Page 36 of The Reluctant Roommate

Heidi sat on her bed, the door closed, her cell phone pressed to her ear.

“Do you have her full name and date of birth?” Brandon from Altitude Investigations asked.

Morgan’s recommendation so far seemed good. Altitude was professional, and Brandon was crisp and to the point. Even better, their prices were reasonable.

“Serena Mae Poldemann.” She spelled out Serena’s name and gave her date of birth, last known address in California, and cell phone number. “How long do you think it will take to find out where she is?”

“Hopefully less than twenty-four hours, ten days at the outside. It depends what her footprint is—if she has a job, has rented or bought property, registered a vehicle, and so on. I’ll get back to you when I know more. We require fifty percent up front.”

“No worries.” She gripped her Aussie credit card. She’d have to let Jake know she was using it. “You’ve been very helpful. I’ll let my roommate know her recommendation was a good one.”

“Is your roommate a client of ours?” Brandon asked.

“I think you’re a client of theirs. Morgan Favola. She’s a financial advisor.”

A beat. “Morgan, yes. Please pass on my best to her. She was better than the advisor who now has my portfolio. I’d love to know where she’s working now.”

“I’ll pass that on to her.” Strange that Brandon implied Morgan no longer handled his portfolio. Heidi distinctly remembered Morgan saying he was one of her clients. Maybe she’d just meant one of the firm’s clients.

“I’ll give you a five percent discount as you’re Morgan’s roommate,” Brandon said.

“That’s great! Thank you.” She ended the call. Time to go to work.

Chapter 19

When Sneaking Out the Back Isn’t an Option

Heidi clattered down the stairs, two at a time, with her usual bounds.

How she could make that much noise in her socks, how she didn’t slip and crash to the bottom, Morgan didn’t know. But somehow, Heidi always made it down in one piece.

“Ready?” Heidi slipped into her sneakers, leaving the laces undone.

She nodded, and together they went out the door. Morgan turned north. “I thought we’d go to the Park Grille.”

“The smart casual place you mentioned? Sure, let’s start there. It would be good to see what they’re like, in case they ever have openings.”

Start there? Was Heidi expecting a pub crawl? “Is there anywhere you want to try?”

“Lula told me about a local place, Oscar’s Tavern. It’s on the west side of the park, near Alameda. Apparently it won a Best Dive Bar in Denver award. She says it’s buzzin’. Have you been there?”

Best Dive Bar awarddidn’t sound very promising. Would it be full of frat boys and smell of weed? “I’ve passed it but never been in.”

“Then tonight’s the night.” Heidi shimmied her shoulders as they walked up East Ohio toward the park. “I want to learn to play shuffleboard. They have one there.”

“I haven’t played that since college.”

“Great. You can teach me. It doesn’t look that hard.”

Morgan laughed. “Any game of dubious skill is hard after a few beers.”

They reached the park and cut around the lake. Canada geese sat on the frozen edge, and a few people walked dogs. The Park Grille was less than half full when they reached it. Morgan led them into the bar, and they pulled up seats at the polished timber counter. Morgan snagged a wine list and perused it.

“I’ll get the first shout,” Heidi said.

Shout?She scratched around in her memory for the expression.

“What do you want?”