Neighborhood Watch (25 page)

“It would appear so.”

“But you’re not convinced?” Kristin asked quickly.

“Honey, they’ve just begun. You can’t expect them to reach conclusions so quickly,”

Teddy said. “Take it easy.”

“We always question the obvious, Mrs. Morris,” Kurosaka said. He nodded. “I’m sure

you’ll agree that’s a good quality for a detective. Thank you. I’ll speak with you again,”

he said and left.

“How do you like that,” Teddy said, “an inscrutable Oriental detective working for our police? This place is more cosmopolitan than we thought.” He tried a smile, but Kristin just stood thinking.

“Why would some psychotic row across the lake to invade our complex and attack and

rape one of our residents, and then steal Angela’s papers with our CC and R’s, Teddy?”

“When you’re dealing with such a disturbed person, honey, logic and reason don’t apply.

Let’s leave the police work to our criminologists,” he said. “Come on. Let’s get started and do what we have to do.”

“I saw her leave with the papers, Teddy. And you see they’re not here!”

“Okay. I believe you,” he said. “I’m sure they’ll turn up somewhere.” She didn’t move.

“Kristin?”

“What? Oh.”

Kristin snapped out of her deep thoughts and hurried to get Teddy and Jennifer off, and go over to the Del Marcos’. When she arrived, she was surprised to find Jean and Nikki already there. Jean opened the door for her.

“Hi. We came over early. I baked some cupcakes for the boys,” Jean said.

Nikki emerged from the kitchen.

“We’ve already seen to their breakfast,” she declared.

“I got here as soon as I could. I—”

“That’s all right. You were right in the thick of it last night. You must be a mess yourself,” Jean said. “And you’re pregnant.”

“We didn’t want anything to happen to you, too,” Nikki added.

“What do you mean?”

“Your pregnancy, what else?” Nikki replied.

“I’m all right,” Kristin said quickly.

“Nikki and I felt we just had to do something, too. The poor dears.”

“Where’s Steven?”

“He’s resting. He finally took something to help himself rest,” Jean whispered.

“Well, now that you’re here and you appear all right,” Nikki said, wiping her hands on a dish towel, “I’ll be going.”

“There’s going to be an emergency meeting of the homeowners tonight,” Jean revealed.

“Teddy didn’t say anything about it,” Kristin said, turning to Nikki.

“Philip will call him at work,” Nikki replied. “He wasn’t sure of the time yet. The boys are still in their pajamas. I thought it was best we get them to eat something first.” She opened the door. “If you should need me, I’ll be working at home most of the day,” she added, directing herself more to Jean. Then she left.

“Nikki’s taking this very badly,” Jean said, looking after her. “She wants the security people raked over the coals. She says we should even think about finding another

company.”

“Really?”

“Nikki thinks they’ve become lackadaisical because we haven’t had a single real

problem since the development was started. She says they’ve even skipped her house for door checks. She had an unlocked door a few days ago and the night security never told her.”

“Somehow,” Kristin said, “I can’t imagine Nikki leaving a door unlocked.”

“Oh, it was done deliberately. Just to check on the security,” Jean explained and smiled.

“Nikki’s always checking up on them. She takes her position as the head of the

Neighborhood Watch very seriously. She says you can never be too safe,” Jean recited.

“I guess not. Let’s see about the boys.”

The two of them remained until Steven and Angela Del Marco’s family began to arrive.

Steven’s sister took charge of the boys and Steven’s brother got him up and dressed. He thanked Jean and Kristin for their help and they left, both glad to leave the house of heavy mourning.

“The sun is out and it’s a beautiful day,” Jean said as they walked toward their own homes, “but I feel like there’s a dark, heavy cloud over us. Don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What are you going to do today?”

“I don’t know. Rest for a while, I guess.”

“You want to have lunch with me? I just don’t feel much like being alone and Nikki is terrible company right now.”

“Sure,” Kristin said, smiling.

Actually, she was grateful for the distraction. Her flighty friend talked nonstop from the beginning of lunch into the mid-afternoon, her nervous tension giving her the fuel to take Kristin on a journey through her biography, the history of her marriage, and the latest in fashions and recipes. The interruption came when Nikki called with a request.

