by John Faubion
As silently as she had come, she made her way back down Duck Way, around the turn, and back to where she had left the Audi.
Again she paused in the darkness, listening for any sound of people. There was none.
She got in the car and drove away, ready for the next step.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
The New Babysitter
Melissa parked the Audi in front of Talbot Junior High School. There were only two other cars in the parking lot. She easily found a spot that would be shaded from direct sunlight. Angie Gates’s Dodge Omni was nowhere to be seen. Perfect.
She pulled open one side of the large double door and walked into the old school building. From Rachel’s description she found her way down to the gymnasium, where the Hugest Losers met. The padded soles of her exercise shoes made no noise as she walked down the wide hallway past the old lockers.
From the hallway Melissa heard Julia Tybalt in a little coach’s room next to the gymnasium.
She talked in a high voice on her cell phone. “Angie’s stuck at home and I have to get someone, Carol. I don’t have any options. Do you know anyone?”
Julia shook her head vigorously.
“No. She says some teenagers cut her tires last night, and her husband is out getting some used ones to put on. She’s stuck there taking care of his mother while he’s gone. Marianne won’t be here for another hour because she has a doctor’s appointment.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. People are going to start showing up any minute.”
She looked up and saw Melissa standing there. “I’ll call you back, Carol. Someone’s here. Do what you can, okay?”
She stood up, smiled, and extended her hand toward Melissa. “Good morning, my name is Julia Tybalt. Are you here for Hugest Losers?”
“Actually,” said Melissa, “I was hoping you needed some help. Babysitting, organizing, whatever you have. I have mornings free and I’ve noticed lots of people coming over here all the time. I live just a block away.”
Julia Tybalt opened her mouth with a gasp. She asked, “You can do childcare? Have you had any experience?”
“More experience with that than anything else. I have three of my own, but they’re all in school right now. When they were young I babysat in my home for two other children.”
Time to turn on the charm.
Melissa smiled warmly, nodding her head.
You need me, Julia. I’m the sweetest person you ever met.
“Oh, yes. I think I can say I have some experience.”
Julia’s shoulders relaxed as she took a step backward toward her desk. Hope seemed to kindle in her eyes.
“Can you start today? The young lady that usually comes in to help me has had some car trouble and her coworker had to go to the doctor. I could really use some help.”
And here’s the hook.
“Well,” said Melissa, “I suppose I could. I didn’t expect anything so quickly. I did bring this along, though.” She produced an official-looking form titled Background Check. “We all had to have these at the last place I worked.”
Julia Tybalt took the form and gave it a cursory glance, noticing all the official-looking language and blocks of information. “This is great.”
She rattled open a drawer and retrieved a job application. “You’re an answer to prayer. Here, just fill this out. I only need the basic information: name, Social Security number, address, telephone. You can put all the references down later on. Right now I need to get you into the childcare room and get you acquainted with what we have.”
“Why, thank you so much. I’m so glad it worked out like this, although I’m sorry the other ladies are having trouble.”
“Things happen. There’s nothing we can do. But you’re here now and that’s going to be a lot of help. By the way, I don’t think I even asked you your name.”
“Alicia.”
“Okay, Alicia. We’ll have the kids call you Miss Alicia. We like the children to be respectful. Come with me now and I’ll show you where you’ll be working. I think you’ll be able to expect twelve to eighteen children this morning, not all at once, but steady until about twelve o’clock noon. Usually there’ll be two of you in here. I’ll ask one of the mothers to stay with you until Marianne gets in. Sound all right with you?”
“It sounds wonderful, Mrs. Tybalt. Lead on. I’m right behind you.”
The childcare area was in an old classroom divided into two areas, one for toddlers and the other for older children to play in. The door had been replaced at some point with a divided Dutch door so the workers inside could talk to the parents without fully opening the doorway.
Melissa stepped inside and saw that two large rag rugs and other large pieces of carpeting had been laid down on the old tile floor for children to play on.
There were plastic trucks, Barbie dolls, and plush toys in abundance. Four or five large beanbag chairs lay in the corners against the wall.
Mrs. Tybalt showed Melissa where the bathrooms were and how to log the children in and out on the childcare register. “We usually just let the children nap on the floor. There are some play mats rolled up in the back, too.”
“Now, don’t you be embarrassed if some of the mothers want to give you a tip. We offer the childcare service for free, but most of them like to do something. So don’t turn it down if they offer it to you. No one could make a living on what we pay for childcare.”
Melissa smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Mrs. Tybalt. I’m sure it’s going to work out just perfectly. I feel right at home already. You just go on back to the gymnasium and don’t you worry about a thing. There’s nothing here I can’t take care of.”
Julia Tybalt’s eyes brightened. It looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. “Okay, Alicia. You’ve got my cell phone number, so you just call me over in the office if you need anything at all, all right? We don’t have any intercom system here. And please, I’m just Julia.”
She hugged the older woman. “No problem, Julia. Don’t worry about anything.”
Melissa turned around and began arranging things for the children who would begin arriving in the next few minutes. She wanted to have everything just right. It had to be just right. This would be her first time with Angela Douglas.
