“Will you be all right, Mr. Lou? He will not find you, will he?”
“Naw, I’ll go underground. I got friends.”
Before they left, Lou turned out the lights and walked to the window and peered out. “He’s not there. Let me check the hallway first. I wouldn’t put anything past that creep. OK, the coast is clear. Let’s go.”
Halfway down the stairs, Maria stopped. “I forgot the rice, Mr. Lou. I cannot go home without it. Dani will think I am not dependable.” Quickly, she raced up the rickety stairs and was back in moments with the box of rice clutched in her hand. Lou smiled. She was a good kid, even if she could make wind and turn day into night. God, to think that crazy Eugene almost got his hands on her.
Eight
Alexander Renaldo Mendeneres arrived with the mailman. He looked at Dani coldly as he paced the living room. “You must leave here immediately,” he said curtly. “I shall make the necessary arrangements. Be ready to leave tomorrow morning. I don’t want a second attempt made on Maria’s life.”
“Wha . . . I can’t possibly . . . Just a minute . . .”
“You will do as I say. A motel perhaps. Preferably upstate somewhere. I’ll decide this evening,” Mendeneres said briskly.
“I’m not going to any motel, here or up—”
“Miss Arnold, I will not repeat my directive again. You will leave in the morning.”
Dani flinched at the cold, chiseled look on the man’s face. “Very well,” she capitulated. “But,” she held up a warning hand, “it will be to a place of my choosing and it won’t be till Friday morning. Those are my directives. Take them or leave them,” Dani said frostily.
“Do you have a place in mind, Miss Arnold?” he asked benignly. “Or are you exercising your women’s lib authority on me?”
“If I were to do that, Mr. Mendeneres, there wouldn’t be much left of you even to discuss the matter,” Dani said icily. Quickly, she told him of her parents’ home that was now hers and where it was located. “So you see—it would be perfect. Maria would have other children to play with and then there’s all that nice clean fresh air. But I cannot leave until Friday.”
“The house sounds perfect. Why didn’t you tell me about it in the first place? Perhaps I was a trifle hasty in thinking you could be ready to leave by tomorrow. Friday will have to do,” Alex said abruptly.
“Why didn’t I tell—”
“The matter is ended. I will be in touch, Miss Arnold. You will guard my daughter with your life. Is that understood?”
“My life,” Dani said in a quaking voice.
Alexander Mendeneres’s voice softened a degree. “I don’t think it will come to that, but if it does, yes, with your life. I hesitate to remind you of how well I’m paying you.”
“Don’t let that bother you,” Dani said snidely. “This isn’t the first time you’ve reminded me of just how well I’m getting paid. Watch it, Mr. Mendeneres, or you will be doing your own moving with your own child. There was never any mention of me parting with my life for your daughter. Your money can’t buy me. It would be wise if you remembered that little fact.”
Alexander Mendeneres moved a step nearer and the heady scent of his cologne washed over Dani. She blinked and backed away from him, a look of puzzlement on her face. He patted her shoulder gently. “I had no idea, Miss Arnold, that you were so emotional. Enough,” he thundered. “You will do as I say. No more and no less. I will be in touch.” Once more, he patted her shoulder in a paternal way.
“Yes, sir,” Dani found herself saying—quite meekly.
Once Maria had been returned and Dani felt the little girl hadn’t been traumatized, she made the decision to leave the small apartment. She picked up the phone and dialed. “Mrs. Alpert, this is Dani Arnold. I’m fine, and you? Good. I’m planning on coming up to the house for a while. I wonder if you could arrange for the utilities to be turned on. Could you have one of the kids take off the dust covers and air out the house? I plan to leave Friday morning.” She listened for a moment. “That’s just fine, Mrs. Alpert. You still have the key, don’t you? I certainly do appreciate it. By the way, I have a little girl staying with me.”
Dani laughed. “She’s ten. I think Kelly will like her. She’s . . . different.” Dani hung up smiling to herself.
“Listen, sweetness, it’s time to clean the litter box, so hop to it. I have another call to make.” Dani dialed. It was picked up on the first ring.
