“Let me put the eggs away,” Grady called from the kitchen, where suddenly the telephone rang.
“Don’t pick up,” Alice called back. She didn’t need another test. She found the bag and went to the front door. “We have to get going.”
“Okay.”
The phone stopped ringing, but there were clicks that sounded like an old-fashioned answering machine, and Alice stopped, her hand on the knob. Did Bennie have an answering machine? Who still had an old-fashioned answering machine? How had she missed it? In the next second, a woman’s voice started talking, amplified.
“Bennie?” It was Mary DiNunzio. “I got the brief finished for Alice’s restraining order, with Judy’s help. I hope you won’t need it, but it’s good to have. I’ll email you a final tonight. See you tomorrow. Take care, bye.”
Oh no! Alice couldn’t believe her ears. She opened the front door like the call was nothing, but it was the last thing she needed. Now Grady would know that she was back in Bennie’s life. If she kept making little slips, it could give him reason to wonder whether she really was Bennie. Alice told herself to play it cool, but Grady came slowly out of the kitchen, his brow knit and his eyes concerned behind his glasses.
“Does she mean Alice Connelly?” he asked. “Are you getting a restraining order? What’s going on?”
“Nothing, really. You know DiNunzio. She’s overreacting, big-time.”
“What happened?”
“I got a call that Alice quit her job, is all.” Alice reminded herself to stay the course. Until now he had no reason to suspect anything, and she couldn’t let Mary’s phone call ruin everything. “She wanted to get a restraining order, just in case.”
“Why did she quit?”
“I’ll fill you in on the way. Let’s go.” Alice walked out the door, and Grady followed, puzzled.
“Has she threatened you?”
“No, but DiNunzio wanted to have it in place, in case she did.”
“I didn’t even know you two were in contact. Last time I heard, Alice had skipped town, after you were nice enough to prove her not guilty, for free.”
“Can we not talk about this now.” Alice locked the front door, and when she turned around, Grady was frowning. She hurried down the steps and passed him on the sidewalk. “Let’s go, we have to go.”
“You sound like you’re not taking this seriously. Alice is dangerous.”
Thank you. “No, she’s not.”
“She’s a sociopath.”
Flatterer. “Don’t be silly.”
“You always underestimated her. You trust her when you shouldn’t.”
You got that right. “I don’t trust her, not completely.”
“Bennie, why didn’t you tell me about this last night? This is big news, and you didn’t even mention it.”
“I was worried about Bear, and I still am. You drive, okay?” Alice tossed him the keys when they reached the car, and they got inside. She didn’t need all these questions right now. It was just her luck that Grady picked this weekend to hook up with his long-lost love. She flashed on that saying about the best-laid plans.
And I didn’t even get laid.
Chapter Thirty-four
Mary was losing hope that she and Anthony would find a house, ever. They’d seen four in their price range, but all of them fell short of Curb Appeal! and New Fixtures! and Five Years Young! The one they were about to see was the “reach,” which she realized was code for perfect when she saw the façade of the lovely brick town-house, three stories high, with glossy black shutters and matching window boxes, bright with pink and white snapdragons.
“Welcome, folks, I’m Janine Robinson,” the realtor said, opening the door. She was an older woman, nicely made up, though her linen pantsuit had folded into an accordion. Mary had done her time in linen, and it was time for everybody to agree that linen wasn’t good for anything except irons.
“Hello,” Anthony said, introducing them both, which provoked the typical response from Janine the realtor:
“How long have you two been married?”
“We’re not,” Mary answered, since it was her turn, and Anthony stepped into the entrance hall, his hands linked loosely behind his back.
Janine smiled, toothily. “Oh, are you getting married?”
“No, we are going to live in sin.” Mary’s favorite old-time euphemism was “shacked up,” but only Tony-From-Down-The-Block used that one. Nobody trying to sell you a house ever said you were shacking up, even if you were.