• • •
RACHEL HANDED ANGELA over the Dutch door to the new babysitter. Melissa plucked Angela out of her hands and set her on the floor just on the other side of the door.
Peeking over her shoulder, Rachel saw four or five other children already busy with activities in the room behind the door. “I don’t think I know you. My name is Rachel. Rachel Douglas. Where are Angie and Marianne this morning?”
Melissa smiled and put out her hand. “My name is Alicia. I’ll be working in here regularly from now on. Angie evidently had some car trouble this morning and couldn’t get in on time. She’ll be back tomorrow. I think Marianne had a doctor’s appointment, but should be here soon. Mrs. Tybalt said something about it.”
Angela pulled herself to her feet and looked at her mother.
Rachel bent over the door and rubbed Angela’s back. “Don’t you worry about a thing; Miss Alicia will take care of you. She seems very, very nice, doesn’t she? I’m sure you two will have lots of fun together.”
Just go do your workout. You’re superfluous now.
“I’m sure we will, Mrs. Douglas. I’ll take care of your little girl just as if she were my very own.”
As Rachel turned and walked off toward her exercise group, Miss Alicia took Angela’s hand into her own, turned her away from the empty doorway, and said, “I feel like I’ve always wanted to meet you, sweetheart.”
Sounds of Richard Simmons’s “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” reverberated up and down the hallway.
• • •
RACHEL STUCK WITH RICHARD SIMMONS through thick and thin, never quitting, no matter how worn out she became. Most of the other women dropped out, then resumed after rest breaks, but Rachel worked right on throug
h.
She pulled the sweatband back from her forehead and up into her hair. Her legs ached, and she felt as limp as the damp exercise suit she wore. She’d better get Angela now and go home to do the housework before it was time to pick up Scotty from preschool. Then she’d start supper for Scott.
She waved to the smiling Mrs. Tybalt in the old coach’s office as she went out.
Mrs. Tybalt waved back in return.
When she got to the childcare room she leaned over the split door and looked at the children playing inside. There was Angela, busy with Play-Doh, Miss Alicia helping her. “Angela, are you ready to go home now?”
Angela looked up from her work with a frown. “Can I finish my castle, Mommy? Can I?”
Miss Alicia looked at Rachel and raised her hands as if in surrender. “She’s having a great time. She’s a smart little girl, Mrs. Douglas. If you want to let her play a little longer, it’s okay with me.”
Rachel stopped to study the new babysitter. Alicia was slender, more attractive than Rachel herself. Probably one of those lucky women who have never had a weight problem. Skin that looked like it had been poured out of a bottle.
Salt stung Rachel’s eye as sweat dried on her face. She began to feel very conscious of her appearance, thankful that Scott could not see her now.
“No, I need to get her home. She needs a nap and I’ve got work to do.”
Miss Alicia rose from the floor in a single effortless motion, then held her hands out to Angela. “Okay, Angela. It’s time to go. We’ll leave all of your things right here where they are and you can keep on working on it when you get back tomorrow, all right? I’ll save everything for you just like it is.”
She picked Angela up, pulled her close, and began to carry her toward Rachel, still standing on the other side of the door.
Rachel was mildly surprised as Angela let Miss Alicia lift her away from her Play-Doh. Wow, she must really like her. How had Alicia known that Angela liked Play-Doh so much?
“Oh, wait. Stop right there,” said Rachel. “Let me take your picture together. I can tell Angela really likes you. Hold on, I’ve got my camera right here, somewhere.” Rachel fumbled in her gym bag and then pulled out a digital camera from an inner pocket. “All right, you two. Smile real big now. Ready? Say cheese!”
The two posed with their cheeks together, both smiling. “One more, okay? Just in case it doesn’t turn out right.” She pushed the button again.
Rachel took Angela in her arms and set her down outside the door. “I guess you really had fun with Miss Alicia, didn’t you?” Angela nodded vigorously.
Rachel looked up at Alicia, then bent to pick Angela up. “And you’ll be a regular here?”
Alicia reached out and touched Angela’s cheek. “Oh, I’m looking forward to spending lots and lots of time with Angela.”
“Maybe I could call you sometime. Do you ever just babysit?”
“Sometimes, yes. I’m very selective, though.” Alicia’s eyes turned to the little girl in Rachel’s arms. “I don’t think it would be any problem at all for you to call me. I like your daughter very much and I’m sure your little boy is just as nice and well-behaved.”
Alicia scratched out her name and mobile number on a small sheet of paper and passed it across to Rachel, who shifted Angela onto one arm so she could accept it.
“Wonderful. I’ll definitely call you.” She shifted Angela again. “This girl’s starting to get heavy. We’ll be in touch soon, okay?” She turned with a wave and walked through the doors to the parking lot.
“How did Miss Alicia know about Scotty, Mommy?” asked Angela.
Rachel paused.
“I don’t know, sweetheart. Did you say something?”
“No, I didn’t say anything. Really.”
How did she know? The question hung there before her until the first traffic light, when it was washed away in the ebb and flow of traffic.
• • •
MELISSA’S SMILE DISAPPEARED as she watched Rachel go. Her eyes narrowed as the other woman walked away down the hallway carrying the little girl.
