Matthews stopped by.”

“He did?” Caleb sounded genuinely surprised. “I thought he’d bailed on the place.”

Not that strange an assumption, considering how they hadn’t heard from the man in days. “So did I,” Delia said. “But he said the board was still considering the property, and he wanted to come over and take a second look.”

Caleb was silent for a moment. “That seems kind of fishy to me.”

“I thought so, too,” she responded. “But that could just be because neither of us is too disposed to think the best of Aegis Holdings right now. Problem is, we don’t have any real evidence to suggest they’re anything more than what they appear to be.”

“Maybe not, but….”

He didn’t finish the sentence; he didn’t need to. What with Aaron’s suspicious behavior and the way his current home was owned by Aegis, it didn’t take a huge leap of logic to guess that something sinister might be percolating under the surface, even if they had no idea what it might be.

“I know,” Delia said. “And honestly, I’m going to text Marcy and let her know interest in the property has picked up, so she needs to light a fire under her clients. I can’t do much more than that, though.”

“And I appreciate it.” A sigh came through the phone’s speaker, and Caleb added, “But I can always refuse to sell to Aegis, right?”

“Of course,” she replied immediately. “It’s your property, so you’re the one calling the shots. The only issue with that is if word gets around town that you’re difficult to deal with, you might have a harder time selling the house.”

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