Page 38 of Between the Lines

She had Darcy Lane’s name open in three tabs, each one a different slice of the same thin digital trail. One held social media Maude had already seen. Another, property records she’d combed through once. The third had some event photos from some defunct organizations, all of them archived.

Which only made the search more interesting. There had to be more. Darcy struck her as a woman who wanted influence. And a woman like that didn’t stay off social media.

Maude cracked her knuckles and went deeper, widening the net instead of tightening it. Not, “Who is Darcy Lane?” but, “Where else does Darcy Lane show up?” What spaces did she move through? Who else might she have attached herself to?

That was when Maude remembered the Colony forum.

Most residents treated it like a digital bulletin board. They posted about lost sunglasses, questions about upcoming events, free things they wanted to get rid of, and quite often, complaints about everything from landscaping schedules to loud neighbors. Maude hadn’t been on it in ages. Not since there was a rumor going around that there was going to be a special assessment and then she’d only gone on to read the rants.

The forum was kind of a nothing burger as far as she was concerned.

She clicked over anyway.

Well, this was new and interesting. There was an announcement near the top. NEW GROUP FORMING — INTEREST MEETING THIS WEEK.

Maude leaned closer to the screen and read the copy underneath that header.

Are you looking to connect with other women at the Colony? Interested in conversation, community, and a fresh start? Tired of cliques? A new social group is forming and welcoming all members. First interest meeting this Thursday at the Community Hall. All are welcome.

It had been posted by a MsColony9, which had no photo or avatar attached. Seemed like a new account. Maude clicked through to find other posts from that user, but there weren’t any. And nothing that gave any idea who MsColony9 might be.

Beyond that, there was just a contact email.

Maude scrolled down. Several people had replied.

The comments were friendly and curious. There were a few enthusiastic Sounds fun! posts that looked exactly like the kind of thing people wrote when they were afraid they might be left out of something but didn’t understand it enough to know if they were really interested.

She scrolled back up and read it again, slower. She picked out the keywords. Fresh start. Community. Connect. The dig at cliques.

Maude opened the contact email in a new tab to get a look at the address linked to it. It wasn’t Darcy’s name. But it didn’t need to be. This had Darcy’s stink all over it.

Not at all strange, she thought, rolling her eyes.

She leaned back in her chair and exhaled through her nose. This wasn’t proof of anything, but she couldn’t ignore her gut feeling that this was Darcy.

It seemed clear Darcy Lane hadn’t come to the Colony to blend in. She’d come to make a mark. Starting her own group seemed right on brand.

Maude opened a new tab.

She’d learned a long time ago that curiosity worked best when it stayed on the downlow. If someone was being careful, the only way to learn anything was to meet them at their own level.

She created a new email address first. Nothing clever. Nothing that would look fake if someone gave it a closer glance. A common first name, a number that didn’t mean anything, a free email provider everyone used. She wrote the login information on the legal pad, then slid it to the side.

Next came the new forum account.

She chose the username FrancesC. To her that sounded like it could belong to a woman who’d just moved in and was still figuring things out. No profile picture. A bland bio. For her interests, she went with shopping, trivia, and reading. She verified the account, logged out, logged back in, then sat staring at the forum, calculating her next move.

Which was to click the contact email listed in the new group announcement.

She didn’t go nuts with her message. The temptation was there to show interest, to act eager, to make herself seem like a catch. Maude knew better than to do anything that might give herself away.

Instead, she typed: Hi, I saw the post about the new group and was curious to learn more. I’ve been at the Colony a short time and am still finding my footing and trying to make new friends. It’s not always easy. Can you tell me what the focus of the group will be and where it’ll be held?

Thanks!

She signed it Fran, then reread it once. That should do the job. She hit Send.

Now the waiting started. It would be interesting to see how quickly the reply came.