Instead, afternoon sunshine had broken through the over-cast morning, typical of May weather around here. Beyond the bluffs, sunlight sparkled off the ocean, while seabirds circled, mewing.
From the gated parking lot, Alec moved with contained purpose, body tight, mouth set in a firm line. If they were more than friends, more than business associates, they would lace their fingers together and hurry in side by side, awareness simmering between them.
And if you keep thinking this way, you’ll fail him in the worst way possible.
“Mike’s cleared my schedule to work double shifts for you through Sunday. Longer if you need me,” she told him as they double-timed it along the walkway. “He can subcontract for a night guard if you like.”
Alec’s jaw clenched. “I’d rather have you.”
“I’m not much use in my sleep. Besides, the police can be here in a few minutes.” She worked more than enough night patrols in Safe Harbor to know how quickly they could arrive at a scene.
“It isn’t the same as having you right there.” He broke off. “But I understand. And no, I don’t want a night guard. I’m trying to keep things as normal as possible for Fiona, although that seems to be getting harder and harder.”
As they neared the stairwell, Patty watched for any movement. Nothing stirred. “Have you talked to your mother?”
“Yes. She’s not exactly surprised. She figured Tatum would bolt sooner or later.”
So had Patty, but she’d hoped the nanny would stay until after the party. This must be rough on the little girl. “Your ex doesn’t seem to care how much disruption she causes for her daughter.”
“This is the same woman who left a three-year-old alone in a car,” he reminded her.
“I haven’t forgotten.”
Ahead, Patty saw the door to Alec’s condo open slowly. Putting out an arm to halt him, she edged closer. Out rolled a suitcase, pushed over the sill by a running shoe. The crack in the door widened, and Tatum shouldered her way through, burdened by a backpack plus a laptop shoulder bag. To Patty, her skin looked even paler than usual, and she gave a start when she saw Alec.
“You’re leaving already?” he asked.
“Got a flight in an hour from John Wayne.” That was Orange County’s airport, named for the famous local resident who, during his lifetime, had despised the noise from airplanes flying over his home.
“Who’s watching Fiona?” he asked. Below, Patty saw a taxi approaching along the street.
“Your mother was resting, so she sent the housekeeper until you got here.” Catching his frown, the nanny added, “It’s okay. Rosita raised two kids of her own. She’s teaching Fiona how to play a card game called casita robada. Kind of a go-fish type thing.”
“I’m sorry you’re leaving. Let me write you a check for whatever I owe you, plus your airfare.”
“You can mail it to me. I left a note with my mother’s address and the amount.” Tugging her braid free of her shoulder strap, Tatum grabbed the suitcase. “I’m sorry to jump ship this way, but I can’t take all the drama. I told Fiona I miss my family and that’s why I’m leaving. I hope she’ll be okay. She’s a little sweetie.”
“Why the rush? There’s no immediate risk.” Patty wondered if there was some clue she’d missed about the latest call.
“Sabrina has a mean streak. You never know what that kind of person will do.” Below, the cabbie honked and Tatum gave a pronounced start. How terrible it must be to go through life so easily frightened, Patty thought. “You will give me a good reference, won’t you, Mr. Denny?” the nanny asked.
“Of course,” he replied. “You’ve done a fine job.”
“Take a course in self-defense,” Patty advised the young woman. “Once you feel more confident in your abilities…”
“I’ll feel more confident when I’m home.” Below, the cab driver tapped his horn again. Over the portico railing, Tatum yelled, “Be right there!” To Alec and Patty, she said, “Got to go. Bye.” Off she sped, wheeling the suitcase behind her.
“Are you sure Sabrina didn’t say anything else?” Patty asked Alec.
“I told you everything I know.” He held the door for her. Kind of a funny thing to do for the woman he’d hired to take out the opposition, Patty reflected, but she appreciated the gesture.
Inside, past the living room, Fiona and an older woman sat across from each other at the kitchen table, slapping down cards and giggling. “I win!” the little girl cried gleefully.
