"Desmond Tutu."
"That's what I said."
I shook my head. "First of all, Rachel's husband, Sam, was cheating on her. Second, she's not homeless. She owns this entire building, and could buy three more just like it. And third, she wouldn't know Desmond Tutu if he walked in wearing one. You're exaggerating again, Nadine."
"Maybe so. But you can't deny your part in all this."
"My part is I saved Rachel."
"From?"
I started to speak, but caught myself. This wasn't just me and Nadine sitting around, having a discussion about Rachel. She was probing me, pushing for a reaction. She was on the clock and I was being psychoanalyzed.
"Why don't you tell me how you see it?" I said.
She lifted an eyebrow. "I wouldn't want to say anything that might cost me my job."
"I've never known you to hold back an opinion."
She sighed. "I'm getting older, Donovan."
"You'll outlive us all."
"You, certainly. But I need to think of my future. Like my age, the cost of living continues to advance. I hate to think what might happen if I'm forced out onto the street at my age."
I laughed. "Nadine, you're a scary old miser. You're hoarding more than ten million dollars I personally know about, though I'm certain it's at least twice that, since I've never known you to pull so much as a penny from your purse. But please, speak freely. Your job is safe as long as Rachel wants you here."
"Well, that's comforting. Rachel's a dear girl, and despite my meager wages, it's clear she needs me. Though I do worry about the two of you running off to start another crime spree."
"Oh, come on, Nadine. Rachel and I are great together."
"Oh, posh."
"Posh? Care to elaborate?"
"I dare not. Your fragmented identity poses an ever-present threat to my safety. I enjoy living these days, and I'd like to keep doing it awhile longer."
"You think I have it in me to kill you for expressing an opinion?"
"I do."
"Nadine, I'm shocked."
"You probably killed someone on the drive over here."
"Let's get back on subject," I said.
Nadine stood and walked to the small refrigerator on the other side of her office.
"Care for a bottled water?" she said.
"No thanks, I'm good."
She pulled out a single plastic bottle of water and handed it to me. It took me a moment to realize why.
"Arthritis acting up?"
Nadine shrugged. "We all have our weakness."
I twisted the cap open and handed the bottle back to her. "What's my weakness?"
"Simple. Rachel."
I thought about that a moment before saying, "How do you drink when I'm not here? Does Rachel open your bottles?"
She returned to her seat and took a sip. "I've got a special gripping thing I use."
We were quiet a moment.
"You really think Rachel's condition is my fault?"
Nadine said nothing.
"You can't deny she makes me a better person when we're together," I said.
She sipped her water. "You're old enough to be her father."
I waited.
"Fine," she said. "I won't deny it."
"Then what's the problem?"
"She brings out the best in you, even as you bring out the worst in her. But make no mistake, Donovan, you're a bad influence. The two of you were together for what, eight weeks this last time? And she killed a man?"
"She thought she was protecting me."
"Oh, please."
We were quiet again while Nadine sipped her water.
"How's Rachel now?" I asked.
Nadine shook her head while extending her palms in a gesture of frustration.
"She's like Starbucks," she said.
"Starbucks coffee?"
"Yeah."
"What do you mean?"
"She's all over the place."
"Can you be more specific?"
"She's nuts!"
I frowned. "I thought you guys were opposed to that type of reference. You can't come up with any four-dollar words?"
"I keep my audience in mind before using technical terms."
"Funny."
"Look, Donovan, I know this is hard for you to believe, so let's take a stroll down memory lane. You didn't meet Rachel in a conventional way, did you?"
"Not really."
"In fact, you broke into her house and began living in her attic."
"To keep an eye on her husband."
"You remained there for two years."
"I'm thorough."
"You were fixated on Rachel."
"I wouldn't say fixated."
"Of course you wouldn't. But come on, Donovan. You built an elite video command center in her attic. You placed more than forty pinhole cameras throughout her house. From the garage to the bedroom to the toilet, you studied her every move, day and night. You invaded her privacy in the most personal and banal ways imaginable. It's perverted."
"You're making assumptions about my character and choice of viewing habits based on nothing more than the location of forty pinhole cameras."
Nadine studied me a moment, as if trying to decide whether I'd been angry, indignant, or simply making a point.
"Perhaps I am," she said.
"At any rate, watching Rachel didn't make her crazy. She didn't even know I was there."
"No she didn't. Until you told her."
"By then we were dating. I was being honest with her. You got a problem with honesty?"
"You gathered all this information about her-everything from her medications to her monthly cycle, to her arguments with Sam-and used it to seduce her."
"We were in love."
"You might have been in love, but for her it was complete and utter manipulation. To this day she waves to you in the ceiling of every room she enters. How would that make you feel to think someone was watching your every move?"
"Protected?"
Nadine sighed. "You're hopeless."
"Watching her didn't make her crazy."
She took another long drink of water. "It contributed. Of course, locking her away in a Lucite container, allowing her to think she could be killed at any moment, didn't help things."
"It was only two days. Anyway, I took her on vacation afterward."
"Mighty big of you, taking her to the beach after robbing and killing her husband."
"I didn't kill Sam."
"Really? So we can expect him to come waltzing in here someday? That's something I'd like to see."
"You like a good waltz, do you?"
She finished her water, then capped the empty bottle and placed it sideways on the table between us and flicked one end. It spun a few circles and came to a stop. She spun the bottle a few more times until it pointed at me. "I suppose you'll want to see her now?"
"Being such a bad influence, I'm surprised you'd permit it."
"What can I say? You sign my checks."
Chapter 10
" Kevin! Oh, my God! "
Rachel had been lying on her bed when I came in. Now she jumped up and ran across the room and started hugging me so hard I nearly dropped her present.
"Hi honey," I said.
"You came to get me?"
"I came to visit."
She lifted her T-shirt all the way up to her neck. "Wanna feel my boobies?"
I did. But I doubted Nadine would approve.
"Later, maybe."
Rachel released her grip and her shirt fell back in place, ending the show like a Broadway curtain ends Act Three.
"You brought me an orchid plant!"
"White orchids still your favorite?"
"You know they are!"
"Then yes, I brought you an orchid plant."
"I love it! How long are you staying?"
"Not long enough."
"When you leave, can I go with you?"
"Of course. If that's what you want."
"What I want is a big kiss!"
I placed the orchid on the coffee table in her sitting area and we kissed like newlyweds. After awhile she took my hand and led me to the edge of her bed, where we sat.