Page 38 of The Hard Way

“Who’s the other?” Thor asked.

Odin swiped his phone screen. “Anybody who hated Tim Zietlow, this man who died.” He swiped again. “Zietlow was business partners with Rhonda Broom. She has the option to buy his business upon his death, which she’s doing, according to this article.”

“Wait, Rhonda Broom?”

“You know her?”

“She was a year ahead of me in high school. Rhonda Broom ended up running a business with TimZietlow?”

“Co-owning. Is that surprising?”

“Well, we all knew she’d go somewhere. Kind of shy. But smart. Good at math, too. I guess I always thought she’d leave. She was popular—and pretty. The prettiest girl in our school.”

“Nobody’s prettier than you,” Zeus growled.

I smiled. “Be serious. And I bet she’s even prettier now. I guess I could see her stepping up. She didn’t really know me. She was more like a luminary who was one grade ahead.”

“Does she know Andy Miller?” Zeus asked.

“Dude, everyone knows Andy Miller. Did she sleep with him? Fuck yeah. Andy’s a man whore.”

“They have an office in town,” Zeus said. “Let’s go see her.” He did a U-turn, and we headed back.

B&Z Kitchen Makeovers, the kitchen design and remodeling firm owned by Tim Zietlow and Rhonda Broom, occupied a dusty little storefront next to a yoga studio a block down from the hardware store.

The golden bell attached to the inside of the door dinged loudly as we walked in.

The four of us went up to the front counter. Beyond it was a carpeted area with two of those old-timey slanted tables that architects used to use for drawing on and a few chairs, all surrounded by metal shelving full of wallpaper samples and plumbing parts. The walls that didn’t have shelving were adorned with giant kitchen photos.

Rhonda came out from the back. She was still pretty, with long brown hair and dimples, and I suddenly wished I didn’t look so dumpy and mannish. I liked feeling at least somewhat attractive around pretty girls.

“Hi,” she said, coming to the other side of the counter, clicking her pen in her hand, dimples blossoming. “Can I help you?” She wore a wedding ring, and I was burning with curiosity about who she’d married. I wished I could ask my sisters.

Zeus, holding the notorious clipboard, explained our fake mission. “The insurance firm involved with the Sunny Sisters farm contracted with us to do an extensive independent verification of all the facts of the outbreak,” he said. It was kind of funny how much mileage we were getting out of this verification stuff. “This was Tim Zietlow’s place of work?”

“Yeah. He and I ran this place. He worked…” She gestured at one of the desks. “That’s his desk. He wasn’t at it much. He was more of a field guy. A sales guy.” She sighed silently, eyes fixed on his desk. “And he was a good friend, too. One of the best guys.”

“You were in business together how long?” Thor asked, sparkling at her.

“Three years. I’d just gotten out of school with my drafting degree. I was thinking about getting a job, but then I was talking to Tim at a barbeque, and he was looking to start up a construction firm specializing in kitchen remodels, and I was big into kitchens—I’d written a few articles on kitchen functionality for credit at school—and we dreamed up this idea, of this niche. So many people just need their kitchen done, and larger construction firms sometimes subcontract to us.”

“And you’re buying out his share?”

“Yeah. For sure. I don’t want to run the firm with Nancy, and she’s not into it. We set it up like that, Tim and me, to have the option to buy in the eventuality…you know. To not force each other to work with our families in the event of one of our deaths.”

Zeus grunted in a way that meant he wasn’t on board with her story. Or he’d noticed something. What?

“So you’ll run it yourself?” Thor asked.

“No. I’m looking for another Tim. I could never do his job.”

Thor pressed her on the work details, and she gave us the down-low. Apparently, she ran the back end of the business—the office, the drafting, the budgeting, estimating, and contracts. Tim was in the field; he oversaw the work and handled the sales.

“Tim was amazing. Guys in the trades loved him. He would know all the right questions. He knew all the construction people. All the plumbers. I’d get us some sales from my own network, mostly friends and friends of friends, but I’m not a salesperson. We have a few jobs in the pipeline, but…” She shook her head. “I don’t love taking out a loan to pay Nancy off, but there’s no chance in hell she can do what Tim did, even if she wanted, though I think she’s pretty happy taking the money.”

I heard a strain of bitterness in her voice; I wondered whether my guys did.

“Did he have any enemies?” Zeus asked.

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