She held out her hand—the right, not the left one that felt as if he’d broken something inside her wrist. “Give me the information.”
“First I want Cooper’s folder. With the picture.”
Makay had to go back inside for both the manila folder and the picture of Cooper. Lenny normally gave her folders containing basic information about the adopted child and the target birth parent up to a week in advance of a pickup, but he never gave her the picture or the target’s name until right before she set off for the location. Over the years, she’d thought about copying the information from the folders for some undefined future use, but it was just too much wasted time and money, neither of which she could afford.
Taking the folder, Lenny checked to see that the picture was inside before picking up his briefcase and opening it. In went the folder and the envelope she’d given him with the two thousand and out came another manila folder. Everything she might need to know so she could pretend to be the birth child of the next target.
“It better not be a kid again,” she said. Six months ago, Lenny’s target had been a father who’d had an affair eighteen years earlier. She’d felt sure the man would take one look at her and ask for ID. Thankfully, he’d been one of the guilty ones whose other children were grown enough to make her seem young. She’d tucked away the extra hundred he’d put in the envelope without telling Lenny. Her entire profit on that deal had paid Nate’s doctor bill after a fall on the school playground. The blackmailing dry spell that followed wasn’t unusual—the jobs tended to come in spurts—but her relief at not hearing from Lenny had been one more clue that she should get out of the business altogether. She’d actually begun hoping he had forgotten about her until tuition came due and she had no way to pay. He’d called the next day. Lenny seemed to have an uncanny ability to know when she needed cash.
Of course, she always needed cash.
“Actually, the girl is just your age.” Lenny hesitated. “And she’s a real client. Been looking for her parents a long time. Haven’t told her yet.”
Makay felt sorry for her, whoever she was. Maybe Lenny was right that it was better to tell the child she wasn’t wanted than to let her find out for herself when she contacted her parents.
“When?” she asked him, not opening the folder.
“Not until next week at least. Just have it memorized. I’ll let you know.”
“Call me. Don’t come here. I can go to Albertsons when we need to meet.”
“Okay, but don’t get smart on this one. I’ll be watching.” He turned on his heel and strode away, looking for all the world like a gangster from a bad movie.
A short gangster,
she added, but the thought didn’t amuse her as it once might have. Maybe it was the pain in her wrist or the fear in her heart. If it weren’t for Nate and school, she’d pick up and leave the state, go so far Lenny would never find her. Maybe she’d still have to do just that.
She twisted the door handle, forgetting her sore wrist until pain zipped up her arm. Tears came, but she pushed them back.
“What took you so long?” Nate said as she walked into his view. He wiped his greasy hands on his pants.
She grabbed his fingers and cleaned them with the dishrag. “Sorry. You done here? Why don’t we go read a story? It’s almost bedtime.”
“Aren’t you going to eat?”
“Maybe later. I’m not so hungry right now.”
“Okay.” He jumped obediently off the bar stool. “So who was at the door? Did they give you food? Because you were starving earlier.”
She ruffled his hair. “Nope, no food. And it was no one important. But tell you what. If you get your pajamas on quickly, I’ll make us some popcorn to eat in bed.”
Five minutes later Makay was reading to Nate as they sat snuggled together on the queen-sized mattress that lay on the floor in a corner of the small bedroom. A fur blanket with a wolf picture kept Nate a little too hot as they read
The Cat in the Hat
and
Bedtime at the Swamp,
Nate’s two favorite picture books, but Makay felt warm for the first time that day. It helped to have Snoop lying on her feet.
On her third time through the books, Nate dropped off and she stopped reading. She stroked his cheek before pulling her arm out from under him. “Good night, little man.” At moments like these it was all worth it, worth everything she had to do to keep him healthy and safe.
She’d once had a twin mattress for him next to hers, but he’d never stayed in it, so she’d put it behind the couch where it would be out of the way. Maybe when they moved to a better place they could set it up again. Maybe he’d be ready. For right now she’d given up trying to force him.
