The China Doll

by Deborah Nam-Krane

  "Is that what you want?"

  "I—I don’t know," she said miserably. "I remember wanting it. I remember when that was all I wanted. But I don’t want him like I wanted Michael. I don’t look at him and see only him. It’s not fair to marry him unless I do."

  "Maybe that’s why you’re seeing Michael everywhere," Richard said gently.

  Miranda took a deep breath. "That’s what Emily said. And you two are the smartest people I’ve ever met, so you must be right." She looked up, determined. "I guess I should talk to someone."

  "You can talk to me," he said sincerely, "and Zainab."

  "I know, and I love you both for it. But I want to talk to someone who...didn’t see me cry my eyes out for months. You know, someone who doesn’t know how easily I can be broken."

  Richard rubbed her arm. "No one ever thought you were broken."

  "Just not whole then," she said quietly. "Do you think you can give me the number of Jessie’s therapist?"

  ~~~

  Miranda called Doctor Wolfe’s office that afternoon. The woman she spoke to on the phone did not sound hopeful that he would be available to meet, but said she would call back later that afternoon. So Miranda was very surprised when the woman called back five minutes later to say that Doctor Wolfe could meet with her after work.

  Miranda had been in the waiting room for five minutes when Doctor Wolfe appeared. "Please come in, Miss Harel."

  Miranda was uncharacteristically fidgety when she sat on the leather couch. The doctor sat and nodded his head as he watched her try to comfortably arrange her hands and legs. "Is there something I can get you? Some water or coffee?"

  "No, no." Miranda felt like sitting on her hands. "I’m sorry," she laughed. "I just didn’t realize how nervous I was going to be about coming here."

  "It’s not uncommon," he said but didn’t smile. "Why don’t we start with why you wanted to come in?"

  Miranda nodded and looked at her feet. That felt better. "I, um, I guess I wanted to talk about my husband. My ex-husband."

  "When did your marriage end?"

  "Two and a half years ago."

  "How long were you married?"

  She smirked. "About three months."

  "I see." It seemed like he was writing something down. "And why did your marriage end?"

  "Because I found out he's my cousin."

  ~~~

  Miranda left Doctor Wolfe’s office with the strangest sensations. On the one hand, it had been cathartic to talk about Michael and how they’d come together and then apart. She’d never been able to tell anyone in a way that made sense. But she felt like she got it right in Doctor Wolfe’s office. She could talk about her passion and love for Michael without judgment. A weight, however small, felt like it had lifted off her chest.

  Yet...she still had butterflies in her stomach. Everything was fine as long as she had looked at the floor or her hands or some of the masks on the wall. But as soon as she looked at Doctor Wolfe’s steely blue eyes, she was nervous in a way she hadn’t felt since she was a little girl meeting all of the people in Alex’s life for the first time. She made a face. Maybe she was more ashamed of what happened with Michael than she wanted to let on. Maybe that was a useful insight.

  CHAPTER 16

  Emily was on edge Wednesday morning. Mitch had come home late the night before, again. Her patience was wearing thin. She was tired of feeling like a single parent, as she had since Hellie had been two months old. It wasn’t just his long hours at work, because Emily knew Mitch had only so much control over that. He’d spend at least an hour on the computer when he did get home, no matter how late, and she’d usually wake up to find him dressed and working on the computer again.

  "Since you’re at work sixteen hours a day, do you think you can do your work there?" she asked testily that morning.

  "Do you want me to get a leg up or not?" he answered just as angrily. "I can’t do everything at the office."

  "Right, because even the security guards get to go home at some point."

  Going to work, for Emily, was a relief, and dealing with the Robert Lester or Teague or whatever his name was seemed fun in comparison. But the truth was that she was desperately lonely. She called the babysitter to see if she could stay a few hours later that night for a much needed girl’s night out.

  "I am so up for that!" Miranda said when Emily announced her plan. "What should we do?"

  "I’m game for anything as long as we keep the alcohol to a minimum." She raised her eyebrows. "Male strippers?"

  Miranda turned up her nose. "You’re kidding right?"

  "Yeah, but I thought we could negotiate from there."

  "Dancing?"

  Emily nodded her head. "Yeah, that sounds good."

  "And no men allowed, right?"

