Neighborhood Watch (24 page)

Was it just her imagination? She listened hard, heard nothing, and lay back again. She closed her eyes and didn’t open them until the sunlight invaded the darkness and drove it back into the corners until its time to return.

* * *

“What are you, sick?” he demanded. She stared at him, but didn’t respond. “What the hell’s going on with you?”

“I’m . . .”

“What?”

“Tired,” she said, and closed her eyes again.

“Tired? From what? Watching television? Organizing your doll collection? Cooking

dinner? What?”

“Maybe I’m sick,” she offered.

He relaxed.

“You have a headache? A stomachache? What?” He sounded like a lawyer in a cross-

examination driving for an exact response.

“Just an overall fatigue. I feel too weak to get out of bed right now,” she said. She kept her eyes closed.

“You want me to arrange for you to see Doctor Pauling?”

“No.”

“You want some aspirins or something?”

“No. I’ll be all right,” she said.

“This has nothing to do with what happened last night, does it?” he suddenly asked. She opened her eyes, but didn’t answer. “Because I have some ideas about how we’re going to prevent it from ever happening again. You don’t have to worry about that,” he assured her. “I mean, I understand why you would be nervous and upset, just as I’m sure most everyone in Emerald Lakes is, but I have some ideas, a contingency plan.

“I’m disappointed in my security people, of course,” Philip continued, “but I recognize they can do just so much. No one is absolutely, beyond a doubt, safe from harm in this day and age.” He paused. “Is that what’s bothering you?”

Instead of replying, she asked, “Is she really dead, Philip?”

“Of course, she’s really dead,” he said. “I wouldn’t say she was if she wasn’t.” He softened a bit. “They couldn’t do much; it was too late.”

Marilyn closed her eyes again.

“You can’t sleep your way out of a crisis, Marilyn. You have to face up to it and defeat it,” he insisted. “Ignoring and putting your head in the sand doesn’t solve anything,” he added with his characteristic relentlessness.

Then why do we pretend Bradley never existed? she wondered and was even about to

ask, but he turned abruptly to get a tie. He babbled on about the way to handle

disappointments and correct errors. He guaranteed her that he would make Emerald

Lakes safe again.

“And if anyone calls today to talk about this, you can reassure them I’m on it, Marilyn.”

“Who will call?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Some nervous Nelly will call, I’m sure.” He stared at her a moment. She hadn’t behaved like this since Bradley’s death, and then he practically had to turn the bed upside down to get her up and at it again. “You going to try to get up and about in a while or what?”

“I’ll get up. I just need a little more rest this morning,” she said.

“I’ll go to the diner for breakfast. I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of chatter about Emerald Lakes because of this and I better start putting out the fires before they get too big. But I’m not worried,” he said. “I have a solution.” He thought about telling her but decided she was not the sort of audience he wanted at the moment.

“I’ll call you later,” he muttered and left her. When she heard the front door open and close, she released a breath and felt a sense of relief.

She had sat by the window last night and watched the rain get heavier and heavier until the downpour sounded like a pack of rats running back and forth on the roof of the house.

The glimmering streets, wet under the lights, were mesmerizing, as was the hypnotic rhythm of the rain. She had seen Angela Del Marco emerge from the Morris residence.

She knew from Philip’s ranting and raving why the two women were meeting. Marilyn

had seen them together a number of times now and she had looked at them with envy,

wishing she could be with them, a part of something, a friendship. She could be out with them, shopping, having coffee, going to a matinee. They could giggle and laugh with each other and tell each other some personal things because they understood each other’s problems.

But she couldn’t join them, not the conspirators. Philip would consider it an act of treason. As he most certainly would if she stepped forward to volunteer her witnessing the attack on Angela. It was hard to see what actually happened, of course. So much of it had occurred in the shadows, but the rain hadn’t gotten as heavy yet, so she did see Angela trotting up the street. Then she had seen the shadow take the form of a man and come up behind her and another shadow step in front of her. She had seen them envelop Angela and swallow her up between them. It had looked like she had been absorbed into the darkness. A moment later she was gone.

