The Family Affair: A Made in Savannah Cozy Mystery (Made in Savannah Cozy Mysteries Series Book 9) by Hope Callaghan (great books of all time .txt) 📕

Chapter 20

Carlita caught a glimpse of Cindy, Annie’s assistant, sitting at her desk, but there was no sign of Annie.

Cindy waited for the women to step into the real estate office. “Hello, ladies…and Rambo.”

Rambo trotted across the room to greet Cindy and she gave him a quick pat on the head before reaching into her desk drawer where she pulled out a small box of doggie treats and gave one to the pooch.

Rambo rewarded her with a hand lick before accepting the treat and plopping down on the floor to enjoy it.

“Annie is in the conference room, finishing up with a client. Is there something I can help you with?”

“Maybe,” Carlita said. “I’ll let Mercedes explain.”

“We need to find someone who offers skip tracing services.”

“To track down a property owner?”

“Exactly.” Mercedes nodded.

“I think Annie might know someone. Did you check with Elvira? I would think with her investigative services company, she would have access to skip tracing.”

“We haven’t. We decided to ask Annie first.”

“…and I’ll touch base with you tomorrow.” Annie and a woman emerged from the back and they walked to the front door. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find you the perfect property.”

The woman thanked Annie and exited the office.

“Two visits in one week.” Annie crossed the room. “What’s the occasion?”

“We need your help again,” Carlita said. “We’re looking for someone who offers skip tracing services.”

“Oh.” Annie lifted a brow.

“We’re hoping a skip trace might help us track down the names of the owners of the Harner Street property.” Carlita placed the password-locked laptop on the desk. “We were also hoping that you and your mad scientist creative-mind would be able to help us unlock this laptop.”

“You don’t have the password?”

Carlita and Mercedes exchanged a glance. “It…doesn’t belong to us. We want to know what’s on it.”

“I see. Well, the less I know the better.” Annie pulled the computer to her and lifted the lid. “This has a fairly simple locking system. The laptop appears to be a couple of years old.” She tapped the screen. “It might take a minute.”

“Take your time.”

“And…okay, I’ve got it.” Annie hummed under her breath as she searched the laptop.

“What did you do?” Mercedes leaned forward.

Annie grinned. “I can’t give away all of my secrets. I learned a lot on the internet while building my robot, Tinker.” She grew quiet.  “Hmm... About the only thing on this computer is a booking site.”

“Booking?” Carlita asked.

“It’s an online website.” Annie went on to explain the program operated a lot like financial software. “I heard about this a while back. It’s actually pretty slick. The bookie directs his clients to a website, where bets are recorded, tracked and totaled. The bookie can then log on to see who owes — or is owed — money in the coming week.”

“So it’s legal online gambling?” Carlita asked.

“No way.” Annie shook her head. “It’s illegal as all get-out. Most of these companies are overseas, so they’re hard to track. If the bookie keeps moving, it’s almost impossible for the authorities to catch them.”

“We suspect the laptop belonged to Robert, Shelby’s ex, but we can’t be certain,” Carlita confessed.

“There’s something else on here.” Annie tapped the keys. “You won’t need a skip trace service after all.” She turned the laptop.

Carlita squinted her eyes. “What am I looking at?”

“It’s a copy of the deed for 412 Harner Street, owned by East Coast Ventures. The second line lists the owner’s name.”

“Robert,” Carlita whispered.

Mercedes peered over her mother’s shoulder. “This ties the property to Robert, along with the money we found. What if Robert owed someone money and they took him out?”

“This still doesn’t tie into the Black Stallion or explain why Quinton Towns has been snooping around our place,” Carlita said.

“We know Quinton was Robert’s brother. For some reason, Quinton didn’t know about the Harner Street property, so he came after Shelby, thinking Robert had given her the cash we found in the backpack.”

“You two have been busy,” Annie said.

“I think we should go ahead with the skip tracing to verify the ownership of Harner Street,” Mercedes said.

“This proves Robert owns the property.” Carlita jabbed her finger at the laptop.

“No, it doesn’t.” Mercedes stubbornly shook her head.

After a brief stare down, Carlita relented. “Go ahead with the skip trace.”

Annie moved the laptop off to the side and turned her attention to her computer.  “I have a colleague at another real estate company who offers skip tracing as a side business. I used it a few months ago to track down a deadbeat tenant for a friend.”

“How much does it cost?” Carlita asked.

“If it’s a simple online search and the information is easily located, I think I paid about a hundred bucks.”

“A hundred dollars,” Carlita gasped. “I’m not sure I want the information that badly.”

“Yes, we do.” Mercedes frowned at her mother. “We do want the information.”

Carlita muttered something unintelligible under her breath.  “Okay, but we’re not going to pay more than a hundred dollars.”

“Let me make a quick phone call.” Annie reached for her cell phone and Mercedes motioned to her mother. “We have to clear Shelby’s name and Vinnie’s for that matter. Think about it. You saw Vinnie enter a city office. Ten bucks says he was meeting with Emmett Pridgen to maybe grease his palms for Castellini and move the casino boat project along. What if Pridgen is a killer?”

“How does this involve Robert and Quinton Towns?” Carlita asked.

“My theory is Pridgen and the Towns brothers worked together to set up a scam, or maybe it wasn’t even a scam, to find investors interested in investing in the casino boat venture. They targeted established casino owners, including those in Atlantic City