by Adams, Nancy
Greg arrived while we were having this meet-and-greet, as we used to call such things back home. He was pleased to see that I was there and already moving in, and I told him that I’d heard from Mr. St. John, that he and his entourage would be arriving that night.
“I gave him the address,” I said, “and he said they’d be in around two in the morning—I’m supposed to pick them up at the train station, so I can drive them and all their things to the house.”
“Yes, I had a message on my answering machine from him this morning, saying the same thing.” Greg frowned. “Amber, that’s not a great area,” he said. “Maybe you should take one of the men with you, just to be safe.”
I almost giggled; if I took one of the men with me, I’d be safe, but he might not be! “Greg, I’m a big girl,” I said. “Trust me, I can take care of myself. Daddy raised me that way,” I added, and he grinned.
“Good enough,” he said. “And now I need to speak with you and Nathan, a little business.” Nathan led us to a room he called his office, and sat at the desk while Greg and I took chairs.
“Okay, first off,” Greg said when he was seated, “Nathan, you’re the household manager, and that will not change. Mr. St. John wants you to continue in that position, and instructed me to increase your operating budget as needed. Amber is his personal assistant, sort of like a social secretary from what I gather, and will be mostly concerned with protecting his privacy. He says she is to be obeyed as if she spoke with his own authority, no matter what. All clear there?”
Nathan nodded, and I just sat there quietly. I didn’t have the slightest idea how to be a boss, and I intended to let Nathan know that privately, just as soon as we were alone.
“Now, Amber,” he said, and took an envelope out of his pocket. He opened it and withdrew a checkbook, and some papers. “This is a checking account, for you to use at your discretion. Mr. St. John says you’ll need it in dealing with his instructions from time to time. I’ll need your signature on these papers, please, to activate it.”
I signed where he indicated, and he put the papers away, and then took out another envelope. This one he passed to me, and I saw that it had my name on it.
“Amber, this is your first paycheck,” he explained. “Mr. St. John says you’re to be paid weekly, and normally your pay will come in the mail, but he suggested I get this one to you immediately, so I brought it along.”
I opened the envelope, and then I gasped! The amount of the check was more than half of the six thousand dollars I’d withdrawn from my college fund! And I was to get this amount every week?
Holy cow!
Greg took out one more envelope, a thicker one. “Now, this is for Mr. St. John. He left this with me the one time we met, and the message you brought to me, as well as the one he left on my machine, told me to give it to you today, so you can bring it to him when he gets in. Since he’s coming in tonight, I’m sure you’ll want to keep it with you.”
“Okay,” I answered, and put it into my purse right then. “I’m sure it must be important.”
We talked about a lot of things, like how the household bills would be paid, what modifications might be needed for the house, and other things that meant little or nothing to me. Greg left around ten. Nathan and I walked him to the door, and he got me alone long enough to ask me out that Friday night. Since it was Wednesday, and I would be feeding that night, I wouldn’t have to feed again until Saturday. I figured it would be safe to accept—and so I did.
Chapter Twenty
Horace
Amber’s choice of house pleased me, since I knew the one she had picked. I had never actually been in it, but I’d chosen to buy it when I’d seen that the previous owner was an automobile collector, and I was acquiring a nice collection of investment cars, myself. This would be a good place to keep them, in a specially built garage that had its own heat and air conditioning system. Once I’d bought the place, I had all of my most valuable cars shipped there for storage.
I also liked the location. The house sat on a large estate, and was surrounded on three sides by tracts of unimproved land. Across the road was another estate, some bloody movie star or other, but it was doubtful they’d be popping over for tea and biscuits, so I didn’t worry about that.
As for the staff, I’d never met them, but in the original prospectus I’d read that Nathan Granger had been in the position of butler for more than twenty years, and had inherited the job from his father. That spoke well for him, and I suspected he’d be a very professional domestic, one who would accept our “eccentricities” without comment, and simply deal with them. Would he figure out what we were? Probably; most full-time domestics know more about their employers than they ever let on. I wasn’t terribly worried about what he might say or do, but I wanted to be sure he didn’t think we were any threat to him or his. It was part of the reason I liked the idea of having a sweet lass like Amber there.