She glanced at the manila folder poking over the edge of the dresser. She should look at the information now, but she couldn’t bear it. How much would this require from her? Most of the time it was only the pickup, but sometimes their targets wanted proof and she also had to talk to them on the phone or meet them in person once before the final payment. She hoped that wasn’t necessary this time. Still, Lenny would expect her to be ready. Even the times when she’d had to do a little more playacting, the pay per hour far exceeded anything she could earn on her own, but where she used to feel justified in taking money from people who had dark secrets, she had begun seeing things differently the past few years. She wanted to pull her weight in the world, not leech off others as their target today had accused her of doing.
The folder could wait, at least until morning. She tucked the wolf blanket around Nate’s sleeping form. The child was a cover hog, and she’d learned the only way to sleep well was to make sure he had his own blanket. She wrapped herself in another fur blanket before retrieving her math book from the side of the mattress. Tomorrow she had a test—for real this time—that she planned to take after dropping Nate off at school. Fortunately, math was one of her better subjects.
She dozed off before she’d finished reading the chapter.
Almost immediately, she awoke, heart pounding and freezing darkness all around. Why was it so cold? Reaching out a hand, she felt the surface of a tube slide. Even with the sleeping bag it was cold, and she wished she could go back to her dad’s and crash on the couch. But he and Fern would probably be passed out there, and she didn’t dare sleep in their room. That would make Fern angry. Better to wait until early morning, sneak in and grab a clean shirt and maybe a couple of slices of bread before heading to school. She’d arrive early, but it would be warm inside and she had a bit of English homework to finish anyway.
A cool wind whistled as it hurtled down the tube slide. She could hear the leaves of the trees shaking. Or was it that man she’d seen earlier? He didn’t know she was here, did he? She wrapped her arms around herself and tried not to shiver.
Makay’s eyes flew open. She saw not darkness but the light of her second-hand lamp slicing weakly through the room. The math book had fallen to the floor, but Nate slept peacefully nearby.
Only a dream,
she thought. But it was more a memory, one she wished she could forget. There had been no man in the trees that particular night, but that hadn’t stopped her from imagining him during the winter she’d camped out at that park.
She turned off the light and pulled up the blanket, scooting closer to Nate. Even after her shivering stopped, sleep didn’t take her. Every creak in the apartment or faint sound reaching through the thin walls made her tense.
Because of Lenny,
she thought.
I have to do something about him.
The helplessness she felt about her situation with Lenny brought back the memories of those other times she’d been alone and powerless.
Her stomach growled. Had she ever eaten? Only a little popcorn.
Pushing off the blanket, Makay turned on the light again and went to the dresser. Maybe she wasn’t powerless, not if she could prove Lenny was involved in the scams, maybe even discover his real name. Had he used tangible information about himself and his business on his website? If so, she might be able to connect the information back to his clients and from there to his scams. Then she could blackmail
him
into letting her go.
Flipping through the handwritten pages, she found what she was looking for. He’d already dropped a note on the target and would be waiting for a reply before going further. Well, whoever he was stalking, she’d somehow find out where the notes were being exchanged and arrange to be there—and this time she’d be the one making a nice sweet file that would become her insurance.
Feeling better than she had all day, Makay went to the kitchen, opened the fridge, and downed a slice of cold pizza before returning to bed. This time she dropped into a deep, thankfully dreamless sleep.
Chapter Four
T
he doorbell rang while Nate was eating breakfast the next morning, and when Makay opened the door, her neighbors Janice and Ted stood there with plastic grocery sacks in their wrinkled hands. Makay hurried to put Snoop out on the balcony. He no longer growled at them, which meant they were in danger of being knocked off their feet by his friendly snuffling.
“Grandkids are coming over,” Janice said. “Do you have any of that cereal they like?” She was a tall woman with wide shoulders and dark splotches on her face and hands that contrasted sharply with her white hair and pale skin. Too much sun as a child, she’d told Makay. She was the reason Makay had started using sunscreen every day.
“Just got some yesterday. What about chili? I have more of that.”