It all happened so fast Marilyn questioned what she had seen herself. She had actually stood up and brought her face to the window, straining to see anything else, but there was nothing, no one.

“What was that?” she had wondered aloud and had gone to the front door and had

stepped out on her patio to look down the street. The rain had started to fall harder.

Marilyn had waited, listened, and watched, but she saw nothing, heard no one.

Then she had gone back inside and had thought about it.

I’ll tell Philip, she had decided and had gone back to his office. She had knocked, waited, and when she heard nothing, opened the door. His lamp was on, but he wasn’t behind his desk; he wasn’t in his office. She had gone through the house, checking all the rooms.

She even opened the basement door. Of course, it was pitch dark. Marilyn had looked in the garage and had seen his car was still there and so was hers.

Now, more confused than ever, she had returned to her chair and waited. It seemed like an hour or more before she had heard footsteps in the hallway and had looked up in

shock.

“What’s wrong with you?” he had asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Where were you?”

“Where was I? Working.”

“But I went looking for you and you weren’t there,” she had said.

“Maybe I was in the bathroom then.”

“I looked in the bathroom.”

“Maybe I was in the closet, hiding,” he had replied and had smirked. “Jesus, Marilyn, you see things, you don’t see things. What you ought to do is make an appointment to have our new resident, Doctor Morris, give you an eye examine,” he had said. He had started to turn away from her and then had stopped. “Why were you looking for me

anyway?”

“I thought I saw something terrible happen,” she had said. “I was looking outside at the rain when I saw . . .”

“Saw what?”

She thought about it a moment and then had shaken her head. He wouldn’t believe her.

He might even get angry she would suggest such a thing occurred in his precious

development.

“Nothing,” she had said.

“You know what, Marilyn,” he had said, “I know you hit the vodka now and then. Don’t deny it. You thought I didn’t know or didn’t care, but I do. I don’t like it,” he had said.

“You had better get hold of yourself before you become a basket case.”

She had stared up at him. He must have just found out, she had thought, or he would have said something earlier.

“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep,” he had said.

Marilyn had watched him leave and then she looked out the window again. The rain was really coming down now, in torrents. She had seen no one in the streets. After a while she had risen and finished putting away some dishes that were still in the drier. Then she had thought a moment and had gone to the garage again. She had opened the door and had

snapped on the lights. There was still some water just inside the side entrance and Philip’s raincoat and a pair of boots were wet. He had been outside. Why had he said he was in the office or in the bathroom?

She thought that it was suspicious. Why lie? If she questioned him about it, he would surely become outraged. She was not in the mood to have him bawl her out for snooping.

She had put out the light and had gone to bed, too. Philip was dozing with the television on. He didn’t open his eyes when she had crawled under the covers. Then the phone had rung.

He groaned, lifted the receiver, listened and then said, “I’ll be right there.” He nearly broke the receiver when he slammed it down.

“What is it, Philip?”

“That Del Marco woman got herself in trouble.”

“How?”

“She got attacked,” he had said. Philip put on his pants and stood up to put on his shirt.

“Oh, my God,” she had said sitting up. “I told you I saw something.”

“No, you didn’t,” he had said sharply. He pointed his finger at her. “No, you didn’t. And don’t go saying you did. I don’t want my wife involved in any of this stupidity.”

“Is she all right? Philip,” she had asked. He buttoned his shirt and went to his closet to grab his jacket. “Philip. Is she all right?” she had called after him.

He had never replied; not until he had come home at nearly three o’clock in the morning.

“Philip?” she had asked when he got back into bed.

“She’s dead,” he had said. “Let’s get some sleep. I’ll tell you about it in the morning and what I’m going to do.”

He hadn’t really told her much about it, of course. She didn’t want him to; she didn’t want to hear his ideas about preventing such terrible things in Emerald Lakes either.

That was the way she remembered it all.