Amber
My first order of business was to get a bank account, and Greg had recommended I use the same one he used for the estate’s accounts, so I drove to their offices to deposit my paycheck, and the rest of my college fund. It took all of thirty minutes, and I was back home less than an hour after I’d left.
That left me with a day to settle in. I went to my room to start unpacking, and was surprised a few minutes later when Nathan knocked on my door. He had his granddaughter Faith with him.
“Miss Amber, I was wondering,” he said, “if you might like some help unpacking? Faith would love to help, and it occurs to me that a young lady such as yourself might benefit from a lady’s maid?”
I think I looked stupid, because they both grinned. “A lady’s maid?”
Faith smiled and stepped toward me. “Yes, Miss Amber. A lady’s maid helps with things like doing your makeup and hair, and dressing and such. Her job is to make her lady look as good as possible, and maybe teach her a few things about style and etiquette, things like that.”
My brain tried to process this in a hurry, and I caught on. “You mean, you can help me not look like such a country bumpkin around here?”
They grinned again, and Nathan said, “Well—something like that, I suppose. Would you mind?”
“Mind? Nathan, I can’t thank you enough! I’m so far out of my depth, here! I was thinking about taking some of my outrageous paycheck and going to find a charm school."
“I think Faith can probably help you avoid that,” he said, chuckling, and turned to leave us alone. I looked at Faith and smiled.
“I’ll warn you now, you may have your work cut out for you! I grew up on a farm in a little bitty town, and we don’t know a lot about etiquette or style back there.”
“Oh, don’t worry. It isn’t as bad as Grandpa makes it out to be. You’re doing okay, but he was worried that you might get nervous around some of the people that come by now and then, and he didn’t want that. He sent me to school to learn this stuff, so I can help you.”
We set to unpacking me, and chatted the whole time. I told her I was supposed to go shopping sometime soon, and she offered to take me to what she called the “real stores,” not the ones on Rodeo Drive, but others where I could buy similar quality for a lot less money. I promised to take her up on it.
Faith and I hit it off. She was twenty-one, a little taller than me, and very pretty. Her skin was not as dark as her grandfather’s, more of a light chocolate shade, and when she brushed against me now and then in unpacking, I felt how soft it was and commented on it.
“Well, now that you’ve got me, we’ll get yours just as soft,” she said. “It’s all in the bath oils, and I’ve found some skin lotions that are absolutely incredible! Later I’ll give you a bath, and show you.”
My eyes popped open wide. “Give me a bath?” I blurted out.
“Sure. That’s part of a lady’s maid’s duties.” She said it as though she were commenting on a smudge of dirt on her shoe, just a minor detail with no importance, and then went on chatting again as if
I hadn’t freaked out on her.
I learned that Faith was sort of the black sheep of her family. She’d gotten pregnant a couple of years before, and her son Martin was almost a year-and-a-half old. He spent the day with her aunt, Nathan’s sister Margaret, who lived in one of the apartments in the servant’s quarters behind the main house. She loved him, but she wished she’d been more careful.
“I was silly,” she said, “like a lot of girls. I thought when he said he loved me, and wanted me forever, that he really meant it! Soon as I told him he was gonna be a daddy, he was gone!"
“That’s horrible,” I said. “Didn’t anyone do anything about it?”
“Nothing to do, really, Miss Amber. I let him do what he did, y’know? He didn’t rape me or anything, so it’s my own fault.”
“Well, does he pay child support?” I’d known a girl back home who got pregnant, and the baby’s father was ordered to pay support.
“Ha! He won’t even admit Martin is his! I see him now and then, around town, and half the time he tries to act like he don’t know me at all. Jerk!"
