Page 13 of Between the Lines

Paige took a seat on the couch and popped the top of her soda but didn’t drink. “I ran into a woman named Darcy Lane at the fitness center this morning. Or rather, she ran into me.” She shook her head. “Maybe accosted is a better word.”

Maude lifted her brows, but stayed quiet and let Paige talk, just nodding so Paige knew she was listening.

“She was friendly at first, or at least seemed that way, but then things got weird. And weirder.”

Maude shifted in her recliner. “Weird how?”

“She hinted that she knows why my marriage ended,” Paige said. “Not the public version that was all about Peter and I going in different directions.”

Maude’s fingers stilled against the side of the soda can. Even she didn’t know the real reason Paige and her ex had split. “I take it that’s fairly private information?”

“It is,” Paige confirmed. “And she didn’t say it outright. But she acted like she knew.”

“How?”

“By talking about it like she understood. It was all hints and inuendo, but it sounded real.”

Maude nodded. “So she wasn’t fishing.”

“She might have been fishing,” Paige said. “But it also felt like she was threatening me.”

“What?” Maude frowned. “Why would she do that?”

“I have no idea. Jealousy? I don’t know.”

Maude stayed on the edge of her recliner seat, feet flat on the floor. Paige looked composed, but there was visible tension in her body language, like she was a wire being pulled too tight.

“Did she actually threaten you?” Maude asked. “Or did it just feel threatening?”

Paige sipped her drink. “It definitely felt threatening.”

“Then let’s assume it was real,” Maude said.

Paige gave a small, humorless smile. “That was my thought.”

They sat. The tank bubbled away.

“So, how can I help?” Maude asked.

“I don’t want to turn this into a thing,” Paige said. “But I don’t like this sense of not knowing what this woman is up to. Or who she is. Or what she’s trying to accomplish.”

“I agree,” Maude said, instantly understanding. “You want me to dig into her.”

Paige nodded. “Can you? Please? I was hoping you could find out whatever you can. Quickly and quietly.”

Maude took a long drink of her soda before leaning back. “Oh, she won’t know a thing, trust me. I’ll be in total stealth mode. I’ll just see if I can find some background on her.”

“That would be really good.”

This was Maude’s lane. She knew how to move through digital spaces without leaving fingerprints. “All right,” she said. “I need whatever info you have. Full name?”

“Darcy Lane. At least that’s what she told me.”

“Age range?”

“Late fifties, early sixties, I’d guess. She may have had a little work done.”

“So she’s got some disposable income then. How long has she lived here?”