“Are you working with anyone?” Janine asked, which Mary knew was another euphemism, for will-I-be-getting-a-three-percent-commission-or-six?
“No, we don’t have a broker. We’re on our own.”
“Come with me, I’ll show you around, then I’ll let you two wander upstairs.”
“Great, thanks.” Mary stepped into the living room, where something funny happened. She had never lived in any house as nice as this, but it felt instantly like home.
Janine was saying, “Fully renovated living room, new parquet floors, authentic crown molding, southern exposure, everything a young couple could ask for . . .”
Mary zoned her out. She had memorized the listing, and any idiot could see that the room was flooded with light, unusual for the city, and that its colonial proportions had a historic grace. The window-sills were a foot thick, begging for a window seat or a house cat. She and Mike used to have a cat, but she pressed that thought away.
Janine continued, “Here you see the dining room, also spacious, with windows that overlook this charming courtyard. The brick patio is new, and the plantings are specimen, a miniature cypress and several yew bushes.”
Yew? Yay! Mary peeked into the courtyard, captivated. She could imagine sitting outside, reading in an Adirondacks chair. She’d never had a house with a real backyard. Her parents had had a concrete pad for their trashcans, where her father had once tried to grow a fig tree, required for Italian men of a certain generation.
“The kitchen, over here, has also been fully renovated, all stainless steel, and you can see it’s fitted for a gourmet. Viking Range, Sub-Zero refrigerator, KitchenAid trash compactor, all top-of-the-line.” Janine gestured to the glossy tan countertop. “This, of course, is granite, and all of the plumbing is Perrin & Rowe, which comes directly from London, England.”
Mary stared at the sunshine reflecting on the stainless steel. It was a dream kitchen, plus she could get an excellent tan.
“I’ll let you find your way upstairs. There’s a nursery up there, next to the master.” Janine picked up a fact sheet. “Anthony, take this. Your girlfriend looks too smitten to read it.”
“She is?” Anthony turned with a bemused smile.
“Not yet,” Mary said, to preserve their bargaining position. Her neck blotches alone would drive the price sky-high.
Janine handed them both her business card. “Don’t wait too long on this listing, folks. I had a crowd in here today, even with everybody away. This one won’t be on the market much longer.”
“Thanks,” Mary said, slipping the card into her purse. She and Anthony left the kitchen and went upstairs in silence, as was their custom. Neither wanted to influence the other, and she suspected that the realtors eavesdropped. They went into the master bedroom and closed the door behind them.
“Can you believe this place?” Mary whispered, and Anthony started laughing.
“I know. I don’t need to see the rest.”
“Me, neither!” Mary’s heart leapt with happiness.
“We should go.”
“What?” Mary didn’t understand. “We should buy it!”
“What?” Anthony looked at her like she was nuts. “Do you know how much this place costs?”
“I know it’s expensive, but do you like it?”
“Did you see this?” Anthony held up the fact sheet, like a teacher holding up a flunking exam, and Mary was the worst student in class.
“I know the asking price from the lis
ting.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I told you it was a reach.”
“It’s not a reach, it’s Everest!” Anthony laughed, but Mary didn’t.
“Do you like it?”
“Of course I like it. What’s not to like, except the price and the location?”
“What’s wrong with the location? It’s right off Ritten house Square, the best location in Center City. I can walk to work, you can walk to the library or the train.”
“I know, but—”
“But what?”
“Come on.” Anthony puckered his lower lip. “It’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think. What’s that mean?”
“Over the top. It’s so much more than we need.”
Mary blinked. “What is? It’s a house, and we need a house.”
“Do we need a gourmet kitchen? Most of the time, we eat take-out.”
“Now we do, but we don’t have to,” Mary said, starting to feel bothered. “We won’t always do that. We can make nice meals.”
“But we won’t, and we didn’t even see the rest of the house.”
“I know, and we’ll look, but it’s already perfect for us, I can just feel it. Why shouldn’t we have a nice house, if we can?”