Marilyn reached over to the night table and opened the drawer. Fumbling, she found

Philip’s pistol again. She brought it out and sat back against his pillow. Then she brought the gun to her temple and started the count.

This time she reached nine before she put the gun back.

“Only one more number,” she whispered. “Only one more.”

11

TEDDY ROSE FIRST, actually showering by the time Kristin’s eyes fluttered open. The pain in her back had subsided and was just a dull ache now. Kristin looked in on Jennifer, but decided to let her sleep longer. She wanted her to go to school, of course. She wanted her away from the development today.

She fixed the coffee and prepared some breakfast.

“How are you?” Teddy asked with concern. “Your back still hurt?”

“No, it’s much better.”

“You sure?” he asked skeptically.

“Yes, I’m sure, Teddy. I’m all right. Stop worrying.”

“I was thinking,” Teddy said, pouring himself some coffee. “I can take Jen to school so you could get over to Steven’s earlier, if you want.”

“That’s a good idea, Teddy. She went to bed so late, I let her sleep longer, but I’d better get her up.”

Later, just as they were finishing breakfast, the doorbell chimed. Teddy answered it and greeted Lieutenant Kurosaka.

“I hope I’m not calling on you too early, Doctor Morris,” he said, showing his

identification. “I was hoping to catch the two of you for a moment.”

“No, but I was just getting ready to leave for work. I’m dropping my daughter off at school first.”

Kristin came around to greet the policeman. He nodded and smiled.

“I’m sorry to bother you so early, Mrs. Morris,” he said.

“It’s all right, Lieutenant.”

“Come on in,” Teddy said, stepping back. Kurosaka entered. Jennifer had come around and stood by Kristin, gazing at him. He smiled at her.

“Say hello to Lieutenant Kurosaka, Jennifer,” Kristin urged.

“Hello.”

“Good morning,” Kurosaka said with a small bow. “Mr. Morris, were you present last

night when your wife and Mrs. Del Marco had their meeting?”

“Yes, I was.”

“And did you see Mrs. Del Marco leave with a packet of papers, too?”

“I guess,” he said gazing at Kristin. “I didn’t really see her leave, but I imagine she took her papers with her.”

“You’re both sure those papers are not here?”

“You couldn’t find them?” Kristin asked quickly.

“No, Mrs. Morris. We’ve been at the scene for about an hour already and we have found no papers of any kind.”

“She took them with her. I saw her leave with them. I’m positive,” she added in a

strained voice.

“I understand,” he said.

“Did you ask Stark and Spier?” she demanded quickly. Kurosaka nodded.

“Neither claim to have seen any papers last night. I know,” he said looking at Teddy,

“that it seems like a minor point at this time, but . . .”

“I’m an ophthalmologist, Lieutenant. No symptom, no evidence of any kind is to be

neglected.”

“Precisely,” Lieutenant Kurosaka said, his eyes brightening with appreciation. He turned back to Kristin. “Can you give me a more detailed description of those papers, the file, whatever?”

She thought a moment.

“She was carrying the papers and a copy of what we call our CC and R’s in a tan folder.

There was a yellow lined notepad, the long type.”

“Eight and a half by fourteen,” Kurosaka said.

“I guess.”

“Did the folder have anything written on the outside?”

Kristin smiled.

“Yes. She wrote ‘Declaration of Independence.’ It was just a joke. We . . .”

“I understand,” Kurosaka said.

“I bet they found them and destroyed them, those bastards,” Kristin muttered.

Teddy glared at Kristin before turning to Kurosaka.

“Kristin! Have you found anything useful at all?”

“We did find evidence of some sort of landing on the lakeshore. There were some

footprints protected from being washed out because they were under some heavy tree

foliage, but they might have been made by the security personnel. We’ll see. We’re going to drive to the other side of the lake now and see if we can find evidence of an approach made from the highway or if anyone over there has seen anything suspicious.”

“So you think someone did invade the complex from the lake?” Teddy asked.