Dirty Little Murder (27 page)

But he shouldn’t hate. He knew better. But was it okay to be incredibly aggravated by someone?

Alonzo got to thinking about his property issues again. He ought to get out of his little dump of an office, throw some paint on it, and get someone else in it.

And then what?

He really wanted an acre or so in the downtown industrial area. He was serious business and that’s where serious business went on. Sure, the Eastside had an industrial area, but it wasn’t the same. So why even bother with that dump of Neuhaus’?

He tallied its benefits. Location, location, location.

The commercial lumberyard. The stoneworks. The railroad. And if you can’t be on the Westside at least you can be right by the river on the Eastside.

The area would probably gentrify in the next couple of years as well. Perfect really. A few million dollar lofts and some money yuppies on the street—those were the kind of people he wanted walking past his Miramontes sign every day. Exactly the kind.

The thing was, there wasn’t a single building that size available for five miles in either direction. Everything was let already. The location was happening.

Caution told him he could bide his time and someone was sure to go out of business and vacate. But he wanted to fill his time, not bide it. He wanted to buy a property, fix it to suit and get a little renter in his hole of a place to increase his cash flow. Simple.

Mitzy was really pissed off—er—peeved off by that radio guy, and he was stuck in the hospital until later that evening. So he sat and listened to Johnny Headly throw his radio career down the toilet by talking smack about women in general right before the Dr. Laura show.
Why were people always so stupid?
he wondered.

Mitzy laid her head on her pillow, her grandma’s afghan tucked up under her chin. She wished she had the energy to make a cappuccino. She wished she had someone to call.

Without a successful radio spot her hopes of getting on
First Things
were gone. She didn’t want to go to the gala fundraiser without a date. But the Dinner with Degas was her one chance to meet new people who might want to buy a mansion. She really wanted a buyer for the mansion. It would help the guys at the stoneworks. It would help that poor Laurence Mills who was getting foreclosed. It would perk up her staff considerably.

Her staff.

She sighed. She could always take Ben. His girlfriend wouldn’t mind. His girlfriend was twenty-two and very secure in her adorableness. Mitzy hated to take a kid like Ben to an event. It would make her look…was she too young to be a cougar? 

She buried her face. She had everything except a few rather important things, like a best friend, or a
fella
. Or at this moment, a satisfying and fulfilling career.

After a good long sulk she washed her face and changed her clothes. She had dinner with her sister-in-law to contend with still.

FORECLOSED IS FREE AT AMAZON!

About the Author

Traci Tyne Hilton is the author of
The Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery Series
,
The Plain Jane Mystery Series
, and one of the authors in the
The
Tangle Saga
series of science fiction novellas. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, a finalist for Speculative Fiction in the same contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves as the Vice President of the
Portland
chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.

Traci earned a degree in History from
Portland
State
University
and still lives in the rainiest part of the
Pacific Northwest
with her husband the mandolin playing funeral director, their two daughters, and their dog, Dr. Watson.

More of Traci's work can be found at
http://www.tracihilton.com
Mitzy Neuhaus is the top selling Realtor in
Portland
, but even her office is dead in this economy. Foreclosed is the word no homeowner wants to hear and Mitzy is determined to save the incredible mansion on her street from that fate. But with the homeowner desperate to keep Mitzy away from his property and Alonzo, the dangerously hot rival investor trying to snatch it out from under her, Mitzy knows she has to work fast, or the economy won’t be the only thing dead…

Mitzy Neuhaus is dying to get back to business as usual, but The Worst Economy Since The Great Depression has just about killed her real estate business. But when the excessive interest of the FBI, city planners, and possibly the Mafia, threaten to derail Mitzy’s plans things really get dangerous…

Mitzy Neuhaus had an easier time selling her condo before the mystery buyer “bought it” on her patio. Mitzy stumbled over the body and knew she had to get involved in the case–if only because the corpse was a dead ringer for herself.
At first it seemed like a clear case of mistaken identity and Mitzy feared the Mafia wasn’t done with her yet. But digging into the life of the dead buyer uncovered a peculiar little dress shop where nothing added up.
Can Mitzy untangle the mystery before she ends up with her own case of buyer’s remorse?