“She wants me to call my people,” Jean revealed after she hung up.

“Your people?”

“The phone chain. I’ve got ten. You’re one of them, so I don’t have to call you. The emergency meeting is tonight at eight at Phil Slater’s house. Development baby-sitters are available free of charge to anyone who needs one. It’s part of the emergency

procedure.”

“There’s an emergency procedure?”

“Oh, yes,” Jean said with a thin laugh. “It’s a supplement to the directory. Didn’t you notice?”

“Somehow I must have missed it.”

“Nikki designed it herself. With the board’s approval, of course. You can reserve one of the four-star girls if you want. We’ll call right now.”

“That’s all right. I’ll use the girl I had. She was four star as far as I was concerned.”

“Oh, that’s right. I promised Nikki I’d have you fill out one of these evaluation forms.”

Jean went to the den and returned with a paper.

“Was she on time? How was she dressed, including every aspect of her appearance? Did she leave the house as she found it? Was there any evidence of anyone else being there?”

“All right. I get the idea,” Kristin said. She filled it out quickly and then went home.

Minutes afterward, Teddy called to tell her about the meeting at eight.

“I already know. I was with Jean when Nikki told her to call her people on the phone chain. I have a baby-sitter lined up, too.”

“Very efficient.”

“It’s part of the emergency procedure. As a member of the homeowners board, you

should know that, Teddy,” she said. She couldn’t help being cranky. Her back had started aching again, but she wouldn’t dare mention it.

“Right. How are things at the Del Marcos’?”

“Thankfully there is a crowd of relatives, with more arriving every moment. The boys are in a daze.”

“My last appointment is at three. I’ll come right home afterward. You better rest a little, honey.”

“I will,” she promised and she did go to lie down. Moments after her head hit the pillow, she was asleep and she slept so deeply, she never heard Jennifer return from school. She felt her shaking her shoulder and woke with a start.

“Jen!” She sat up quickly and wiped her eyes. “What time is it?”

“Mommy.”

“What’s the matter, honey?” she asked swinging her legs off the bed. Jennifer looked terrified.

“Graham said we can’t go out after dark anymore. He said there’s a monster in the

woods who grabs you.”

“Oh, there’s no monster here, honey. At least, not in the woods,” she added.

“He said his mother said so. Heather says so, too.”

“They’re wrong, honey. They’re just being . . . stupid. Besides, you don’t go out alone at night anyway, do you? So you don’t have to be afraid. Okay, sweetheart?”

Jennifer nodded, but Kristin could see her daughter was well on the road to Nightmare, U.S.A.

“Damn that Nikki Stanley. She’ll have us living like cavemen,” Kristin muttered. When Teddy arrived, she told him how the Stanley children were terrifying all the other kids in the development. He didn’t seem very upset. “Doesn’t it bother you?” she demanded.

“I don’t like Jennifer having nightmares about where we live, of course, but a little fear is a good thing, honey. It makes us more careful, don’t you think?”

“No,” Kristin responded sharply. “And I’m surprised you do. Fear doesn’t make us more careful; it makes us weaker, more vulnerable. People like Nikki Stanley feed off it,” she added. He could see how close Kristin was to becoming hysterical.

“Take it easy, honey. Don’t get yourself so upset.”

“Don’t get so upset?”

“You know what I mean.”

She stared at him.

“You still think somehow the miscarriage was my fault, don’t you, Teddy?”

“Of course not. I never said that.”

“You thought I was too active, too arrogant about my capabilities while I was pregnant, right?”

“Kristin, don’t.”

“Don’t what? Have an opinion? You want me to sit in our house like some bird in a

nest?”

“I’ve got to be at Phil Slater’s at seven for our executive session,” he said. “I need a hot shower.” He retreated quickly, leaving her fuming. After a few minutes, however, she was no longer sure why, and guiltily ascribed it to her condition. It was unfair to take it out on Teddy, she thought. But at dinner that night she was fighting with Teddy again.

Whatever was gnawing away inside her, reared its ugly head once more.

