Broke: Read Free Page A

uh, Imogene, " she stammered. " You can call me , um, Immy. " She couldn ' t help batting her eyes a little.
    Then he smiled. " Hi there, Immy. " Dimples and a cleft chin. She thought, just for a moment, that she saw doves circling his head. She definitely heard violins.
    Jersey had, meanwhile, called Mr. Tompkins and gotten permission for Immy to build a fence. " He says you can pretty much do what you want to with it . He'll be around to look it over and check out the contents . He sure hasn ' t done anything to it . He had it for sale for years, but no one wanted it. I think he overpriced, then the market collapsed. " She drummed her nail s on t he desk blotter. " I wonder how many homeless people have been squatting there. You ' d better change the locks. "
    That would be something to think about. How had this Grunt character gotten in? The one that Dewey said let him in? They couldn't have used the front door, with the lockbox on it and all. Maybe this could be a case for her to investigate. The Case of the Mysterious Entrance.
    Jersey shoved some papers across the desk and Immy, after glancing at them to make sure the rental price was as low as Jersey had said, signed her name about a dozen times.
    " I think I ' d like to take another look at the house, " she said. She wanted to see if she could figure out how the guy s had gotten in, and maybe prevent more vagrants from entering what was now her ho m e.
    " Sure thing. We have to-- " Jersey ' s desk phone rang. She held a hand up to Immy and answered. " She what? When? "
    Immy listened with growing alarm as Jersey ' s voice rose and her panic-stricken expression returned.
    The agent hung up and sprang to her feet. " That ' s the daycare. My daughter ate five crayons. I have to take her to the hospital. " She ran for the door. " Vance, could you--? "
    " No problem, " the god in human form purred . " I ' ll take good care of Immy. "
    " Extra keys are in my top drawer . " Jersey threw the words over her shoulder as she rushed out .
    " What Jersey is talking about , " said Vance, " is that we need to remove the lockbox and hand the keys over to you. If you ' d like to do that right now, that would be fine. I can accompany you. "
    Be still my heart, Immy thought. " Um, sure. That would, uh, be fine. Just fine. "
    She was so glad that Ralph Sandoval, the Saltlick police officer she ' d been seeing steadily for several months, wasn ' t here to witness her sudden demise. She was pretty sure she was going to drop dead of lust before they reached the house.
    " It ' s the Tompkins place, right? " He got a couple of keys from Jersey's drawer, each with a blue plastic tag that had the company's name imprinted in silver block letters. Standing up, h e seemed pretty tall.
    Immy nodded and stood up. Yep, he was tall. Three for three: dark, handsome , and tall .
    ***
    When Immy entered the house on this second t rip, it already seemed homier. She pictured Drew playing with her Barbie dolls in the room she would call, she decided, The Great Hall. Immy would select some of the furnishing s to keep and maybe ask the owner to remove and store the ones she didn ' t want , like that stiff-looking couch.
    " Whoa, " said Vance, coming in behind her. He closed the squeaky door, walked to one of the pieces of shrouded furniture and lifted the cover. His eyes widened. He pulled the cover all the way off and stood back to admi re a hexagonal table with what resembled a lace fringe hanging down, but carved of the same dark wood as the rest of the table.
    He ran his hand over the surface. " This is a fine, fine piece. "
    Immy joined him and admired the table, too. " Yes, I think I ' ll keep this one. "
    The look he gave her was rather sharp. " You ' re keeping the furnishings? "
    " Jersey said I could. The owner doesn ' t want them, she said. "
    Vance ' s eyes narrowed. " Are you sure? "
    Immy shrugged. " You can ask her, but I ' m pretty sure she said that . I don ' t have any furniture, so I can use