A Clean Kill

'You can make incriminating statements. You can hurt yourself or other people.' He said this angrily, as if he were the one she could hurt.

She couldn't remember what she'd told the Chinese detective, but she didn't think she'd said anything that could hurt anybody. Just that one tiny thing about the coke. And she never actually said anything about it. 'I didn't talk to all the police, just one person. And she was very nice,' she said slowly, referring to April Woo, the woman whose card she had put in her purse to call if she had any other thoughts. She had a lot of thoughts, and she didn't want to be alone with them.

'What are you, a half-wit?' Andrew said harshly.

Alison didn't grimace at this assessment of her. She'd heard him say it all before. She sighed because it was so difficult to talk to a person who'd been to law school and always thought he was right.

'What do you want me to do?' she asked, trying to focus and be good so he wouldn't be angry with her.

'I want you to stop drinking, okay?' he said more gently.

'Okay,' she promised. That was not a problem. She could do without alcohol whenever she wanted to.

'And I want Lynn out of the house today.' He ticked number two off his list.

'What?!' This order caused Alison to bolt right out of bed, even though she was shaking all over. She stood in front of him, swaying with a head rush.

'You heard me. I want you to fire her this morning.'

'But why, Andrew? I thought you liked her.' Alison was completely stunned. She almost forgot she was talking to a naked man. She too busy holding on to the bed.

'You're always telling me she's lazy. You had reservations about her capabilities all along. And you told me you think her friend is a murderer,' Andrew said. 'That's good enough for me.'

'But what does that have to do with it?' she said numbly. She had no memory of saying those things.

'I don't want our household dragged through the press. I don't want to be involved. This is an order, Al. I mean it. Get her out of here.'

'I can't fire her,' Alison whined, finally letting herself collapse back on the bed.

Andrew got up and turned his back on her. 'I have to get going, and you have to do it.'

'But I can't, Andrew. The girls like her.' She couldn't think of anything else to say. She was sick. She couldn't take the girls to play school. Damn! She had the flu, and he was walking away from her. She didn't like his naked back any more than his burgeoning belly. Shit! He went into the bathroom and closed the door.

Alison lay back against the pillows. Her head ached terribly. She'd forgotten all the times she'd said she wanted to get rid of Lynn. And yesterday she particularly hadn't wanted someone who looked like a killer taking care of her children. But that was yesterday. Since talking with Lynn and Leah last night, she didn't really feel that way anymore. She thought Lynn was a caring person, always there when she was needed. But Andrew meant what he said. Sometimes she could get around him, but not about something like this. She wanted him to be happy. She wanted to do the right thing. She closed her eyes.

She didn't know how much time passed before he came out of his dressing room, wearing a dark suit and tie, ready for the office. She opened her eyes and he still looked angry. 'I mean it about Lynn. Do you want me to take care of it?' he said, raising the subject again.

'No, no. I'll do it.' Alison thought she could be nice about it. Andrew could never be nice about anything.

'And nothing to drink today, okay?'

'It's no problem, honey.' She had no doubt she could do without alcohol. Piece of cake. She would pull herself together, and never do coke again. She hated the stuff and needed some time off of it anyway. She'd call Derek. He'd give her his great vitamin drink that helped her recover, and she'd get well fast. Just a few minutes in bed, and then she'd get going. She made her plan and closed her eyes.

Andrew left without saying anything else to her. At seven o'clock the girls tumbled into her bed and woke her up. 'Orange juice, Mommy,' Jill said. Jill was the younger one. She had pretty dark curls and big blue eyes. She was going to be a knockout.

'Hi, babies,' Alison said through an aching head.

'Where's Daddy?'

'He went to the office.'

'Where's Lynn?'

'Isn't she in her room?' Alison stretched, patting for the dogs. Dogs still weren't there. She wondered why they hadn't come into the room when Andrew opened the door.

'Uh-uh,' Jill said.

'She must be out with the dogs. Can you make our breakfast?' Jessica asked.

'Of course, I can,' Alison replied pleasantly. But do I want to? she asked herself. 'Oh, shit,' she muttered, and hauled herself into a sitting position where she could see her children better. Jill was jumping on the bed. Up and down, up and down. Jumping was a new thing for her. It made Alison want to scream. She extricated herself from the sheets and went to the bathroom.

Water from Andrew's shower was splashed everywhere. She didn't know how anyone could make such a, mess. She opened her makeup drawer and found her container of Vicodin tucked away with the lipsticks and colored pencils. She took two and stuffed the little zip bag in the back. Then she staggered downstairs to make the girls their scrambled eggs. While they were eating, she called Derek for the vitamin drink she needed. It was only seven ten, and he didn't pick up. She called Jo Ellen Anderson, at the employment agency, and left a message to call her right away about finding a new girl. Lynn had to go. She had several cups of coffee and started feeling a little better.

Twenty-four

Remy felt like a thief as she slipped out of the Fifty-ninth Street entrance of the Plaza Hotel at six thirty a.m. She didn't know whether Wayne was up or not and didn't care. The boys were still sleeping, and after last night she just had to get out of there. She took no special notice of the jogger that paused in front of the movie theater across the street. She hurried down to the corner, grabbed a taxi on Fifth, and didn't talk to the driver as he cruised downtown, then turned east on Fifty-second Street. Lynn was waiting for her on the corner of First Avenue as she'd promised, and had the two dogs with her.

'What's the matter? What happened?' she asked as Remy paid and got out of the cab.

As usual, they were dressed alike, in sweatshirts .and jeans. They carried the same shoulder bags and wore similar Nikes. Floyd, the standard poodle, jumped up and Remy patted him. Roxie jumped as high as she could, and Remy leaned over to pat her, too. 'I had a terrible night,' she said after a moment.

'Did you have to sleep with him?' Lynn said. Remy knew that Lynn had once been fired from a job after a wife found out about her husband's advances to her. Lynn was particularly sensitive to the hazards of being a live- in.

Remy made a face. It wasn't that. She'd slept with Wayne Wilson many times before. She'd given him blow jobs, whatever he wanted, and didn't think it was a big deal. She didn't dwell on it too much.

'Well, did you?' Lynn couldn't stop asking that question.

Remy brushed it away. 'Why did you bring the dogs? Now we can't go in anywhere. I need something to eat.'

'Andrew locked them up last night, and they were crying. They wanted to go out, and I needed the excuse. What was yours?'

'Oh, I just left. Al right, I'll have a bagel. Wait for me.'

The deli on First Avenue had a bench out front. At the moment no one was on it, so Lynn sat down while Remy went in for coffee and bagels. She came out in less than five minutes with two paper bags, and handed one over.

'Latte and Cinnamon raisin bagel for you, pumpernickel for me,' Remy said. She sat down and pulled out her coffee first. She took a sip and grimaced. 'Too hot. Okay, how are things with you?'

'Same old, same old. Alison got really crocked last night. She thinks I don't know what she gets up to—the three Ds. Derek wouldn't come over last night, and Andrew didn't show, either. So she was left with drugs and drink. I feel sorry for her.'