“But we can’t, babe.” Anthony’s expression darkened, and his lips pursed. “I can’t.”
Mary swallowed. They were finally going to have this conversation, so she spoke from the heart. “Don’t worry about it, I can afford it,” she said, softening her tone.
“What are you saying? It’s a reach even for you, isn’t it?”
“I know that, but I can afford it.”
“So what does that mean, in practical terms?” Anthony asked, pained. “I can’t afford to buy this with you. I don’t have even half of this down payment.”
“Then I’ll buy it. I’ll put down the whole amount, and you keep your money.”
“Babe, I can’t even afford half of what this monthly mortgage would be.” Anthony looked stricken. “It might be within your reach, but it isn’t in mine.”
“Then don’t pay anything. Here’s what I think.” Mary finally had clarity. She should have talked to him about this a long time ago, like Judy said. “I can afford the whole thing, and I want you to live with me. It doesn’t matter who pays.”
“It does to me.” Anthony’s expression went cold. “I can’t do that, I can’t let you do that. I’d feel kept.”
“But you’re not. Somebody has to make more than somebody else, and it happens to be me. It just happens.”
“Not to me.”
“Yes, to you.” Mary tried to moderate her voice. “It’ll be my name on the deed, if you don’t mind, but no one has to know. We love each other and we live together, that’s all.”
“I can’t do it, babe.” Anthony thrust the fact sheet at her, and Mary gave up, throwing it to the ground.
“Then how do I win? I can’t win!”
“It’s not about winning and losing.”
“Women make that deal every day, and nobody thinks it’s weird!”
“It’s not a deal, either. No man in the world would feel comfortable with that arrangement.”
“I know one who would!” Mary shot back, angry, and she didn’t have to explain who she meant. Anthony went red in the face, his dark eyes glittering with bitterness.
“I’m not him, and I’m not buying this house.”
“Well, I’m trying to make partner in a law firm, and I can’t be less than I am so you’ll feel good about yourself!”
Anthony looked stunned, and even Mary couldn’t believe what she’d said. It was true but unsayable, which was a category she hadn’t known existed, until now.
“Then buy it, partner.” Anthony turned away and walked out of the bedroom, his steps echoing in the large, empty house.
Chapter Thirty-five
Bennie pummeled the bright little hole, over and over again. The animal’s constant scratching had thinned the wood around it, and the lid was splintering along the crack. She picked at the edges of the hole with her fingers, then she bashed the wood until painstakingly, excruciatingly, and infinitesimally, she was widening the hole, its golden circle like her own personal sun.
It was the size of a dime, and she was aiming for a quarter, and so she kept going. She had to finish before the animal came back. Her face was soaked with sweat, perspiration drenched her entire body, and though she could breathe, the air in the box had grown hotter. She hit harder, and suddenly, something fell through it onto her face. She blinked and shook it off, reflexively. It felt like dirt, and then she understood.
I’m buried alive.
She forced herself not to panic. She started pounding again, but her hands were bloody and every blow hurt, so she hooked her hand inside the neck of her cotton shirt and yanked hard. It tore the shirt down the front, and she wrenched the fabric back and forth to rip it to the bottom, ending up with a bandage, of sorts. She wrapped it around her right hand, pressing it into the open wound with her chin. The pain brought tears to her eyes, but she got back to work, pounding and picking.
She stayed strong thinking of Grady. If she got out of this alive, she would call him and tell him that he was more important than work, more important than anything. That she thought about him every day, he was always in the back of her mind, and that she had called his office once and hung up, like a teenager. She’d even Googled him to see what cases he was working on, she’d read his articles and briefs online. She would beg him back.
She stuck her finger through the hole to keep widening it, grabbing the edge and wiggling it up and down to break off more and more pieces of wood. There was no other way to keep going, and she hit the lid again and again with her bandaged hand, powered by the sheer will to live.
And the memory of a love she’d left behind.