“Stash, Dani.”
“Hi, how’s it hanging?”
“Can’t complain. Stash, I need a favor, no questions asked. I need some wheels for a while. I’m sorry but I can’t be more definite than that.”
“No sweat; I can let you have my Jeep with four-wheel drive or my VW Beetle. You name it.”
“I’ll take the Jeep. Are you sure you don’t need it?”
“You know better than to ask. What are friends for? When you’re done with it, just park it behind the coffeehouse. You want the Jeep delivered?”
“I would appreciate it. Could you arrange it for Friday morning?”
“Eight o’clock suit you?”
“Perfect. Thanks, Stash. Oh, one other thing. If it isn’t too much trouble, could you check my apartment from time to time?”
Stash chuckled. “Lovely lady, your wish is my command. Take care, Dani. If for any reason you need me, just whistle.”
“Thanks, Stash,” Dani said softly.
Back in the kitchen, she inspected Maria’s handiwork. The litter box hadn’t been cleaned, just new litter on the top. There was cat food on the floor and some dribbling down the counter.
“Maria?”
“Yes, Dani?” the child asked.
Dani remained silent and just pointed to the litter box and spilled cat food.
Maria grimaced. “You do it, Dani. My papa pays you to take care of me—I don’t have to do that. Besides,” she said petulantly, “it’s a messy job, and I’m tired.”
“Sit down, young lady. I think you and I better get something straight right now.” Forcefully, Dani maneuvered the belligerent child to the wrought-iron chair. “First of all, I am not your servant. You will do what I tell you and there will be no complaints. Is that understood?”
The child twitched on her chair with downcast eyes.
“Bismarck is my pet and I have taken care of him for a good many years. I can continue to do so. I don’t need you to help me. I did, however, think that you liked Bismarck and would want to help with his care. I see I was mistaken. When it is time for me to give you your dinner I will spill half of it on the floor and the other half on the counter. Whatever I don’t spill, you may have. And,” Dani said sternly, “there will be no pizza.”
The child raised miserable eyes to meet Dani’s. “I am sorry.”
“You probably are, but that doesn’t change anything. You will not play with Bismarck today or tomorrow. You are not to take him into bed with you. Is that understood?”
The child nodded.
“I’m not finished yet, Maria. Now you can clean up the mess you made and redo the litter box.”
“OK, Dani. I forgot, right?”
“You better believe it.”
“Right on,” the child said happily as she set about cleaning the litter box. “What’s for dinner tonight?” she asked.
“Shrimp Creole, if I ever get it made. But don’t be surprised if it tastes like cat food,” Dani said, picking up a moist lump of jellied meat that had landed on a plump shrimp.
Maria giggled as she worked. Dani smiled at the easy affability of the child.
Dinner over and the small kitchen cleaned, Dani suggested they make popcorn. Munching contentedly in the colorful kitchen, she tried unsuccessfully to reach Maria’s father. Finally, she gave up in disgust. The popcorn bowl empty, she peered through the slatted blind; the Chevy Nova was nowhere in sight. She looked for the Mustang, but it wasn’t in sight either. “Thank God,” Dani said softly.
The doorbell pealed and Maria rac
ed to the door. “Who is it?” she called. “It’s Papa,” she squealed, unlatching the door.
Dani looked at the tall man with reserve, her pulse quickening at his cool glance. She felt confused. Maria was shooed into the bathroom for her shower while Dani opened the discussion heatedly.
“I tried to reach you for over three hours to let you know Maria was safe and unharmed. You weren’t there,” she blurted childishly. Alexander Mendeneres offered no explanation. “I thought you would want to know,” she said as her heart pounded. Quickly and concisely she repeated the child’s story and waited for his reaction.
“It was my wife’s brother, stepbrother actually,” he explained. “There is nothing to worry about now. He’ll not have the nerve to try again.”
