'When Jannie and Nana went off to the ladies' room, Damon turned to me. “You know, you could have invited Doctor Coles. If you wanted,” he said, then shrugged.
I was touched by the man-to-manness of Damon's remark. I'd even say it was adorable, except that he'd hate it if I saw it that way. “Thanks, Day,” 1 said, playing it straight.
“Kayla and I are having dinner on Tuesday I appreciate the thought.”
“She's a good lady Everybody thinks so. You need somebody you know.”
“Yeah, I know.”
"And she's the only person I've ever seen who can make Nana do stuff she doesn't want to.,' I laughed, liking that he had noticed so much about Kayla, and his observations were mostly sharp and true.
“What's so funny?” Nana asked, suddenly at the table again. “What did I miss?”
“What is it?” Jannie asked, demanded actually “I want to know what's going on. Was it about the Spy Museum? You two mocking me? I will not be mocked.”
“Guys' privilege,” Damon said.
“I bet it was about Doctor Coles.” Jannie's voice turned to a squeak as her instincts landed her in exactly the right place. “We like her, Daddy” she said, when I had neither confirmed nor denied her guess.
“Yeah, but you like everyone.” “Guess where I got that from?”
“We need to have her over for dinner,” Nana piped up.
“Just not Tuesday,” Damon told her.
Jannie grinned, and her eyes got wide. "Yeah. Tuesday night is date night. Right, Daddy?
Am I right?"
Mary, Mary
Chapter 1 02
TUESDAY NIGHT WAS A DATE NIGHT with Kayla Coles.
And then so was Thursday At a little past 1:00 in the morning, I was sitting with Kayla on her front porch. We'd been out there talking for at least a couple of hours. Kayla had just recruited me to do some work for the Children's Defense Fund in D.C. She used statistics to make her points - just like Nana did: forty million uninsured in America, a new baby born uninsured every minute of every day Sure I would help - whatever I could do. Even if the circumstances hadn't been what they were.
“What are you doing Saturday?” she asked, Just the question, in her sweet voice, made me smile. “This isn't about the Children's Defense Fund by the way”
“I was hoping you'd come over for one of Nana's home- cooked meals,” I said.
“Don't you need to ask Nana?” I laughed. “It was her idea. Or one of the kids. But Nana's definitely part of the conspiracy She might even be the ringleader of the gang.”
If the universe wanted me to stop dating, its message was getting garbled. All day Saturday, I was a little nervous about Kayla coming over, though. This meant something, didn't it?
Bringing her home - under these circumstances.
“You look good, Daddy,” Jannie said from the door to my room.
I had just rejected a shirt onto the bed and pulled on a black V-neck sweater, which I had to admit looked pretty good. It was a little embarrassing to be caught in the act of preening, though. Jannie invited herself in, flopped down, and watched while I finished up.
“What's going on?” Damon wandered in next and sat be- side Jannie on the bed.
“Anybody ever hear of privacy around here?”
“He getting all handsome for Doctor Kayla. All dudedup and such. I like him in black.”
My back was to them now, and they spoke as if I weren't there, their voices just a little stagy “Think he's nervous?”
“Mm-hm. Probably”
“You think he'll spill something on himself during dinner?”
“Definitely”
I turned on them with a roar and grabbed them both before they could separate and squirm away They exploded into screams of laughter, forgetting, for an instant, that they had outgrown this kind of horseplay I rolled them both around on the bed, going for all the ticklish spots I knew from past tickle fests.
“You're going to get all wrinkly!” Jannie yelled at me. “Dadd-eee! Stop!”
“That's okay” I said. “I'll have to change anyway ... when I spill something on myself!”
I chased them all the way down to the kitchen; then we pitched in to help Nana with the parts that she would let us. Adding a leaf to the dining table. Putting out the good china and new candlesticks.
Nana was showing off a little, maybe a lot. Fine by me; I've got no problem eating her finest. Never have.
After dinner, which was pretty amazing - two herb- roasted chickens with oven fries, asparagus, mesclun salad, and coconut cake - Kayla and I got out of there. We took the Porsche, and I drove out to the Tidal Basin and then up to the Lincoln Memorial. We parked, then strolled the length of the Reflecting Pool. It's a beautiful, tranquil spot at night. For some reason, not too many tourists make it there after sunset.
“Everything was perfect,” she said as we approached the Washington Monument. “Back at your house.”
I laughed. “A little too perfect for my taste. Didn't you think they were trying too hard?”
It was Kayla's turn to laugh. “What can I say? They like me.”
“Three dates in a week. Had to give them ideas.”
Kayla smiled. “Gave me some ideas. Want to hear?”
“Like what? Give me an example, a for-instance.”
“My house isn't far.” “You're a doctor. Must know a lot about human anatomy”
“And you're a psychologist so you know the human psyche, right?”
“Sounds like a lot of fun.”
And it was.
But then the Job got in the way again.
Mary, Mary
Chapter 103
"I'LL BE OUT THERE TOMORROW. That's the best I can do. I'll book a flight to L.A.
right now"
I couldn't believe the words were coming out of my mouth, even as they did.
I had been on the phone with Fred Van Allsburg for less than a couple of minutes, and my response was pretty much automatic, almost as if I'd been programmed to answer in a certain way. What was this, The Manchurian Candidate? What part was I playing? Good guy? Bad guy? Somewhere in between?
I was definitely eager to meet with Mary Wagner again, drawn by curiosity, almost as much as by obligation. The LAPD hadn't been able to get her to talk to them, apparently not for days. So they wanted me to come back to California to consult. And 1 needed to do it - something still bothered me about the murder case, even if Mary was as guilty as she appeared to be.
Of course, I wanted the trip to be as short as possible. In fact, I left everything packed except my toothbrush when I got to the hotel in L.A. It probably helped me feel as though the trip was more temporary.
Anyway, my interview with Mary Wagner was scheduled for ten o'clock the following morning. I thought about callingjamilla, but decided against it, and right then I knew that it was completely over between us. A sad thought, but a true one, and I was sure that we both knew it. Whose fault was it? I didn't know Was it useful or important to try to place blame? Probably not, thought Dr. Cross.
I spent the night going over the past week's reports and transcripts, which Van Allsburg had messengered over to me. According to everything I read, the three children - Brendan, Ashley, and Adam - seemed to be the only thing on Mary's mind.
It made my direction pretty clear. If the children were all that Mary could think about, that's where we'd begin tomorrow morning.
Mary, Mary
Chapter 1 04
______ AT 8:45 IN THE MORNING, I found myself in a different but identical-looking room to the one where I had last interviewed Mary Wagner.
The guard escorted her in exactly on time - almost to the second. I could see right away that several days of interrogation had taken a toll.