She laughed. "I find it best to tell Bert about something after I've already signed the contract. That way, he can't say no without looking bad."

"That's diabolical," I said in awe. And genius. "I love it."

Barbie clicked on the television. "It wasn't only my looks that got me here." The show started, and Barbie straightened her spine, leaning closer to the television screen. "Let's see what Nick gets up to today."

The first few minutes of the show focused on another couple. After a commercial break, Barbie let out a deep sigh when the show returned with no sign of Nick.

"Can I use your bathroom?" I asked as the second commercial break started without the playboy making his entrance.

She waved me off without taking her gaze from the screen. "Sure, sure. But hurry. You don't want t to miss Nick. They'll catch him, eventually. We don't get replays, only an occasional flashback scene. Thankfully, I've got the recording going."

I gave NB a quick pet as I passed him gorging himself in the kitchen and continued into the hallway. The first open door on the right had floor-to-ceiling windows and large sliding glass doors leading to the patio area.

Bingo.

Without a sound, I slipped inside the room and hurried to my escape. The doors were locked, but it only took a quick flick of the lock to open them. I slipped through the small opening and closed the door behind me slowly so it didn't make noise.

I strolled-so I didn't look suspicious-toward the empty condo, moving past the long expanse of windows in Barbie's living room, and stopped to suck in a breath at the primary set of patio doors for my destination. The grassy area around the condo's balcony was empty, not a single person strolling the walkways. I crossed my fingers that my luck held out before testing the patio door with a quick jerk.

It didn't.

Locked.

Ugh. What was with all these rich people locking up their places? It made me want to scream.

Damn it.

I tried the door again, with a harder jerk, but nothing happened. A golf cart beeped its horn somewhere on the other side of the building, and I turned back toward Barbie's. I creeped by her open windows again, snuck back through the open patio doors-locking them as I reentered-and headed toward the bathroom.

With the door open, I flushed the toilet and sprayed water over my hands as loudly as possible before rejoining Barbie on the couch.

"You didn't miss anything exciting," she said as I sat back down. "Mackenzie still hasn't told her parents she's dropped out of college. I give it another month before someone pushes her in a well."

NB jumped on my lap. "They're going to film her while she's in a hole?"

"Oh, sure," Barbie said, her gaze back on the show as it returned. "They love wells on this program. Everyone ends up in one, eventually."

What in the world were these show writers doing in their free time? Were wells that big of a problem in America?

The show continued, and we watched as Mackenzie hid in her bedroom closet while her mother came home from work for a quick lunch.

"For as pretty as she is," I said, speaking on Mackenzie, "you'd think she'd have better story lines."

Barbie coughed. "Just wait. She'll end up in a bigger drama. This is a new actress to the role, and they haven't ramped her up yet."

Interesting.

Thirty minutes later, Nick hadn't been caught by either Reba or Tanya, and Barbie clicked off the show in annoyance.

"How long will they drag it on?" I asked as NB and I stood up to leave.

She shook her head. "The last time he pulled this, they led us on for over a year before he promised Reba he'd be faithful."

"This isn't their first time?" I asked, shocked.

"Hun, this is a soap. It's no one's first time." Barbie dropped the remote on the white couch next to Biscuit. "Also, if you want into the condo next door, you don't have to sneak around. I can get you in."

She walked toward her kitchen, and I followed in shock. "You can get me in? How?" Also, how did she know?

Did she have a lock pick kit? I'd left mine back in our stuff in Pelican Bay since I'd given up the PI life, but having access to one right now would be extremely helpful.

"I have a key," she said, grabbing a mineral water from the fridge. She held one out to me, and I accepted with a quick thanks. "Hadria, the owner, gave me a key years ago. She's probably forgotten I still have it. Her daughter is there every few days to water the plants."

Plants? Dred filled my gut. I didn't remember plants in the walkthrough. Hopefully, those weren't included in the furnishings because they'd be dead plants soon enough if they left me in charge of them. Hopefully, Barbie had room for more because I'd be gifting them to her.

I stuck the water bottle to my lips and took a quick chug. The spicy bubble water hit my tongue, and I choked. I jerked the bottle away from me and stared at the label. What the hell was this crap?

"It's great. Right?" Barbie asked, watching my reaction. "Gets your guts moving."

I blinked and shook my head. "Yeah. It sure does that."

She walked out the front door, and I screwed the cap back on my bottle. "What do you want to see in the condo? Do I need a tape measure?"

"What?" Oh, right. I needed a reason. A regular person reason that didn't sound suspicious. "No, I want to see the closet again to make sure my shoes will fit."

"Ah," Barbie said as she unlocked the door. "I have a closet guy if you need his number. He increased my shoe storage in all our closets when we moved."

I nodded. "Okay, thanks."

Barbie followed me to the main bedroom, and I opened the closet door. A few small pieces of the white carpet were stained a red hue. The dark dirt spot soiled the ground a foot away.

"Is this where you found Melissa?" Barbie asked, leaning over me.

I moved deeper into the closet. "I try not to think about it," I lied.

All I did was think about it, night and day.

How did a person get a knitting needle in their ear? I didn't care what the police said. No way was this an accident. How could that even happen? There's no way Melissa slipped and stabbed herself with a needle in her ear. How much force did it take to make it into your brain and how perfect did your aim have to be? I needed a watermelon.

"You could definitely fit another shelf in here for shoes," Barbie said as I paced near the back of the closet.

I pushed a few blouses out of the way to see the wall behind them. Most of the clothes were gone, which made sense if the seller was already living with her daughter on the other side of the island. Hopefully, she'd come back for the rest. "Yes, and I can steal space from Broadrick, too."

"Now you're talking like a married woman," Barbie said.

I scanned the closet floor again and then reached above me to feel around the shelf lining the outside layers of the closet. Barbie walked out of the space, talking to me about the horrible comforter and how she had a store that sold beautiful designs.

I didn't ask her about prices.

There wasn't a second knitting needle in the closet, and my fingers came back empty on the shelf even as I continued to move my hand around, hoping to be poked in the finger. I'd just about given up as I neared the far end when a sharp poke sliced into my thumb.

"Damn." I jerked my hand away.

Barbie stuck her head back into the closet. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, be right there." I reached up with my hand again as she turned, and I snatched the thin but stiff business card from the shelf.

The bright blue piece of paper advertising a company named Sunshine Designs had a phone number and contact listed on the bottom half but no other information. I shoved it in my pocket and turned to find Barbie ripping back the comforter as she smelled the edge.

"Smells like mildew. You definitely want to get rid of this," she said as she saw me catch her. "Horrible fashion sense. You'll have to redo this entire condo, but thankfully I can help."

We did a quick walk-through where Barbie told me all the ways she'd help me add color and "spice up" the place as we made our way toward the front door. She locked up behind us, and NB and I turned to head back to the resort.

"Hey, Vonnie," Barbie called out, stopping us in our tracks.