By the time I rapped on his window, I was fuming. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He rolled down his window. “My car won’t start. I called road side service.”
Just then a tow truck turned the corner. Galigani jumped out of his Honda and greeted the driver.
I slunk back into the house.
Stupid Kate, jumping to conclusions. Where was that going to lead?
Wait a minute. Galigani was still outside. If I hurried and got dressed, maybe I could follow him after all.
I pulled on jeans and a sweatshirt and glanced out the front window. He was jabbering with the tow truck driver. With Laurie in my arms, I raced downstairs to the garage and packed her into her car seat.
I rolled the car out of the garage and waved to Galigani as I turned the corner.
I parked at the end of the next block, comfortably tucked in between a pickup and a UPS van. From this vantage point I could follow him in whichever direction he drove.
I waited. Galigani’s Honda passed me. I pulled out behind him, hoping to keep a discreet distance.
Galigani led me to an apartment house in the Haight district. I watched from my car as he rang a bell and waited. A curtain moved on the third floor. Someone peeked out the window. Galigani didn’t notice, just continued to wait without being let in.
I counted the windows. Six from the right. Probably each apartment had two street windows. So that would make it the third apartment from the right. Third floor, third apartment. Easy to remember.
Galigani rang the doorbell again. After a moment, he turned to leave.
He squeezed back into his car. The car sputtered and died.
Shoot!
I couldn’t wait around for another visit from road side service. By the time they’d arrive, I’d have to feed Laurie again.
The Honda turned over again and the engine revved up. Galigani pulled out of his space. The chase was on.
I followed him to Pier 23. The pier where George’s bags had been found. Where poor Brad had been pulled from the water. I watched as Galigani paced back and forth and took notes. He stopped a couple of passersby and talked for a while. His job didn’t seem that tough. Ask questions, drive around some, and charge a lot of money. I could do that, couldn’t I?
I puttered around the kitchen, getting dinner ready. Mom had left a homemade lasagna and a box wrapped in comics from the Sunday paper on my front porch. The box had a note attached.
Must have missed you. Here’s a little something I couldn’t resist for Laurie. Not the lasagna-that’s for you. I put plenty of vegetables in it. Are you getting enough greens? Hope you are feeling better today. Call me-must see my granddaughter soon. Mom.
Thank God for Mom. I was pressed for time and the lasagna was a Godsend. I placed it into the oven and put the gift for Laurie in front of her. She eyed the paper and drooled.
“Grandma got you this. Want to open it?”
Laurie reached out and batted the present.
“I’ll help you.” I ripped open the paper. It was a colorful jack-in-the-box. It popped up with no warning. Laurie howled.
I grabbed the cordless phone and dialed Mom. “Hi, it’s me.”
“Darling! Where have you been?”
“Here and there. Thanks for the lasagna.”
Mom chuckled. “I thought you might like that. Did Laurie like her little surprise?”
“It scared the bejeezes out of her.”
“Oh, no! Well, maybe she’s still too little. You used to love yours.”
I had had a jack-in-the-box? What happens to your memory? Is it the pregnancy? Postpregnancy? Or just plain hitting thirty?
“How are you feeling?” Mom asked.
“All right. Tired. Can you come over tomorrow and watch Laurie?”
“Sure. Where are you going?”
I hesitated. Better not to share my real plans with her, she’d only worry. “Oh, nowhere in particular, maybe do a little shopping. Can you be here around noon?”
Jim called to say he would be home late. I took advantage of the extra time to bathe Laurie.
I set the little green tub into our kitchen sink and ran lukewarm water into it, then laid out all the essentials: a pink hooded terry towel, a yellow ducky washcloth, and special baby body and hair wash.
Undressing Laurie, I gently placed her in the tub. She curled her lips in protest, but as the warm water poured over her she cooed happily.
I put a small drop of the baby wash on the ducky washcloth and rubbed her tiny toes.
“You have tic-tac toes,” I said, squeezing each of them between my fingers.
Laurie gave me what looked like a smile.
The doctor said I wouldn’t get any real smiles until about six weeks, that any resemblance to a smile was simply Laurie practicing the use of her facial muscles.
Hmmm!
What did that doctor know anyway? This was really a smile. My little jelly bean was a genius.
I tickled her toes again. “This little piggy went to market.”
Laurie blinked up at me. Suddenly, I noticed she had grown beautiful black eyelashes. She was so fair that her eyebrows were barely visible. The same had been true about her eyelashes, until today.
“When did you get those gorgeous long black lashes?”
Laurie flapped a response, then turned her head and examined the side of the tub. I finished bathing her, then laid out her towel and gingerly picked her up. I patted her dry as I made my way into the nursery.
The nursery window was open. I rushed to close it. I didn’t want Laurie to catch a cold.
Wait.
When had I opened the window? Had I opened it?
Oh, how I wish I had a memory. Any memory at all would be good. My mind was a sieve.
Maybe Jim had opened it before leaving for work. Had it been open all day? My stomach lurched as I glanced around the room. Nothing looked displaced.
A loud beeping sounded throughout the house. The smoke detector. I had forgotten the lasagna in the oven. I ran toward the kitchen with a howling Laurie in my arms.
“Shh, it’s okay, pinochle,” I soothed, staring at the oven.
How do you get a burning lasagna out of the oven with an infant in your arms?
I returned to the nursery to put Laurie down, then remembered the window. What if a stranger was in the house? After all, our cars had been broken into. My address was out there in someone’s hands. The logical part of my brain was telling me to calm down, but I looked around for a weapon anyway.
Then I heard the footsteps.
Someone was in the house!
Suppressing the scream rising in my throat, I grabbed the cordless and raced with Laurie into the only hiding place I could think of. The closet.
I concealed us as best I could behind some clothes. My heart was racing. I said a prayer as I dialed 9-1-1. The smoke alarm was still ringing.
The operator said, “What is the nature of your emergency?”
“Someone’s broken into my house. Please send the police. Hurry, I have a baby!”
Suddenly, the smoke detector stopped. I hung up. I didn’t want to give away our hiding place.
Could 9-1-1 trace my call? Could they get my address?
I pressed Laurie to me, trying to keep her quiet. Thankfully, she seemed lulled by the darkness of the closet and her proximity to my wildly beating heart.
I heard the door to nursery creak open.
Dear God. What could I do?
I nestled Laurie onto a fallen jacket on the floor. She seemed content enough to stay quiet. I straightened. If the intruder opened the door, I wanted to be ready.
Ready for what?
The fight of my life.
I clenched my fists and prepared myself. I heard footsteps circle the nursery, then exit.