Alex’s voice conveyed the exact amount of confidence he wished to impart to her. But the man’s voice on the phone telling her that he had Maria was still all too fresh in her ears, still ringing with menace and chilling her blood with all its implications. “Well, Mr. Mendeneres, if you won’t worry I guess I’ll have to display my woman’s intuition and worry for the both of us,” Dani shot at the unruffled Alex, feeling the unmistakable effect of his voice upon her.
“I got a look at those two characters on Sunday afternoon after church and they looked pretty unsavory to me! And don’t try to chalk it up to my feminine hysterics!”
A smile broke out on Alex’s sun-bronzed face, beginning with his eyes, making them glint with amusement and then spreading to his mouth. “Querida . . .” he murmured, disguising a bubble of laughter.... “I see you’ve gotten yourself into a . . . what is the word?”
“Snit, Papa!” Maria offered.
A bolt of lightning shot from Dani’s eyes, piercing both father and daughter. She seethed inwardly, glancing from man to child, noting the similarity of expressions on their faces. Why does he have this effect on me? Dani wondered. I’ve never followed anyone so blindly. Why did I have to start now? She met Alex’s eyes unabashedly, flushing slightly as she recalled the term of endearment—usually reserved for Maria—which he had just used to address her.
“I know you think me callous and uncaring, Miss Arnold. I’m not. You will just have to take me on faith and accept me as I am. There are things you do not understand. I knew the child was safe. I could have laid my hands on her within a matter of minutes after you called me. My stepbrother has not been out of my sight for days. The matter is ended; let us say no more,” he said arrogantly.
“What kind of father are you?” Dani almost shouted. Why hadn’t he told her he’d known Maria’s whereabouts? Why hadn’t he told her before? Or brought Maria back sooner? She felt confused and weary. Why does this have to be happening to me? And this man, why did he attract her so? One minute she wanted to melt and fall in his arms; the next she wanted to spit and claw at him like some cat. And that tongue of hers, it must be forked. Was it because she had to assert her independence? Did she want him to see that she was her own person? She knew deep within her that she would agree with anything he asked of her. Oh, she would argue and fight but she would give in. It must be that old devil sex. Well, if that was the name of the game, she would play even if the rules were drawn up by Alexander Mendeneres. She couldn’t help herself.
“Why can’t you tell me what’s going on? How do you expect me to care for your daughter without knowing? I refuse to be kept in the dark. I’m sorry I agreed to this whole thing. There is something fishy about you, Mr. Mendeneres. In fact, I’ll go one step further and say you’re downright smelly.” Seeing the beginning of a smile at the corner of his mouth only incensed Dani.
“My dear Miss Arnold, I’ve never in my life come across a female as exasperating as you,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “How many times must I tell you that I know exactly what I’m doing? For the last time, I am using the child to draw Valerie out into the open. Nothing will happen to the child with you guarding her. I have every confidence in your ability, and my own,” he said conceitedly.
“What if something goes wrong? I don’t have eyes in the back of my head. Any number of unforeseen things could go wrong.”
“There is no other way. The scrolls must come first, even before Maria. Nothing will go wrong. As long as you are in my employ, you will do as I say. I have no intention of telling you that again. If I feel there is something for you to know, I will tell you. Comprende, Miss Arnold?” Alexander said imperiously.
“Yes, sir,” Dani said meekly.
“The matter is settled. Liberated women, spare me.” His tone was insolent.
“Are you trying to say that women belong in the home under their men’s thumbs?” Dani asked sweetly.
“Precisely,” came the urbane reply.
“I agree,” Dani said in a syrupy voice. “Women belong in the home and that is where they should go directly after work.”
“Enough,” roared the voice.
“Chauvinist,” Dani muttered through clenched teeth. “Very well, Mr. Mendeneres. Since we are to leave here, I’ll draw up a rough map and give you directions to my country house. As soon as I have the phone connected, I’ll call and give you the number.”