  "Not a single lousy one of them," Emily said. She called Zainab and Miranda called Jessie. Emily listened in on the conversation a bit, just to make sure it went okay. Today was Bobby’s deadline. Maybe this wasn’t the best night.

  "All set!" Miranda said as she slammed down the phone. "I told Jessie to meet us here."

  "Zainab will be here at six-thirty."

  "Perfect!" Miranda said as she high-fived Emily.

  ~~~

  The engineers had left by six. At six thirty, Zainab walked in, more decked out than Emily had ever seen her. She tossed Miranda the bag of clothes she’d asked her to pick up for her and Emily. "I did mention that this was a guy-free night, right?"

  Zainab sat on Emily’s desk. "You did, but I thought it might not hurt for Richard to see me as he left."

  "Good plan," Emily whispered as she and Miranda ran into the bathroom to change.

  Richard walked out of his office ten minutes later and gasped. "Oh, wow!" he said appreciatively. Zainab did a little turn, then kissed him. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

  "Sheer coincidence," she giggled. "The girls and I are going out tonight, but I thought I’d say hello before we had to leave."

  Emily and Miranda came back out. Richard smiled. "Oh, girls’ night out, huh?" Richard kissed Zainab again. "You sure you can’t make an exception for a male chaperone?"

  Before Emily could give her indignant reply, Jessie bounced up the stairs. "Hey there!" Emily said, giving Jessie a hug. "Don’t you look as gorgeous as ever?"

  "Just born that way, I guess."

  "So what’s going on?" Emily said as casually as she could.

  "I’m just waiting for everyone else so we can get this show on the road!"

  Miranda looked at Emily. "Everyone else?"

  "Well, yeah," Jessie said. "Richard’s here, but we’re still waiting on Bobby and Mitch."

  Emily’s eyes widened. She looked at Miranda. "Did you think girls’ night out meant something different than I did?"

  "Uh, no," Miranda said slowly. "Why is Bobby coming?"

  "Because he called Emily and she said it was okay," she said in a monotone. "Right?"

  Emily took a deep breath. "Wrong. Jessie, we need to talk."

  Footsteps up the stairs. Not Bobby or Mitch, but Alex. Miranda stood back. "Alex, what are you doing here?"

  "Didn’t you leave a message for me to meet you here tonight?"

  She looked at Emily and Richard. She shook her head. "I didn’t call today—I thought I was going to see you tomorrow."

  More footsteps. A moment later, Mitch appeared. "Wow, honey, you look great!" Mitch exclaimed. "I guess this was worth being summoned out of work so early."

  "It’s almost seven," Emily said without thinking. "And you’ve been at work since six-thirty this morning. But I didn’t summon you anywhere."

  "Yeah you did. You left a message with my secretary and told her that if I wanted to come home at all I’d better get my ass over here by seven. Lucky you my boss didn’t object to an early night." Mitch looked around. "Is this a couples’ night out thing? I guess I was hoping for some alone time if I was leaving work."

  Emily felt like the room was spinning. "I did
n’t talk to Bobby, or Bob or Robert or whatever his name is. I didn’t call Mitch." She looked at Miranda. "You didn’t call Alex." She looked at the room. "Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest we all leave right now."

  Before anyone could move, there were more footsteps. Emily gasped when she saw Lucy Bartolome appear. "Richard, darling, what’s going on?"

  Zainab felt Richard’s fingers tighten around hers. "Mother, what are you doing here?"

  "You left a message and told me I needed to come here at seven. You said there was an urgent matter with Jessie." She turned and saw Alex. "What is he doing here?"

  "Oh, I think I’ve got the hang of this. Richard didn’t call you, Aunt Luce," Jessie said. "No one called anyone, but here you all are."

  "I called you," Miranda said. "And Emily called Zainab. And Richard was just here. Everyone else..." She shook her head. "I think Emily had a great idea a few minutes ago. Let’s all leave, now."

  More footsteps. Emily’s jaw dropped. But before she could say anything, Lucy jumped back. "Joanna, what are you doing here?" There was an odd note of panic in Lucy’s voice. Zainab felt Richard’s grip grow even tighter.

  "You didn’t leave me a message and ask that I meet you here to talk to Richard?"