“Good idea. They can have it for dinner.” Janice made a face. “Don’t like the stuff myself, but they seem to.”
“What about toothpaste and denture adhesive?” Makay went to her cupboard and began taking items down. “And I have cake mixes and frosting. Want to make them a cake?”
“I need the adhesive,” Ted said stretching his mouth wide to show false teeth that seemed stark white against the ebony color of his skin. “And what about some of that hair dye? You got any more?” He bent his tall frame over to show her the top of his close-cropped hair. “Just got it cut, but the gray is coming back.” Ted might be in his late seventies, but he was quite a ladies’ man in the building, attracting even those who were decades younger. Despite this, he seemed to prefer the company of Janice, and Makay suspected it was because she liked to read the same books he did. Janice wasn’t much of a cook, though, and that’s where the other ladies came in.
When the two older people had left, Makay had eighteen dollars, ten of which was profit. She tucked the cash into her wallet. She’d need it in the gas tank today so she could start her file on Lenny.
“Ready?” she asked Nate.
He nodded, lifting his bowl to drink the last bit of milk. “Just need to get Snoop some water.”
“I already did. But you can let him in from the balcony.”
Checking to make sure the bedroom door was shut and thus protected from the dog’s snooping, Makay grabbed the manila folder and both their backpacks before giving Nate a final inspection. “Nope,” she said, shaking her head. “Sorry, but you can’t wear those jeans again before I wash them. You must have gotten something on them in the barn yesterday.”
Nate sighed, drooping his shoulders and looking at her with wide, pleading eyes. But she turned him around and pushed him toward the bedroom. While she wasn’t a clean freak, she was careful how she let Nate dress, especially at school. So his wardrobe was double the size of hers—and a lot newer. She didn’t mind. Clothes, she’d decided a long time ago, were just something to cover your nakedness. Some people might see dressing well as a status symbol, but in the end it served the same purpose as her favorite jeans with the hole in the knee.
As she drove Nate to school, she caught him staring at her left hand as it gripped the top of the steering wheel. “What happened?” he asked. “Did you drop something on your hand?” That was how he’d bruised his foot, toppling over a stack of books at school.
Makay rubbed the bruise that circled her wrist, before pulling down the sleeve of her navy sweatshirt. “Hmm, maybe it was the cans yesterday.” She hated lying to him, but she would not let Lenny frighten him. Not even if it killed her.
“Oh, yeah,” he said, the furrow on his brow easing. “Those cans are heavy. Remember when I dropped one on Snoop and he squawked? Poor dog.”
It had been more Snoop’s fault than Nate’s, but he loved the dog blindly and believed the creature could do no wrong.
“Okay, looks like you’re not going to be late.” Makay brought the Sebring to a stop outside the school. “Want me to come in with you?”
Nate rolled his eyes. “I’m not a baby.”
“Of course not.”
He reached over, his arm going around her neck as he kissed her cheek. “I still love you,” he whispered.
“I love you, too, squirt.” As he climbed out of the car, she called after him, “We need to get you a haircut tomorrow. It’s Saturday. Don’t forget.”
He waved without really looking around. She watched him saunter up the sidewalk and fall into step with another child. How long would it be before he no longer wanted to kiss her goodbye? She hoped a long, long time.
Her next stop was Mesa Community College, where she would take her test and use the library to begin her investigation on Lenny. She didn’t have a lot of time since she was supposed to be at IHOP at eleven for several hours of training on her new job. She was already wearing the required black pants, and the striped shirts they’d given her were still in the trunk of her car.
She arrived at the school before nine and completed her test twenty minutes later. The male student who handed over her test score gave her a once-over that almost made her laugh out loud. He was all of twenty, if that, and just looking at him made her feel old. Had she even combed her hair today? Yes . . . er, maybe. She hurried away before he could ask for her phone number. A romantic relationship with a man so young was the last thing she was looking for; she already had one little boy to look after.
Due to her lack of studying last night, she only received a ninety on the test, but even that should be an A grade once her teacher threw out a few questions the other students always contested.