Betrayal - Fern Michaels [85]
This apartment had two bedrooms. She used the second as an office. If anyone were to ask, she planned to tell them she did medical billing from home. Lots of people did that. She knew because she had actually taken an online course. You never knew.
She knew that Emily was in vet school, though she was unable to find any current employment records. Debbie had her own real estate firm. That surprised her. She knew a few years back Don had filed for bankruptcy, but Debbie’s name wasn’t on the file she’d looked at. There were no current employment records for Don either. The past three years he had received no income whatsoever. Working with the Internal Revenue Service had opened all kinds of doors for Kate. She could take away a person’s livelihood with the stroke of a few keys.
While sabotaging the Winters financially was on her list, it wasn’t at the top. Sara would be twenty years old now. She was a big girl. Kate figured it was time for her to face the music. If Sara was attending college, Kate had been unable to find out where. That was a big reason for her move to Naples. If Sara was still living there, Kate could watch her.
Sick as it sounded, Kate actually liked spying on people, getting information that no one else seemed to be able to find. Maybe she’d been a private investigator in another life. Whatever, she seemed to have a knack for it.
She had a schedule and would stick to it if she hoped to accomplish anything. That day she would drive to Debbie’s office. She might go inside and ask about a rental. She needed to be able to come and go freely. If she could get by Debbie, she’d get past anyone.
She blew her hair into a curl-free bob. She still had trouble recognizing herself when she looked in the mirror but figured that was a good thing. Contacts in place. Heavy eye shadow and loads of thick gloss on her lips. She wore the black capris, slides, and a white T-shirt. She looked like anyone else, well, maybe minus the makeup. Hell, she looked like Debbie. The woman wore so much makeup, Kate used to wonder how often she had to buy it to balance supply and demand. Weekly, from the looks of her. But that was years ago. Maybe she’d changed with age.
Kate had practiced speaking with a strong Southern accent. She had a slow drawl as it was, but when she enhanced it as she’d done, she sounded nothing like the Kate Rocket Debbie knew.
She waited until midmorning to go to the real estate office. If Debbie was true to form, she wasn’t an early riser. Kate believed her chances of “bumping into” her at this time would be greater.
Driving down Highway 41 brought back memories of the short time she’d spent in the city. If she could turn back the clock, Alex would be alive. In a way, she blamed herself for Alex’s death, believing that if she’d insisted on speaking to Don long ago about Sara’s mental status, he might’ve taken her to get the help she’d needed. She should have confronted Sara about the destruction in her studio. Most of all, she wished she’d paid closer attention to the premonitions she’d had when they’d agreed that James was the best possible attorney for Alex.
The directions she printed out from MapQuest were right on the money. She made two right turns, then a left. The Century 21 office was located in a newly built strip mall. Pastel colors, pink and lavender. Kate thought it looked like something at Disney World, but this was Florida. Everything was flashy, designed to entice.
She checked herself in the mirror one last time. Taking a calming breath, Kate got out of the car and walked directly to the office. A set of chimes resting against the door emitted a soft tinkling sound when she entered. She found herself in a reception area decorated in pale white furniture with lots of plants and