I agreed with her estimation of the guy, even though I knew nothing about him. I let a fantasy of going to visit the guy play through my mind; maybe he deserved a visit from me.
Nah, probably not.
We never got around to the bath, that day, but I did get to meet little Martin. He was adorable, of course, all babies are, and he came to me without any hesitation when I held my hands out for him. I bounced him on my knee, and laughed and cuddled him, and suddenly I remembered thinking about Simone with my little sisters. I wondered what Faith would think if she knew that the girl holding her son was a man-eating monster?
I swore to myself again that I would never let myself get so hungry that a child might be in danger from me.
The day went on, and when Nathan came to ask what I wanted for dinner—I’d skipped lunch with no one paying much attention, but I didn’t think they’d accept me missing another meal—I asked what everyone else was having, and he said they were just eating burgers in the kitchen. I smiled and said that sounded good to me, and Faith and I followed him that way. We sat around a big table, and Faith’s sisters joined us. Her brothers were out on the grounds, making a hurried inspection and cleaning up any slight messes in anticipation of the owner’s arrival.
I ate a burger and some fries, and drank a bottle of Coke. By then it was nearly five; I said I wanted to get in a nap, and went to my room. I kicked back and tried to relax for a while, but I couldn’t quite, and it dawned on me that I was feeling the first effects of hunger, like when I’d started getting irritated at the other drivers on Sunday night. Irritability was the first sign. I filed that away as important information.
I got up about seven, and left my room. Denise was the evening maid, and I told her I was going to go out, and wouldn’t be back ‘til after I picked up Mr. St. John.
I got into the van and headed for where Horace had said I would find the mission district, the area where the bums and winos and other castoffs of society could be found. I whispered a silent prayer that I’d find one who truly was ready to die.
Then I went hunting.
Chapter Twenty-one
Amber
The mission district of the Greater Los Angeles area is not large, but it’s impossible to forget once you’ve been there. Situated just off Wilshire Boulevard, between L.A. itself and Santa Monica, a number of dingy, dirty buildings filled the area. Many of them were designated, of course, as “missions”—places of refuge, shelter, and food for those who have seen their lives fall completely apart due to drugs, alcohol, unemployment, or mental illness. There were other reasons, too, but I didn’t know them, then.
I cruised through the area, then parked a couple of miles outside the district and walked in. I had wondered if I would stand out, a lone female in a place I had thought would be full of nothing but old, drunk men, but I shouldn’t have worried; there were many women there, some of them probably younger than me, some of them dressed even better than me. I doubt if many people noticed me at all.
About eight-thirty I found a knot of men all gathered together in one spot, and I stood in a building’s shadow so I could watch them for a little while. One of them, a tall man, seemed sadder than the rest, and I got the feeling that he was in a lot of pain. I think I had chosen him as my victim as soon as I laid eyes on him, and when he walked off by himself a few minutes later, I followed.
He went to a liquor store on a street comer, and I saw him dig into his pocket. He counted change, then looked dejected, and began asking passersby for money. He wanted a drink, I could tell, and I felt sorry for him.
I walked right up to him, and handed him a ten-dollar bill. I told myself that if he took it and left, I’d let him go and find another victim, but he smiled at me and hurried inside the store. He came out a moment later with a fifth of whiskey, and smiled as he offered me a drink from it.
“Sure,” I said, and took the bottle. I took a small sip, just to let him know I was friendly, and handed it back. “You want some company tonight?” I asked.
He stared at me for a moment, and then laughed. “Christ, girlie, you don’t want an old screw-up like me; what’re you doin’, slummin’?”
I smiled at him. “I just thought you might like to—you know—hang out for a while. I’m new in town, I’m lonely—and you seem like a nice man.”
He continued to look at me for another few seconds, and then he looked me over, letting his eyes linger on my chest. “You sure you can trust me?” he asked. “I might see a pretty thing like you and decide it’s been a long time since I had some lovin’, y’know.”
