Chapter 20

Kate’s mother called, wanting her to drive home, so Alex went to Zac’s. The two guys hadn’t spent much time together this summer because Zac was much more involved in AAU summer basketball. He and his dad had been traveling the country, trying to get college recruiters interested in his game.

It was nice to have some guy time as they shot some hoops.

“You know, my mind goes to some weird places at times. Today, for example. I heard a rumor that you have a girlfriend,” Zac said as he shot a jumper.

Alex rebounded the missed shot, took it out to the half-court, and faced Zac as he got into a defensive position.

“I don’t think we’ve put a label on it, but I guess I somehow snagged one,” Alex said as he made a head fake and drove on his bigger friend.

Alex thought he had the layup, but Zac timed it and swatted the ball into the cheap seats. He’d picked up some skills this summer.

“Nice one,” Alex said.

“How’s it going?” Zac asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Just in general. Decker tells me you’re working for that ex-FBI gal this summer, have a new foster sister, and are juggling a long-distance relationship. It’s definitely not like last summer.”

“And you’re never home, so I don’t get much guy time,” Alex added.

“You’re not hanging out with Decker?”

“His dad has kept him busy. Besides, whenever I go to his house, I spend most of my time there with Maddie. Her family put her in charge of the security system.”

“I always wondered why you didn’t date her. The two of you would make a good couple,” Zac said.

Alex retrieved the ball and set up at half-court.

“Why are you so interested in my love life?” Alex asked. “What about you?”

“I don’t have time. Besides, having your dad as a roommate puts a damper on stuff.”

Alex rose up and sank a three-point shot.

“It’s just that Ivy and Nell tell me that they don’t think the thing with Kate will last,” Zac said.

They were playing you make it, you take it, so Alex got the ball and faced his friend.

“If she didn’t come to visit me, I would say we wouldn’t have a shot. But Kate drives here a couple of times a week. So, for now, it’s working,” Alex said.

“I just think Maddie’s a better option, is all.”

“Why the push for me to date Maddie? I mean, I hang out with her, but I never got the feeling she was interested in more than being friends,” Alex said.

“I just want you to be happy,” Zac said. “Besides, I have to live vicariously through your exploits since I have no game regarding women.”

“I hate to tell you, but there are no exploits going on. If you must live vicariously through someone’s love life, you should look at Ethan.”

Having become wise to Zac’s improved skills, Alex managed to dodge an attempted block but missed the shot anyway. Zac gathered it in.

“Ethan is clueless. The poor guy wouldn’t know what to do if his soul mate suddenly appeared right in front of him. I predict he’ll always be a bachelor,” Zac said. “So, back to you.”

Alex raised his hands in surrender.

“Tell Nell and Ivy I got the message. If Kate and I break up, I’ll ask Maddie out.”

“Now that that’s settled, I’m supposed to tell you that you need to work less and spend more time at the clubhouse,” Zac said.

“Anything else?”

“Lyric says you should include her in fun stuff at work.”

Alex chuckled.

“Messages received. Now, can you get serious? I want to see what you really learned so far this summer.”

Zac drove past him and dunked. Both boys laughed; it was now game on.

When Alex arrived at work, Grace told him they’d gotten a new client: Mr. Haines, who’d purchased the pawnshop at the edge of town. He wanted a new security system for the shop and his home.

An hour later, Alex called Grace and Lyric into the conference room.

“What’s this meeting about?” Grace asked.

“I thought Lyric might want to learn how to set up security systems, and I have the plans for Mr. Haines’ places.”

“But you haven’t even seen the properties yet. How could you possibly know where to put everything?” Grace asked.

Grace looked over at Lyric, who seemed to agree with her. Grace had told him he couldn’t roll his eyes at her anymore, so he resisted doing that.

“Okay, I get it. The normal way to plan is to walk through the property and assess all the weak spots, but most of the information is available online.”

“Show me,” Grace ordered.

Alex plugged his tablet into the projector so everyone could see his screen.

“The County Appraiser’s website has diagrams of both buildings. Granted, it only shows the outside walls, but it shows how it’s situated on the lot. They even provide an overhead picture of the home. Plus, they have stats like square footage, number of bedrooms, and all the permits that have been pulled.

“With the permit number, a lady in the building department showed me how to navigate their website. They have the applications on file, which include schematics and floor plans. Since Mr. Haines’s home is new, it had all that online. The pawnshop is much older, so I had to get the layout a different way,” Alex said.

“I hate to ask,” Grace said.

“The realtor who sold the business didn’t close out the listing when the sale completed, leaving the pictures on all the real estate sites. All I had to do was type in the address, and that took me to a website that showed everything. This lady even provided me with a video walkthrough of the business and drone footage so I could see all around the outside of the building. The capper was a floor plan,” Alex said.

He then flipped over to the house’s listing and scrolled through several pictures until he found the one he was looking for.

“She even showed me what security system they have. Do you realize how easy it would be to rob them? I mean, the pictures give you a clear idea of every entry point for each room,” Alex said as he ran through the pictures and then stopped. “Look, they even show you where the safe is.”

“When you say the realtor didn’t close out the listing, what does that even mean?” Lyric asked.

“After the sale, most of them collect their checks, and they’re done. The good ones know that you probably don’t want the world to see how your home is laid out. To close the listing, they should delete all the photos on their MLS, which feeds the box-store websites that everyone uses.

“Sometimes, that isn’t enough because the box-store guys are lazy and don’t always take down photos. Your realtor can pull them down, or you can claim the home and delete the pictures on various websites. Another place you might want to look is social media because some agents post pics and stuff to help sell the home or business,” Alex said.

“You said you had a plan?” Grace asked.

“Like 95% of it. Once we’ve walked through the properties, I’ll tweak it and be done,” Alex said.