Yes, we’ll be in touch soon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Trouble with Solar Charge
The Financial Times video feed was bad news again. Yesterday’s news had paralyzed him. Now it was worse.
Government officials and auditors charged that the preliminary loan approval for Solar Charge had been granted before officials had completed the legally mandated evaluations of the company. As a result of these revelations, further loan guarantees to the troubled company were in jeopardy. That included the most recent loan, still in the pipeline, for $300 million. Solar Charge CEO Nelson Garnet, having just received an $11 million bonus, announced he would be stepping down.
Scott looked at the ticker. Solar Charge had dropped to $114 and was falling. Disaster, and there was nothing he could do about it now. With the stock at this point the options he had purchased were worthless. The stock would have to climb above the $120 mark again. Could he just get to a break-even point? The video feed showed FBI agents carrying boxes of documents out of the company’s headquarters in California. A bankruptcy announcement was imminent.
All around him coworkers went about their normal business. As if there were two worlds: one completely normal, and the not-so-normal one he lived in. Everything looked normal on the outside, but nothing inside was the same.
He remembered hearing his uncle talk like that when his aunt died. The normal world had gone on, but he was off on a detour that might never rejoin the main road. Was his world going that way? He’d begun to feel more like a spectator than a participant in the real world.
How in the world had he gotten into this kind of a predicament? He had known better, but he had gambled on . . . what? That he would be lucky?
No, not lucky. He had gambled on his own view of himself as being smart and savvy. He had convinced himself that because of Solar Charge’s position in the ultratrendy environmental industry he would be safe. He’d arrogantly gambled his career on a hunch.
He looked at the walls of his cubicle. There were all the pictures of Rachel, the two children, and their home. He looked at the most recent, a picture of Scotty, Angela, and Ruff. He would soon be taking down the pictures of his family, packing them into a cardboard box, and carting them out to the parking lot, where he would stow them in the trunk of his car. His family would disappear.
Was this how people wound up on the street, jobless? How many times had he looked at jobless people and wondered why they just didn’t go to work? Maybe they wanted to work, had worked hard in the past, and things had gone wrong for them. Gone wrong, just like they were going wrong for him now.
And his car? That might be the next thing to go. No way could he make the payments without a job. And the thought of the disappointment he’d see in Rachel’s eyes. No, he couldn’t face that.
The Solar Charge CEO was going to walk away with $11 million in last-minute bonus money. The president of the United States would no doubt lay the blame on Secretary of Energy Michael Lee and then was going to walk away. Maybe he would take another of his famous trips to Hawaii or Bali and lounge on the beaches again. In the meantime, the taxpayers were going to pick up the bills for Solar Charge. Not all the bills, of course; Scott would be paying his part the hard way.
It looks like the only one left holding the bag will be me. I’ve got to talk to Alicia.
She would be there for him. And there was something else, something that told him there was more reality to her than he could actually see with his eyes. He just couldn’t put his finger on it, at least not yet. Eventually it would come. She was all the things that he wished Rachel could be. It was a strange feeling, this idea of being the very center of someone else’s world. Alicia’s world consisted only of him.
His hands shook as he clicked off the display, packed up his laptop computer, and strode out the door to his car.
In the coffee shop parking lot where he’
d seen Alicia the very first time, Scott slid the front seat of his car as far back as it would go and logged on to VirtualFriendMe.com.
He tapped his fingers on his leg until Alicia’s face finally filled the screen. She looked different today, very different from the first time he had seen her. Now the change was obvious, and—he had to admit—he liked it.
Dark hair fell to her shoulders, accenting the light olive complexion of her skin. She was still slimmer and appeared more natural even than before. She had always seemed natural and realistic enough, but now the effect was intensified. Her skin fairly glowed with health. Sunlight seemed to sparkle on the fine hair on her arm as she raised it and pulled her hair back with her hand.
Scott noticed for the first time the small mole in front of her right ear. An imperfection? No, not an imperfection, just a distinctive mark. How lucky he was, how fortunate, to have her in his life.
“Alicia? You look wonderful.”
She lowered her head and raised her eyes toward him. Only the slightest hint of a smile touched her lips. “You always say things like that. I wish I were as beautiful as you say I am.”
“You are as beautiful as I say you are. And if it were possible for me to see you in person, I think you would be more beautiful yet.”
“Scott, maybe it’s not my place to say anything, but I sense that maybe you’re having some kind of problem today. Am I right?”
He was caught off balance. She knows. If I can tell anyone, I can tell her.
He swallowed, hard, then spoke. “Yes, you’re right. The trade I made on the Solar Charge stock is not working out well.” He grimaced, swallowed. “I’m afraid I may lose my job.”
“But did you do your best? I’m sure you did. Then you have nothing to feel bad about.”
His voice rose higher. He could feel the tightness in his throat. “I did my best, but it looks like I made the wrong choice just the same. You’re the only one I can tell about it right now.”
Alicia put the palm of her hand on the screen, facing Scott. “Touch my hand, Scott.”
Hesitantly at first, he lifted his hand. Then, feeling a need to have someone close, pressed his fingertips against hers.