Chapter 7: The Walkthrough

"I'm the plant guy," said Teddy.

He had not meant to say it in the voice of a man pleading guilty.

Garrick Spindler beamed up at the balcony, at the tarp, at the two men in deck chairs holding hands in the sunrise.

"Wonderful," he said. "I'm early. I hope you don't mind. I like to see a property when it isn't dressed for company."

Magnus woke all at once and looked down at his own hand.

He let go of Teddy's so fast the chair rocked.

"I'll be right down," Teddy called.

"Take your time! I'd like to see the units. Both of them."

"Now?"

"I have an eight-thirty in Beaverton," said Garrick, and smiled with all his teeth.

The tour took forty minutes.

Garrick was a handsome man with silver hair.

He had the cheerful, clean voice of someone who sells things for a living and has never been told no by a closet.

He tapped the walls.

He opened the kitchen cabinets in Teddy's unit and said "Charming" in the tone of a man complimenting a dog on its sweater.

He stood in Teddy's living room under the hanging pothos and said, "This will all have to go, of course."

"The plants?"

"The ceiling. It's original, so it's a liability. But the plants too."

Teddy's jaw ached.

Magnus stood in the corner of the room in last night's sweater, arms crossed, saying nothing at the volume of a man saying everything.

Then they went through the shared wall into 2B.

"Cleaner," said Garrick, and he sounded almost sorry about it. "Doctor Aldahl, correct? Veterinary surgeon. You keep a tidy house."

Keep reading free with an account. Start His Cat Stole My Underwear, and He Kept Every Pair from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.