Neighborhood Watch (20 page)

“Oh, we’ll let you know, Teddy. You can be sure of that,” she said. “In fact,” she said, thinking, “why don’t you speak to Steven Del Marco and see if you can get him to ease up on Angela.”

“What?” He shook his head. “Not me. If there’s one thing I don’t ever want to do, it’s get involved in someone’s marital problems. No, thank you. I’ve got enough to do with my own.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Teddy?”

“Nothing,” he said quickly. He put up his hands. “Honest.”

She stared at him suspiciously a moment.

“When are you taking your seat on the board, Teddy?”

“Immediately. I’ll be at Thursday’s meeting.”

“Then you’ll also be at the hearing concerning Angela’s formal complaint against the security guards,” she said.

“Yes. I will.”

“Good. I’ll be there, too. As a witness.”

He smiled quizzically.

“A witness?”

“I saw the man break her window, Teddy. I saw him enter the house and I saw them

come strolling out.”

He nodded, a troubled expression on his face.

“Abuse of power is a serious thing. Don’t let them belittle her complaint,” Kristin said.

“I wouldn’t do that,” Teddy said. “I’ll be fair and impartial.”

“We’ll see,” Kristin said.

“Hey. She could be in the wrong here. You be fair and impartial too.”

“Deal,” Kristin said in the tone of a challenge. Teddy sipped his coffee pensively as did Kristin. Suddenly, neither of them was very talkative.

She rose, put the dishes in the dishwasher and then went into the living room and began her very close, critical analysis of the Emerald Lakes CC and R’s.

9

MARILYN KNEW
P
HILIP WAS IN A BAD MOODwhen he slammed the front door

behind him as he entered the house. She sucked in her breath, closed her eyes and

pretended she was light as a cloud, gliding gracefully under a soft blue sky high above Emerald Lakes. While she was safely ensconced in this imaginary world, she could

ignore Philip’s rage and the ugly things he did with his eyes and mouth when he ranted.

She could pretend to be listening without being uncomfortable.

Sometimes, if he paused in his tirade to look at her and really see her as someone to whom he was speaking and not just another place off which to bounce his frustrations, he would sense she wasn’t there. Then he would rage about that and forget his topic for a while until he successfully pulled her down from her cloud. But usually, by then he was emotionally drained and disgusted with her. He would say she didn’t deserve to hear his problems. Don’t bother apologizing.

This evening he came charging into the kitchen with more anger and energy than usual, kicking a chair that was out from the table. His tie was loose and his collar unbuttoned.

He looked like he had been running his fingers through his hair for hours and the creases in his forehead were deeper than usual.

“That woman called me at my office just before the end of the day today to tell me she was confirming she would be present at the special hearing and she would bring a

witness. A witness!”

Marilyn opened the stove to check her roast turkey breast and basted it in its own juices.

“One of our own people is attacking our system and then finding an innocent bystander and involving her. Where is her husband in all this? You would think he would have

learned on which side his bread is buttered by now, wouldn’t you?”

He paused.

Marilyn turned and smiled softly. She and her cloud were over the lake.

“Don’t get yourself so worked up before dinner, Philip,” she advised softly. “You know what havoc that plays with your digestion.”

“What? My digestion? Didn’t you hear what I said? I’ve got to hold a formal hearing over a formal complaint concerning our security system. Our own security system, for crissakes!”

“I’m sure you’ll handle it the way you want and get the result you want,” she said, holding her smile. The calmer she remained, the more furious he grew, the crimson tint flowing up through his neck and cheeks like mercury up a warming thermometer. His

eyes widened, the glint of madness blazing brighter.

“I said,” he hammered, sharpening his consonants and vowels, “she’s bringing a

witness . . . that woman you like so much,” he added and Marilyn winced. She felt some weight added and imagined herself sliding off her cloud and falling slowly to earth, dropping directly into her own house and this very kitchen.

“What woman?” she asked.

“Ted Morris’s wife . . . the dog lady,” he said twisting the corner of his mouth.