“Very well, I shall call every evening at tenthirty. Will that be satisfactory?” Dani nodded. With one hand on the doorknob, Alexander Mendeneres turned.” As to the kind of father I am, let us just say I am not ordinary. I love my daughter very much and am concerned with the world that she grows up in.” Suddenly, without any warning, Dani felt soft, warm lips on her own. She hadn’t known a kiss could speak of such tenderness, such yearning. She felt herself lifted, transported to a place of strength and security. She felt a response from somewhere deep within her stir and ebb to the surface. Her lips clung to his in answer to his demand. She pressed closer, willing him to enfold her within his strong arms. Dani surrendered to the moment, wrapping her arms about him, pressing herself to his body, feeling his hard muscular vitality. Slowly, he gripped her shoulders, causing her to wince with pain, as he extricated and disentangled himself from her embrace.
She looked into cool, mocking eyes, his mouth set in a tight grim line.
The moment left her stunned. Disbelief and indignation at his rejection knotted in her throat, as she tasted the bitterness of gall.
“So you are not quite so tough as you pretended, Danielle Arnold from Brooklyn. I thought not,” he said mockingly as he twitched her chin.
Dani gasped. He actually twitched her chin, just the way a father does to a child. “Don’t kiss me again,” Dani said, trying to regain her dignity.
Cool, mocking eyes narrowed and his cutting remark brought her back to reality. “You shall be more careful how you speak to me in the future.”
Dani suffered under the sting of his verbal thrust. “That is, if I ever speak to you again.”
His eyes warmed with humor and he quietly stated, “You shall, Miss Arnold; you shall.” He turned then and self-assuredly strode out the door.
Dani slammed the door and kicked it viciously, as warm salty tears coursed down her cheeks.
Alexander Mendeneres, outside, heard the violent kick that Dani gave to the heavy paneled wood. Beyond the apartment door, he shed his pose off self-assurance and somberly strode toward the elevator. “If you only knew, querida, of the torment that stalks my soul, hunts me into the recesses of my conscience. Can I barter my flesh and blood—more—that which is part of me, the light of my life, my reason for existence? And for what? Mere pieces of parchment upon which some monk wrote the words of an angel.” Even as the thoughts raced through his mind, he knew he would. He would have to and his only assurance that Maria would remain safe was his belief and faith in the mercy of God.
Alex stepped out of the apartment building and walked slowly to his car across the deserted street. The blackness of the night cloaked him like a shroud, befitting his depression. Across the narrow street he glanced back at the building that housed his precious little girl. He lifted his eyes to the halo of light emanating from Dan
i’s window. Bright, cheery. A home, he thought. How long since that word “home” had meant anything other than hostile, repressed feelings and haunted, empty rooms?
Nine
Since money was no object, Dani headed straight for Saks and Bergdorf Goodman. By three o’clock, she felt as though they had bought out the children’s department.
Maria’s antiquated pleated skirts and Peter Pan collars were replaced with blue jeans, sweatshirts, shorts and T-shirts, along with sneakers in every color of the rainbow. A multicolored windbreaker and yellow slicker completed their purchases.
“Let’s go home, honey. By the time we get there, the packages will start to arrive. Both stores have promised delivery by six o’clock. I want to stop at the drugstore and the library to get some books for you to take with us.”
Dani again woke to rain. She hurried from the warm bed to pull aside the draperies. The dilapidated Chevy was in its usual place. Dani glanced at her watch: seven-fifteen. Racked with fear, she ran to the phone and dialed. “Stash? Dani. Did I wake you?”
“No,” came the sleepy deception.
“Would you do me a favor when you leave the car?” Quickly Dani explained about the Chevy Nova. Stash asked no other questions.
“I’ll take care of it, Dani. Don’t worry about it. You want I should keep anyone on the apartment? No problem. Take care, Dani. Remember, we have a date for the Super Bowl game.”
“I won’t forget. Thanks again, Stash. And Stash?”
“Yes, Dani?” Poor Stash, his voice always sounded so hopeful.
“Stash. Feel free to drop around the house anytime. We’d love to have a man around to cook for.”
“Gotcha, Dani! You can make book on it. I’ll be seeing you real soon.”
Dani dropped the receiver into place. “Good old Stash. I can always count on him. No questions asked. With men like him around, I have to go and fall for a nerd like Jack. Eeeech!” She shuddered in self-disgust.
The Future Scrolls Page 10