  "Are you out of your mind?" Lucy exclaimed incredulously.

  Mitch grabbed Emily’s hand. "We’re out of here, now!"

  Everyone was halfway to the stairs when they all heard more footsteps. A second later, Bobby appeared in front of them all. "Thanks for meeting me here everyone."

  Jessie shook her head. "Bobby, what’s going on?"

  "Bobby my ass!" Emily spat out. Everyone else looked at her. "There’s probably a Bobby Lester, but he isn’t it. Everyone, I’d like to introduce you to Robert Joseph Teague." Lucy turned white. Emily frowned, but turned to Joanna. "But you already knew that, didn’t you?"

  "Emily, this is really complicated," Joanna stammered.

  Emily looked at the crowd and opened her arms in exasperation. "Apparently!"

  Richard looked at Jessie in horror. "This is Bobby?"

  Jessie nodded. "Yes...at least I thought so."

  "How old are you?" Richard asked, striding over to him. "More importantly, do you know how old she is?"

  Lucy was horrified. "Jessica, please tell me you weren’t dating him."

  Jessie sneered. "Really, Luce, no one here buys the concerned aunt act, so you can just drop it."

  "Everyone please, just calm down," Joanna said evenly. "I can explain."

  Lucy shook her head. "Joanna, what have you done?"

  "What have you done, Lucy?" Joanna asked quietly. "Have you so much as lifted a finger to protect them?"

  "Oh, that is a little too much," Richard said venomously. Emily and Miranda looked at each other. "We can live just fine without your special brand of concern, I think."

  Joanna blinked. "Richard, please. I know about the notes."

  Richard turned on his mother. "You never learn, do you?" Zainab moved to him, but he held up his hand. "You just couldn’t keep that to yourself, could you?"

  Lucy stood silently, and it was the first time Miranda felt pity for her. "I didn’t say a word, son. Just as you asked me not to."

  "You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe you."

  "Then maybe you’ll believe me," Bobby said casually. "I’m the one who told Joanna about the notes. The first one you got last spring, and then the one you got a few days ago."

  Jessie stood back, disgusted. "What the Hell gave you the right to share my business with anyone?"

  "Holy..." Mitch interjected. He pointed his finger at Bobby. "I think I know where I saw you..."

  Bobby clucked his tongue and winked. "I didn’t think the bar exhaustion was going to last forever, but thanks for waiting this long."

  "You were at a deposition done at my firm over the summer," Mitch said. "You were in Conference Room C. With Callahan. On—"

  "The DeNunzio case." Bobby bowed. "Yep, that was me. And you were walking around with all of the other new hires, getting the tour."

  "Are you kidding me?" Jessie looked ill. "You’re a cop?"

  "Detective, actually," but he didn’t look at Jessie. "Detective Robert Teague."

  "You son of a bitch," Richard said before he lunged in Robert’s direction. Zainab grabbed one arm and Alex the other.

  "Please don’t do anything stupid," Zainab pleaded.

  Robert smirked. "You’ve got a good woman there," he said. "And smart too. I think you should listen to her. Assaulting a police officer would make tonight so much more complicated."

  "Darling, please," Lucy said. She touched Richard’s shoulder, and he pulled away. He shook off Alex and Zainab too.

  "I think we’ll be leaving now," Emily said, walking up to Robert. "You’re a real piece of work, but sorry, I don’t think anyone wants to play right now."

  Robert looked Emily up and down in such a way that had Mitch clenching his fists. "Really? Because you seem like someone who wants everything to be out in the open. Because that’s gonna make it all better, right? Don’t you want a little honesty now?"

  "I doubt you’re capable," Emily said through gritted teeth. "And I don’t care what your real job is or what you told Joanna." She looked at Joanna, then Alex. She shook her head. "Joanna, what were you thinking?"

  "Emily, I’m sorry, but I care about Jessie. I would have done anything to help and agreeing to hire Bob as my TA seemed like a small sacrifice."

  Jessie looked around, confused. "Professor Hazlett, I hardly know you."

  Joanna’s eyes filled with tears. "That’s true Jessie, and I’m sorry about that. But I know you pretty well."

  "You went to the police the first time Jessie got that note," Robert said to Richard. "And that was the smart thing to do."