“You are smart girl.” The thin lady, her graying hair pulled back in a bun, reached across to pat Fiona’s hand. “First time you play, you win.”
“You let me.” The child grinned. “I can tell.”
“Very smart girl.” Rosita got to her feet. “Dr. Denny, no need to hurry home. I finish cleaning your mother’s place and now is turn to clean yours, so no problem.”
“Thank you for watching my daughter.”
“Is fun for me.”
Mike had run a check and found both Rosita’s references from Houston and her credit rating excellent. While he hadn’t been able to confirm that she was Marla’s cousin, Patty already suspected that the old housekeeper’s nieces weren’t all related to her, either. An informal system of job-sharing probably worked to everyone’s advantage, except possibly Darlene’s. However, Rosita had made a good impression so far.
A light breeze rippled through the living room from the partly open balcony door. Patty strode over, and was glad to see it anchored by a floor lock, its four-inch gap wide enough for cool air to circulate but too narrow for anyone to sneak through.
“If you don’t mind, Rosita, I’d rather you waited until later to clean,” Alec said. “Patty and I have a few things to discuss with my daughter.”
“I understand.” The woman hesitated. “You will hire new nanny, sí?” What was she going to do? Patty wondered. Recommend some other “cousin”?
“For now, my mother and Patty will look after Fiona,” Alec replied.
“Bueno.” Rosita bobbed her head in accord. “Years ago, my daughter have a stalker. I chase him away with my broom. Give him one, two good whacks.”
Patty couldn’t help chuckling. “You may have missed your calling. You sound like a fierce protector.”
“I do anything for my family,” the housekeeper replied. “Now I work here, this is like my family.”
Alec escorted her to the door. “While I appreciate your concern, remember that Patty and Mike are the experts. If there’s any danger, they’ll handle it.”
“Sí, sí.” With a little wave to Fiona, who was putting the cards into their box, Rosita departed.
Alec went to the table, where his daughter struggled to push the last card into the tight deck. “I can do that.” Gently, he took over the task.
The little girl pressed her lips together. Her high spirits of a moment ago had vanished. “Why did Tatum leave?”
“She misses her family. She told you that, right?” Alec glanced at Patty as if for confirmation.
Patty might not have much experience with children, but she hadn’t forgotten how, as a child, she’d hated being kept in the dark by social workers after her parents’ arrest on drug charges. Being unable to get the facts had intensified her anxiety. What a relief it had been when Grandpa arrived and told the unvarnished truth, ugly as it was.
“Alec?” she said. “May I?”
She could tell he grasped what she was asking. “Do what you think is best.”
Patty pulled up a chair at the table. “Tatum got a phone call that scared her.”
“From Mommy?”
“Yes,” Alec said. Patty was glad to see him taking his cue from her approach. “Mommy called Tatum a bad name.”
Tears glistened in the little girl’s eyes. “Will Mommy mess up my birthday?”
Patty longed to erase the child’s pain. “I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“Me, too.” Quietly, Alec added, “Sabrina threw a tantrum last year.
Really spoiled the occasion.”
Fiona sniffled and gazed at him hopefully. “Is Patty going to stay with us?”
With a twinge, Patty saw why Alec wanted her here all the time: to reassure his daughter. But there were strong arguments against that. Above all, it would be hard to maintain a professional distance while wandering about in her pajamas. Even now, Patty would have to be diligent to ensure that her tenderness for these two and her anger toward Sabrina didn’t interfere with her ability to protect them.
“I’ll be here first thing in the morning, and I’ll stay until your daddy’s home at night,” Patty said.
“Will you come to my party?” Fiona was hugging Hoppity.
“I wouldn’t miss it!”
On the kitchen counter, the phone rang. All three of them gave a start. We’re as bad as Tatum, Patty thought.
She walked over beside Alec. The readout showed a phone number with a Manhattan area code, but no name. “I don’t recognize it,” he said in a low voice.
