Page 19 of The Summer Request
“No, no!” Val took her sunglasses off so she could better see her screen. “I’m just waiting to hear back from Debbie – ”
The twelve-foot-tall door swung open to reveal a red-faced lady. “You’re late! Get in herenow!”
Debbie was so frightening that even Michelle obeyed her. Once they were inside, she shut the door and locked it. “I had three of my girls scheduled to clean this place, and all three of them called in sick. You know what makes me sick?” No one responded, so she answered herself. “Them.”
She stomped off, dragging a large vacuum behind her. “Each one of you needs to do three bathrooms and three bedrooms in the next forty-five minutes. Do you hear me? Sparkling clean. Vacuum, sanitize, make the beds.”
Val nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Debbie stopped. “Do you think you’re funny?” She leaned in and took a sniff. “Have you been drinking?”
Val vigorously shook her head. “Of course not. We’re ready to work.”
“Good. Get moving!”
Val handed them each a pair of gloves. “Here, Lisa, take the toilet bowl cleaner. Michelle, you can have the bleach wipes. There must be more supplies in the bathrooms. Dig around.”
“I am not cleaning Lou’s house,” Michelle said, arms crossed.
“Just dust over some stuff and look in the closets and bedside tables for secrets.”
Lisa’s eyes grew wide. “How do we find the secrets?”
The woman popped her head back into the foyer. “I said get to work!”
“Going now!” Val said brightly, a wide smile on her face.
She was determined to find something, anything, that would prove her theory about Lou. She sprinted up the stupid, magnificent staircase, popping her head into each room until she found what seemed to be the master bedroom.
Despite rifling through all the nooks and drawers, she found nothing but some black T-shirts and a bottle of finasteride. Val Googled the doctor on the bottle. He was Miami’s leading hair transplant specialist.
Heh.
She tidied up the bedroom and went into the bathroom. She gave the toilet, shower, and tub a light spray and wipe. It didn’t look dirty. Why had they even been hired?
Her new boss came to check on her just as she was wiping the sinks. Val scrubbed with extra vigor.
“Not bad,” Debbie said. “But work faster.”
Val nodded, and once Scary Debbie was out of sight, she moved onto the next bedroom, and the next one, and the next one. There was so much furniture, and so many places to hide things, but it was all empty. This house had hardly been lived in at all.
She did another bathroom – one that actually had been used a few times – before finding an office.
Bingo. This was what she needed.
She tugged at the desk drawers, trying to force them to open. Where would Lou keep the key? In a cup, under the desk, hidden in a book? She couldn’t find anything.
She was just about to pry into a drawer with a letter opener when she heard raised voices.
Val froze. It sounded like Michelle. She stopped what she was doing and strained to listen.
“Donottouch me.”
Yep, that was definitely Michelle.
Val ran down the stairs as the voices grew louder.
“Opening packages? Are you insane? What are you, a thief? I’ll call the police and – ”