Chapter Thirty-six
“Hi, I’m Bennie Rosato, here about my dog, Bear.” Alice stood at the reception window, with Grady, and the vet student behind the plastic shield was different from last night’s. He looked young, with a tiny black goatee and a neck tattoo of a bar code, which Alice guessed passed for a bad boy, among graduate students.
“Hold on, are you the Bennie Rosato?” he asked, his dark eyes lighting up. “My girlfriend’s at the law school, and she took your class in appellate advocacy last year. She loved you. Her name’s Sherry Quatriere. Do you remember her?”
“Lemme think a minute.”
“Dark hair? Dreadlocks? She’s Jamaican.”
“Of course. Sherry. Give her my love.”
“I’ll tell her, she’ll be so excited. Let me go check on your doggie.” The vet student jumped up. “Why don’t you take a seat over there?”
“Thanks.” Alice turned, and she and Grady walked over to the waiting area, which was empty except for a lady with a plastic cat carrier on her lap. They sat down in the plastic bucket seats next to a wall of memorial plaques in honor of dogs and cats, which proved to Alice that there really was a sucker born every minute.
Grady saw her looking at them. “Don’t read them. They’ll make you sad.”
“I know.” What a waste of money.
“I’ve been thinking, I was supposed to leave tonight, but I’d like to stick around for a couple of days. Between Bear and Alice coming back into your life, what kind of boyfriend would I be if I blew out of town?”
No! “But don’t you have to be somewhere?”
“I have a deal tomorrow in Pittsburgh, an employee buyout of some trade magazines, but I could get my partner to fill in. I’ll tell him it’s a family emergency. As far as my other matters, I have my laptop and I can work anywhere. Set me up in an office at the firm, I’ll be fine.”
Alice remembered that saying about keeping your enemies closer, then looked at him with grateful eyes. “Would you really do that, for me?”
“Of course.” Grady leaned over and kissed her gently on the cheek, then there was
a noise to the left as the EMPLOYEES ONLY doors banged open. A vet emerged and walked toward them, carrying a clipboard. His expression was serious, and Alice’s hopes soared.
“How is he?” she asked, rising, and so did Grady, slipping his arm around her shoulder.
“Please.” The vet waved them into their seats. “Please. Sit.”
Bad news! Alice sank into her seat with Grady’s arm around her.
“He has a hematoma on his spleen, a result of his fall. It didn’t show up on the X-ray but it did on the ultrasound. We can do surgery, but there can be serious complications, especially in a dog his age. I can’t say for sure that he’ll survive it, and the surgery is expensive. It could cost between three and five thousand dollars.”
Hell, no. Gas him now. If you don’t, I will. Got a hose?
“Our records show that you don’t have any insurance. I don’t know if you want to put him through that, or if you want to undertake that kind of expense.” The vet faced Alice, all earnest. “You can let him go, or see him through the surgery and hope for a good result, though the odds are very low. It’s a difficult decision.”
It’s a no-brainer. Alice acted like she was bravely holding back tears, and Grady leaned over to the vet.
“Doc, what would you do, in our position?”
“People always ask us that.” The vet smiled sadly. “Bear isn’t my dog, but I know how much you love him. Any decision you make will be the right one, because there are no wrong answers.”
Done deal. Alice was about to give the mutt the thumbs-down.
Grady asked, “Can we see him?”
“Of course, and if you do decide to put him down, you can be with him.”
Complete waste of ten minutes.
The vet led them out of the waiting room, through the doors, and into a huge room filled with examination tables, medical equipment, and vets in white coats and green scrubs, attending to animals in cages on three sides.
“Where is he?” Grady asked, and Alice hung back, playing the bereaved mother.
“Here.” The vet pointed to one of the large cages on the bottom, where Bear lay on a white blanket. His eyes were closed, and a plastic tube snaked from his front leg out of the cage to a bottle attached to the bars. He looked half-dead, and Alice felt like celebrating.