“Kristin?”

“Yeah, Kristin. And I have no idea what she’s going to say.”

“About what?” Marilyn asked.

Philip’s face dropped into an expression of incredulity for a moment before returning to a mask of rage.

“Didn’t you hear a word I said? You knew about the formal hearing. I told you about it yesterday, too.”

Marilyn’s eyelids flicked repeatedly as she searched the dark corners of her memory for the information. She had buried it in her mental vaults along with so many other

unpleasant things. What hearing? Who? she wondered. Philip didn’t have the patience to wait for her to recall.

“The damn Del Marco woman,” he reminded her, and she located the information.

“Oh.”

What had complicated it when Philip first told her was her own knowledge. She had seen the entire episode from her vantage point at the window, but she had never told Philip.

Marilyn had also seen Kristin Morris come up the street just as the security guards were emerging from the Del Marcos’ house.

“I never quite understood that, Philip,” she said quietly. “Why did they break into her home and frighten her?”

“They didn’t break into her home to frighten her,” he said through clenched teeth. “They entered the house because they had an alarm indication that the home’s security had been breached.”

“Breached?”

“A burglar!” he roared.

She held her ground but kept her face nonplussed.

“In the daytime?”

“Daytime, nighttime, what difference does it make to thieves?”

“They would be more afraid to break into our homes in the daytime, wouldn’t they?” she asked.

“Normal ones would, but in this day and age, you can’t be too careful.”

“I didn’t see anyone break into the home, Philip. I happened to be looking out the

window when the security guards arrived. I saw one run around to the rear before they even tried the front door.”

He stared at her and waited for her to continue.

“Then another guard went to the front door, but he didn’t even seem to ring a bell. He seemed to have had a door key. Do they have keys to our homes, Philip?”

“NO!” He lifted his arms, his hands folded into tight fists. “That’s what she’s alleging.

You didn’t see any guard open any door with a key and don’t you even think of telling someone in Emerald Lakes such a story, understand?”

“I don’t gossip with the people here, Philip. You know that.”

“I don’t care where you gossip. Tell no one such a story,” he ordered. Then, with

painstaking emphasis, he stepped toward her and recited, “My security people were

worried about Mrs. Del Marco so when they couldn’t get her to open the front door, they broke into the house. That’s the only story you are to know and confirm. Are you clear about that?”

She nodded.

“Okay, Philip,” she said obediently. He simmered down, the crimson tint turning more pinkish than scarlet. “But Philip,” she added when he started to turn away.

“What is it?” he asked, annoyed.

“How did they think the burglar had gotten in if all the doors and windows were

locked?”

He stared at her.

“They didn’t have the time to check each and every window, Marilyn. It was an

emergency. Since when did you become a detective?”

“I just wondered,” she said.

He scrutinized her face and then stepped toward her again.

“Why didn’t you tell me about what you had seen that night?”

“Didn’t I? I thought I had,” she said shaking her head. He smirked. It wasn’t the first time she had a memory lapse and it wouldn’t be the last. It was his particular burden to bear as long as he lived with her.

“Just look after the dinner, will you, Marilyn, and I’ll look after Emerald Lakes. Okay?”

“Okay, Philip.”

“And remember what I said about telling anyone your story. I don’t need my own wife undermining my efforts to make this a perfect place to live.”

She nodded. Satisfied, he left her alone and went to his office to make some phone calls.

By dinnertime, Philip was calmer. He didn’t mention Angela Del Marco and the hearing again. Instead, he talked about the new house and some of the ideas he was developing for its interior design. She listened with enough vague interest to keep him talking. He complimented her on the meal and then went into the living room to catch the early

evening news.

As she cleaned up in the kitchen, she wondered about Kristin Morris coming forward to be a witness for Angela Del Marco. What could she have seen that I hadn’t? she

wondered. More important, did she understand what it would mean to testify for Angela and against the development’s security people? It was the same as testifying against Philip, for he took everything at Emerald Lakes personally. His imprint was on all of it.

