'Yeah, well. Feel sorry for yourself. Things are very weird, Lynnie.'
Lynn chewed on her bagel. 'I still feel sorry for her. I can always do something else, get a new job. She's stuck there.'
'You better start planning now. You're getting canned today.'
'What? How do you know?'
'I heard Wayne talking to Andrew last night.'
'Jesus, Remy. What did he say?'
'Well, I couldn't hear everything because I was in the other room, but 1 think Andrew was chewing him out for having me stay there.' Remy tossed her hair back and started eating.
'Yeah, well, what did you expect? 1 wouldn't stay there with them for anything in the world, and I don't even want to ask how it is.' She raised her eyebrows, asking nonetheless.
'He said Alison had to get rid of you because of the publicity.'
'What publicity? Who cares about Alison?' Lynn laughed uneasily. 'Why would Wayne tell Andrew to fire me? It's ridiculous.'
'Andrew doesn't want any publicity. He wants us both out of the way, some antinanny thing. He doesn't understand that I'm in a special situation, that I'm not a nanny,' Remy said.
'Yes, you are.' Lynn had one dog on her lap and one at her feet. She occupied herself with them for a moment, then got serious. 'Thanks for the warning, Rem, but I'm not the one in trouble. You are, too. You were there yesterday, and you're still there with him. I don't know what you're thinking, but other people are not seeing this as a good thing. Alison thinks you're in on it for sure. You need to get a lawyer, and you need to move out now.'
'I didn't do anything wrong.'
Lynn made a disparaging noise. 'You're not listening! You're staying with him and his two children. You should think about that.'
Remy tossed her hair again, then frowned. The jogger who'd been in front of the Plaza was now across the street by the newsstand. She hadn't studied him carefully, but she was sure it was the same guy. 'See that guy over there?'
Lynn turned to look where she pointed.
'He followed me.'
'Good Lord, Remy, are you sure?'
Remy nodded. 'I saw him at the Plaza a little while ago. Wayne says he's being followed, too. The police came to his restaurant last night and talked to the chef, the sous-chef, everybody. He was on the phone with his friends all night.'
Lynn stared at the jogger, who was busy reading the newspaper he'd just purchased. 'They can tap the phones, you know,' she murmured.
Remy took Lynn's hand off the poodle's collar and squeezed it. 'Listen to me. It was horrible what happened to Maddy, but I was with Wayne in his restaurant. He was accepting deliveries, counting the boxes, when it happened. A lot of people saw us there. No one can pin anything on us, and I guarantee that he won't let anything happen to me. I can guarantee it.'
Lynn's face was full of doubt. 'You're
Remy had never admitted that. Now she shrugged. 'So what? Derek was sleeping with
Lynn shook her head at this answer. 'Did you stay in his room last night? The maids will know.'
Remy shook her head no, and that was the truth. She never talked about this, but Wayne had his little habits, and losing his wife hadn't changed any of them. He liked to have someone hold his penis at night, massage and have sex with him— sometimes quite athletic sex—but he was never romantic in any way. Afterward, he always wanted to be alone so he could talk on the phone, or be on the Internet all night. Sometimes late at night, or very early in the morning, they used to cook little meals for each other and drink more wine, but that was it. If she'd held out any hope for his being more tender now that Maddy was out of the picture, she would have been seriously disappointed. She played with her hair, acting cooler than she felt about the whole thing.
'Are you really okay?' Lynn said as if she didn't buy the act.
'Everybody asks me if I'm okay. How can I be okay? I found a corpse.' She was watching the jogger across the street, and didn't feel good about it. 'And a cop is following me.' She paused. 'And I really liked him.' She picked up her bagel and stared at it.
'Wayne?' Lynn pursed her lips. 'Don't you like him anymore?'
'Let's just say the way he was talking last night opened my eyes. He doesn't care about anybody but Wayne, that's for sure. We're both kind of screwed,' she said sadly.
'What do you mean?' ' Lynn said cautiously.
'Oh, I'm not getting any restaurant job now, and you better find someplace else to live.'
The poodle tugged on its leash and Lynn looked anxiously at her watch. 'I have to go back now.'
'Why?' Remy finally started eating her bagel.
'Because they'll be worried,' Lynn said seriously.
'They're going to fire you, idiot,' Remy said angrily.
Lynn shook her head. 'You don't understand. The girls love me, and Alison has already gone through too many people. She talks about firing me . all the time. It's a form of entertainment for her. But she won't ever fire me.'
Remy shrugged. 'All right, go back, then, but don't blame me if something happens. She lifted her hand and waved at the jogger. He turned away, pretending not to see her.
Twenty-five
Leah was waiting on the street in front of the Perkins house when Lynn headed back from First Avenue. Sitting on the curb between parked cars, she was wearing slippers and a fringed shawl. Lynn tilted her head, uneasy at seeing her there looking like some weird hippie without a home. The dogs raced toward her, but Lynn held back on their leashes. 'What's - going on? What are you doing here?' she said anxiously when she got close enough to speak.
'I couldn't sleep. I thought I'd come over, but you weren't there,' Leah accused.
Lynn tilted her head. 'Get up. Don't you know the dogs do their business down there?'
'Where were you?' Leah stood up and brushed off her jeans.
'Walking the dogs. Roxie had to go out.' Lynn glanced toward the kitchen door. 'You didn't go in there, did you?'
Leah chewed on her bottom lip. 'She really freaked out when she saw me. She started yelling at me.'
'Well, I'm not surprised. First of all, you can't just walk into someone else's house totally unannounced. Also, have you taken a look at yourself this morning?' Lynn shook her head. 'What's with the bracelets?'
Leah pulled her sweatshirt down over her wrist to hide them.
'Let me see them.'
Leah backed away. 'Don't crowd me. I didn't do anything. I was just looking for you.' .
'You're not my shadow. You're not supposed to go in there when I'm not there. That's a big one, Leah. You could get me fired!'
'Well, it's not my fault you weren't there. I could punch you for that.' She took a boxer's stance.
'Oh, great. Act loony tunes. That will really help.' Lynn stepped away. Sometimes she just didn't get Leah. 'Check yourself. You can't act crazy.'
'She was going to hit me in front of the girls. She was scary.'
'Look who's talking about scary. Go home,' Lynn said, disgusted. 'I'll take care of this.'
'Don't tell Jo Ellen. You know how she is.'
Lynn turned her back on the girl. 'You always get me in trouble,' she muttered. She twisted the leash around her wrist. 'I'm pissed off. I really am. Don't come back today. I have things to do. Just beat it. You're too much trouble.'