“You don’t have to come to this meeting, Kristin. Everyone will understand. You and I were the last to see Angela alive. It’s pretty traumatic.”

“I’m not an invalid, Teddy.”

“I didn’t say you were, honey.”

“I’m all right. Besides, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I can’t wait to see what new ideas Nikki Stanley and Phil Slater have developed.”

“Just give them a chance,” he said. She understood what his real fears were.

“Don’t worry, Teddy. I’ll keep my mouth shut and I won’t embarrass you.”

“I didn’t mean that,” he said defensively, but she got up from the table and drowned out his protest with clanking dishes and pans until he finally got up and left.

The emergency meeting was held in the Slater’s finished basement. Phil and his

committee sat at a table facing the residents who had been provided with metal folding chairs. The few general assembly meetings held since the development homeowners

association had begun had been held here. After it was clear that everyone who was

attending had come, Marilyn Slater closed the basement door, came down the stairs and took a seat in the rear.

Kristin sat up front next to Arlene Hoffman. Doctor Hoffman was at the hospital

delivering a baby.

“He was disappointed when he got the call right in the middle of our dinner. He wanted to be here tonight,” she told Kristin.

Phil Slater tapped a gavel and Nikki read off the list of residents. The turnout for the emergency meeting was heavy. Only two residents besides Steven Del Marco were

missing, and that was because they had airplane flights they had to make. Even so, Nikki Stanley made a point of pausing after each of their names and letting the silence linger until someone shouted the reason for their absence, even though she knew.

When she was finished, Philip Slater sat forward. Everyone looked very somber. Even Vincent McShane was sitting up straight.

“I’m sure most of us would give a great deal not to have to be here tonight under these circumstances,” he began. “As you all know, the security of the residents and their homes at Emerald Lakes has been a top priority. When I originally envisioned a luxury housing development situated on this prime property with this beautiful lake, I concentrated on ways to make it as safe as possible because in our day and age, safety and security are in direct proportion to real estate value. The exact house in an ungated area without security guards would be worth fifty percent less these days.

“However, an old truth has reared its ugly head,” he said. “Willie Sutton, the famous bank robber, was once asked, ‘Why do you rob banks?’ He replied, ‘Because that’s where the money is.’

“Why would someone invade our development and attack one of our residents? Well, of course the police are still investigating, but my guess is he was here because, in the minds of most people in our area, this is the most desirable place to live and therefore attracts the more affluent. It’s where the money is. Angela Del Marco unfortunately was out there last night just as a would-be burglar or mugger made an entrance onto our property from the one direction we could not secure—the lake. Angela Del Marco confronted him and you all know the rest.

“Your executive board has met in executive session, and has some recommendations to make and a solution to propose. By the way, I’d like to introduce Doctor Theodore

Morris, our newest resident, who has accepted appointment to the board to complete the term of Larry Sommers. Doctor Morris.”

Teddy nodded as the residents clapped. He gazed at Kristin who offered him a tight

smile.

“I will turn the meeting over to the chairman of the Neighborhood Watch committee,

Nikki Stanley,” Philip Slater said and sat back.

“Thank you, Philip,” Nikki began. She pulled her shoulders back and fixed her eyes

intently on the audience. “It’s most natural to ask, where were our expensive security guards while all this was taking place? Concerned about that, I met with the company and discussed their activities here. As you know, we pay for one guard to man the north gate and another to man the south gate, which is the gate used for deliveries. Since deliveries end at six, that gate is unmanned but locked. There is a guard on duty twenty-four hours at the north gate. The security company provides us with car patrols four times a day, once in the daylight hours and three times from six o’clock to dawn. The patrols vary so that anyone watching our development wouldn’t be able to predict when they would

appear and anticipate them.

“At eleven-thirty every night, the security guard at the gate is relieved for about an hour so he can make door checks. There have been some problems with them forgetting door checks occasionally, and I have spoken with the security company and been assured they will be corrected,” she added.

“Now, this is a very expensive service for us. It does serve its purpose and I would be the last to suggest we end it, but what last night illustrates painfully to us is that we don’t have enough protection. I believe we have to supplement what we do have, so would-be thieves and other criminals will know we’re more difficult to invade.