Marilyn considered calling Kristin to talk to her about it. She didn’t want to see anything unpleasant happen to Kristin’s family. Their comings and goings had become such an

enjoyable part of the world outside her window.

Marilyn had been sitting at the window the night Sol Feinberg died. Philip was working late in his office. She had been watching television, but she had turned away from the set and gazed at the streets of Emerald Lakes. In fact, she had been the one who first told Philip what was happening. She got up from her seat and hurried back to the office.

Usually, she knocked and waited, but he didn’t respond when she knocked this time, so she opened the door and found him talking softly on the phone. He raised his hand to say she should wait and then he said something so low she couldn’t hear and hung up the phone.

“What’s wrong, Marilyn?” he asked.

“I heard a commotion outside,” she said, “and looked out the window. The security

guards are at the Feinbergs’.”

“Really?” Philip sat a moment and then stood up. He looked very concerned. “Maybe I should go down there,” he said, but before he could step away from the desk, the phone rang and he lifted the receiver. “Hello,” he said and listened. She watched his eyes widen.

“I’ll be right there,” he said and hung up the phone. “You’re right,” he told her.

“Something terrible has happened.”

“What?”

“Sol Feinberg committed suicide. He shot himself,” he said. “What a horrible blight on the reputation of Emerald Lakes,” he added and hurried out, leaving her trembling in the office.

What a horrible blight on the reputation of Emerald Lakes? What about the blight on Elaine Feinberg?

Yes, she thought, she might speak to Kristin Morris without Philip knowing about it.

Teddy pushed back his dinner plate, some of the angel hair pasta with basil and tomato still left.

“I’m stuffed. That was a great salad. I ate too much,” he said.

“That’s all right. I’ll serve the rest for lunch with Angela tomorrow. It’s my turn,” she added taking his plate. Teddy watched her move about the kitchen.

“You and Angela are really going gung-ho at this, huh?”

“Believe it or not, we’re enjoying it. I really think some of this borders on violation of constitutional rights.”

“So we’re going to take the homeowners association to the supreme court, is that it?” he joked.

“You can laugh if you want to, but it’s been done, Teddy. Angela and I were at the library yesterday. They have a pretty good one for a small town, you know.”

“And?”

“We found stories about other homeowner disputes with homeowners associations that

went as high as the state court of appeals. A number of them resulted in the court deciding in the homeowners’ favor.”

Teddy played with his napkin for a moment. Jennifer, who had eaten earlier, was

watching cartoons on the Disney channel with her life-size doll, Baby Walk-Along,

beside her.

“Kristin, the whole idea of living in a community like this,” Teddy said softly, “is to avoid the stress. The goal of the CC and R’s is to prevent arguing and disputes, not stimulate them.”

“Nikki Stanley couldn’t have put it any better, Teddy,” Kristin quipped. He reddened.

“I’m not Nikki Stanley, but I wanted us to move here and so did you,” he reminded her sharply, “because I thought this was a wonderful place to live and raise our family.”

“It is,” she said. “Or rather, it can be. No place is perfect. All Angela and I are doing is pointing out the areas where the homeowners board went too far and, working within the system, asking them to reconsider. Is that so terrible? Well?” she demanded when he hesitated.

“No.”

“But you’re embarrassed by my activity, right, Teddy? Here you were given the honor of the appointment to the homeowners board and your wife is starting a revolution, right?”

“I didn’t say that. I told you I would help rewrite and change anything that was

unreasonable. Don’t forget I argued for the variance with pets.”

“And lost,” she said dryly. “Don’t forget that.”

“The issue is one of the first orders of new business at the next board meeting. I’m going to insist the community have a chance to vote on it.”

“Good,” Kristin said. “So we’re really on the same wavelength?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying, only . . .”

“Only what, Teddy?”

“Don’t go overboard in the other direction and become just as fanatical as Nikki

Stanley.”

“I’ll keep a level head,” she promised. “Okay?”

He nodded, but his smile quickly faded.

“What are you going to say at Angela’s formal hearing?” he asked.