I kept smiling. “I wouldn’t mind, as long as you don’t take it too far,” I said, and his eyes got big. “Wanna take a walk with me? I’d like to go down by the water, to the beach.”
He swallowed, and his eyes got wide, but then he slowly reached out an arm. I let him put it around my shoulders, and he pulled me close, moving slowly as if he expected me to scream and run at any second. I waited ‘til he had me close to his side, then reached up and turned his face toward mine. I kissed him, sweetly, but with just enough flirtation in it to let him know that I was serious.
“How about that walk?” I asked.
He smiled back at me then. “Been a long time since I saw the bay,” he said, and jiggled the whiskey bottle. “Sure, honey, let’s go.”
I reached up and took hold of his hand where it lay on my shoulder, and we started walking, turning onto Wilshire to follow it out toward the Pacific. It wasn’t a long walk, maybe a couple of miles, and we chatted as we walked along.
“My name is Amber,” I told him. “What’s yours?”
He looked a little confused for just a moment, and I honestly thought for a second that he was going to say he couldn’t remember, but then he smiled. “Well, they call me Blue, here on the turf, but my name is really Sam. Sam Billings.”
“Glad to meet you, Sam. You from around here?” I asked him.
“Yeah. I was born in Inglewood, but I been all over.” He took a swig out of his bottle, and a moment later he let his hand slide down a bit, so that his fingers were touching the upper swell of my right breast. I didn’t say anything, and a moment later they slid a little lower.
“Sam,” I said then, “let’s wait ‘til we get somewhere more private, okay? I’m not gonna disappoint you, I promise; I want it, too, but I’d rather not have an audience, if that’s okay?”
Sam looked down at me, and his face had an odd expression on it, but he nodded and pulled his hand back up a bit. “So what’s your story, Amber? You just got a thing for old bums?”
I smiled. “No, but I like to give someone a little happiness, sometimes, and you look like you could use some. I was watching you, and you look like a man with no one to care about him. I thought I’d show you that someone does, at least for a little while.”
He nodded. “Well, you got that right. I got nobody. You said you were lon
ely, a little while ago, but sweetie, I doubt you know what that word really means.”
I pulled his hand over and kissed the back of it. “You’re probably right,” I said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been really lonely, not like you must be. How do you stand it?”
He didn’t answer for several minutes, and I didn’t push. We just walked along, and when people saw us and stared at the grizzled old man with the pretty young blond, I’d give them a dirty look and they’d usually turn away. Finally I heard Sam take a deep breath, and he said, “I handle it by promising myself that one of these days it’ll be over. One of these days, the angel of death will come for me, and I won’t be hurtin’ anymore.”
I felt a shiver go down my spine, and wondered if that was who I had become. Was I the angel of death? Well, perhaps in a way I was, at least for Sam. Because he was right; I had come for him.
“You sound like you’re almost looking forward to it,” I said to him, and he chuckled.
“Yeah. I guess I am, to be honest. You know how old I am?” I shook my head, and he laughed. “No, of course you don’t. I’m fifty-nine years old, honey, and I’ve lost as much as a man can lose and still be alive.” He looked up at the night sky, but I don’t think he could see much of it, for the lights. “I used to be an accountant, a good one. Had a nice house, a beautiful wife who loved me, two sons and a daughter that meant the world to me, but then, about thirty years ago, the company needed someone to take the fall when one of the bosses screwed up a big account, and they blamed it on me even though I had nothing to do with it. Everyone believed them, because they had this big reputation for honesty, y’see. So—I couldn’t find another job, ‘cept for stuff like diggin’ ditches or drivin’ cabs. Man can’t support a family on that kind of work, not when he’s had better. My wife, she cried when she told me she was takin’ the kids and leavin’ me, but I was already drunk a lot by then.” He turned his face back down to me. “Amber, I lost everything I ever had. You think I won’t be glad to see that angel?” He smiled at me again. “I just hope she looks as good as you when she comes!"