  "This is your idea of doing something about that? Thanks a bunch, but while you were playing dress up, some freak is still out there. We got another one this week."

  "I know. Jessie told me," Bobby said but he couldn’t look at her.

  "Why now? It’s been months," Zainab said.

  "It was the first opportunity I had. It was the first time Jessie got into one of Professor Hazlett’s classes," Bobby said.

  Lucy looked at Joanna. "Don’t you know who he is?" she asked desperately. "What have you done, Jo?"

  Robert smiled. "Sorry, Misses Hendrickson, but I’m afraid Jo doesn’t know the whole story. Looks like it’s just you and me."

  Alex took Miranda’s hand. She could feel he was sweating. "We should go," he whispered.

  "No. I’m not leaving without Jess. Or Richard."

  "Go on," Robert said calmly. "Go on, Miss Bartolome. Tell them who I am." There was just silence and a cold, icy glare; one which Richard had seen so many times before. He knew how angry his mother was and, despite the fact that he was almost thirty, he still flinched. "No? Fine, I’ll tell them." Bobby turned back to everyone else. "Robert Joseph Teague. Emily got it. But you know what sweetheart? You’re just not as thorough as you should have been. You were pretty close actually. A couple more mouse-clicks and searches and you would have had the whole thing. But I guess you’re just not as Nancy Drew as you think you are."

  "I think you should stop speaking to my wife like that," Mitch said as he put his arm around her.

  Robert seemed to laugh at Mitch. "Yeah, that’s a good thing for you to say." He looked Mitch over, differently than he’d looked at Emily. "Sorry, where was I? Oh right. Emily’s little search. Emily found out what my parents’ names were, but she didn’t find out who they were. Because it’s more than a name that makes a person, contrary to what the Bartolomes, Hendricksons and Abbots have always thought. Isn’t that right, Mister Sheldon? Because really, who’d ever heard the name Sheldon before you?"

  "If you have a point, young man, you’d better make it quickly," Alex said coldly.

  "Young man?" Robert repeated. "Guess what buddy? I’ve got at least four years on your girlfriend—or whatever we want t
o call her."

  Alex stepped forward, but now Miranda and Mitch held him back. "How dare you?" Alex shouted.

  "Alex, please," Miranda pleaded. "I don’t care what he thinks. Maybe you should just go."

  "I’m not leaving you," he said, and Miranda found herself smiling.

  Robert shook his head. "You really don’t deserve her, but you know that already, don’t you?"

  Miranda lifted her chin. "Who are you?"

  "I am a son," he said. "The son of a man ruined by a selfish family." He turned back to Lucy. "I’m surprised you remember the names of the people you step on."

  Joanna started shaking her head. "Bob, what’s going on?"

  "I’m afraid I didn’t tell you the entire story when I approached you. My apologies," he said coldly. "But maybe Lucy would like to fill in the rest?"

  Lucy fixed her gaze on Robert. "Richard, I think it’s time for you and Jessie to leave."

  Alex squeezed Miranda’s hand. "Yes, Richard. I think that would be best. Why don’t you take Jessie home now?"

  "I am not going anywhere!" Jessie said, and for the first time Emily saw the resemblance between Jessie and her aunt. "But let’s hurry it up, okay?" She looked at Lucy, who didn’t say a word. Then Joanna. Then Richard. Then Alex. Finally, she turned to Bob. "I guess that just leaves you again."

  He looked away and turned to Alex. "Mister Sheldon, why don’t you tell us what you remember about Tom Bartolome’s death?"

  "Excuse me?" Alex asked incredulously. "I don’t know—I wasn’t there."

  "Hmm," Robert said, turning to Joanna. "Anything?" Then he looked at Richard. "What about you Mister Hendrickson? Do you remember the weekend your uncle died on the Cape?"

  "Jessie, get out of here now," Richard said quietly. But Jessie shook her head.

  "I’m going to take that as a yes," Robert said as he nodded. "I thought you might. Family secrets and all. It was one of mine too. See, my dad was the officer assigned to investigate Tom’s unfortunate demise."

  "It was a malfunction," Richard said, but Zainab could feel him tense up next to her.

  "That’s what it looked like," Robert said. "And that’s what my father concluded. But that wasn’t good enough, was it Misses Hendrickson?"