“I’ll get on the extension.” She preferred to listen that way rather than using the speaker function, since the change in sound quality might tip off the caller. “Wait until you hear me clap, then pick up.”
“Shouldn’t we try to record it?”
“Under California law, you’d have to advise her first.”
Alec shot Patty a look of frustration. “Never mind.”
She reached the extension in the master bedroom on ring three. Clapped, and picked up just as Alec did. Tautly, she listened to his “Yes?”
“You left me a message to call.” Impatience laced the female voice. “I already bought my plane ticket, so don’t try to talk me out of coming for my daughter’s birthday. Besides, as I mentioned, Eduardo has some business out there.”
Apparently she was still in Manhattan. No guarantees about that, though.
“When do you arrive?” Alec asked.
“On Saturday, what do you think?” Sabrina snapped. Patty tried to reconcile that petulant voice with the stunning, doe-eyed woman she’d seen in Fiona’s framed picture. Never trust a pretty package, Grandpa used to say. “You are giving her a party, aren’t you? When is it and where?”
With obvious reluctance, he told her the time and place. “Where are you calling from?” Alec added. “I don’t recognize the number.”
“It’s my new cell phone.”
“What happened to the old one?”
“Why should you care?”
Fiona wandered in and Patty put a finger to her lips. When the child silently perched on the queen-size bed, Patty sat beside her and slid an arm around the little girl’s waist. At this close range, Fiona could probably hear some of her mother’s remarks, and Patty was ready to move away quickly if the situation deteriorated. But all things considered, she preferred openness.
“A woman called from your old cell phone and threatened Tatum,” Alec said. “Was that you?”
“Did she say it was me?”
In conducting interrogations, Patty had learn that liars frequently answered a question with a question.
“She couldn’t tell,” Alec conceded.
“Well, my phone got stolen a few days ago, along with a few other things,” Sabrina told him. “Including jewelry, but not the good stuff, because that’s in a safe. We think the carpet cleaners took them, but of course they deny it.”
“Why would the carpet cleaners threaten my nanny?” he demanded.
Hugging the bunny with one arm, Fiona nestled close. She seemed to be trying to bury her nose in Patty’s side and the bunny’s tummy at the same time, which kind of tickled.
“Maybe it was somebody’s idea of a prank. Or Tatum imagined it. That girl hates me. I’m not fond of her, either.”
Patty could almost hear Alec’s teeth grinding as he answered, “She left.”
“Really? Well, that’s good news. Have you hired a replacement yet?”
“As a matter of fact, yes. You know, this whole situation is upsetting Fiona,” Alec went on.
“Oh, pooh. She’ll be fine,” Sabrina retorted. “I’ll see you Saturday.” Without waiting for a goodbye, she cut off the call.
Mentally, Patty reviewed the conversation. The excuses about the old cell phone raised a red flag. People with something to hide played the maybe-this maybe-that game, seizing on a new explanation as soon as the old one fell short. Those who told the truth usually presented their story and stuck to it. On the other hand, she didn’t see what Sabrina gained by making a threat from her old cell, then pretending it had been stolen.
Except to stir up a lot of trouble. Which seemed to be the woman’s MO.
Patty rested her cheek on the little girl’s head. “It’s scary when grown-ups argue, isn’t it?”
She felt the answering nod. “That’s why you’re here. To protect me,” the child quavered.
“Exactly.”
Even before Alec came in, even before she saw the tension in every fiber of his body, Patty knew she’d never be able to sleep well at home. She would worry about phone calls, about Fiona having nightmares, about Alec lying there keyed up, mentally fighting battles.
Battles that might turn out to be real. It was all too easy to underestimate danger and let your guard down. To overlook that one vulnerable moment when a hired kidnapper broke in and grabbed the little girl, or when Alec opened the door, expecting his mother, and found himself facing his bitter ex-wife with a container of battery acid or a gun in her hand.
Might as well move in. “I’ll go home and pack,” she told him. She’d figure out how to explain it to Mike later.
Chapter Twelve
“If you’re a police officer, why don’t you wear a uniform?” Fiona asked. With her three favorite stuffed animals arrayed around her on the bed, she was asking her umpteenth question of the evening. In addition to her usual reluctance to go to sleep, she was still excited about Patty’s return at dinnertime with duffel bag in hand.
Patty seemed completely at home beside Fiona with her jean-clad legs stretched along the bed. But then, Alec mused, she had a gift for making herself at home wherever she was.
“I’m not a police officer anymore,” Patty explained patiently, having gone over this point several times.
“But you’re protecting me. Isn’t that what police do?”
“Police work for the city. I’m a private detective. People can come and hire me. It’s more personal.” As Patty’s gaze caught Alec’s, a glow spread through him at this cozy scene. It seemed so natural, he had to remind himself that they’d come together only because of his ex-wife.
Earlier, when she’d agreed to spend the next few nights here for everyone’s peace of mind, he’d felt a burst of exhilaration that had nothing to do with safety issues. Being around Patty simply felt right. After dinner, they’d made popcorn and all three of them had curled up on the couch to watch a favorite DVD, Ghostbusters. They’d chortled at the goofy antics, feigned terror at the funny-scary parts and shrieked with delight when the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man stalked the city streets.
For too long, Alec had missed that sense of abandon. Best of all, seeing the two adults acting silly had helped Fiona recover her high spirits.
“Does my daddy pay you?” Fiona was asking at the moment.
“Yes.”
“I thought you were his friend.”
“She earns her living as a detective. If I didn’t pay her, she’d have to be off working somewhere else,” Alec explained.
“Is that why she didn’t visit us in Boston?” The little girl nuzzled her panda.
“Your daddy and I were friends growing up,” Patty told her. “We stopped for a while, but now we’re friends again.” A mischievous glance slanted toward him. Friends. Yes. Was it possible, when this was over and she no longer worked for him, that she could still be part of his life?
“Why’d you stop? Did you fight?” Fiona asked, her expression troubled. With a pang, Alec realized she must be thinking about the way he and Sab
rina had yelled at each other as their marriage had broken down. Although he’d tried to maintain composure in front of Fiona, sometimes he’d lost his temper. Despite his care not to use ugly terms, children picked up readily on an angry tone of voice.
“No, we didn’t fight,” Patty said.
“Then why…?”
“Sometimes circumstances, or other people, come between friends. It wasn’t my fault and it wasn’t your daddy’s, either.”
As a sleepy Fiona searched for more questions, guilt darkened Alec’s mood. It was wrong to let Patty go on believing that his parents had forced them to split. Until now, he’d seen no reason to tell her the whole story. With her living under his roof, however, his continued silence made the lie seem far worse.
He wasn’t a confused kid anymore. Whatever wild side she brought out in him he could deal with. Besides, he liked what she brought out in him.
After Fiona lost her struggle to keep her eyes open, he followed Patty into the kitchen. She rooted around into her duffel bag and took out a package of graham crackers, a bag of marshmallows and two chocolate bars.
Casting a glance toward the hallway, she explained, “I may not have much experience as a nanny but I doubt eating sweets at bedtime is good for kids, eh, doc?”
“It’s not exactly healthy for grown-ups, either.” When had he grown so prim and proper? Alec wondered, so he added, “But who cares?”
“Watching Ghostbusters always makes me hungry for s’mores. I brought this stuff along for the grown-ups.” From a cabinet, she handed him a plate. “I’ll show you how to make them.”
“What makes you think I don’t know?”
“Do you?”
Trust Patty to go right to the heart of the matter. “Only in the theoretical sense.”
“I suspected as much. Watch and learn what you’ve been missing.” On her plate, she slapped down a double-sectioned graham cracker and topped it with two marshmallows. Into the microwave they went for ten seconds, enough for them to puff to double their size.
Alec leaned against the counter. “Patty, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”
“If it has anything to do with the size of my butt, save it.” She whisked out the plate. “Okay, now this part you have to do fast, before you lose the heat.”
Falling for the Nanny Page 12
