She disappeared and came out with my niece a few minutes later. Hailey had her wild hair pulled back in two pretty braids. It made her look younger and tamed.
“Hello, Hailey. How was your day?”
My eyes darted to Elodie and back, and she smiled as I did what she’d asked—greet Hailey.
I guessed maybe it really wasn’t something I normally did, because my niece’s face wrinkled up in confusion. “Hi, Uncle Hollsy.”
“How was your day today?”
“Uhhh…fine?”
“It wasn’t a trick question.”
“Then why are you acting so weird?”
Elodie chuckled. “Hailey, honey, why don’t you go wash up? Your uncle is going to walk me out, and then you guys can have your dinner. The dish is really hot, so wait for him. Don’t try to serve yourself.”
“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
Hailey sounded nervous that Elodie might not come back.
“Of course. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Elodie waited until Hailey went into the bathroom and then nodded her head toward the front door. “Would you mind walking me out?”
“Sure.”
In the hallway, she pushed the elevator button before turning to me. “If Hailey and I are going to connect, I can’t reveal the things she tells me. Unless, of course, it’s something dangerous.”
“Okay…”
“But maybe…sometimes I can direct you to discover things on your own.”
“What is this about?”
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. “Borrow her laptop. Tell her yours is having an issue or something.”
“Okay, but what for? What am I looking for?”
She stepped into the elevator and reached over to push a button on the panel. “By the way, I’m not always abrasive. Just when I encounter rude people.” The doors started to slide closed, and Elodie flashed a last-minute playful smile. “But I am always hot.”
What the fuck?***I ate half the damn casserole.
And the dinner conversation wasn’t too bad either. While normally Hailey complained about everything and everyone she’d encountered during the day, tonight she couldn’t stop talking about the new sitter.
“Did you know Elodie likes to paint?”
“No, I didn’t. But that’s great. You two have a lot in common then.”
“She was married, you know.”
“Yes, I did know that.”
“Her husband was an art professor. They went to Paris on their honeymoon, and she went to the Louvre.”
“An art professor, huh?” Now that I didn’t know, and definitely not what I would have expected.
“She’s going to take me to MOMA during summer break.”
“I think that’s a great idea.”
The twenty-minute conversation we had over dinner might have been the best twenty minutes I’d spent with her since she showed up on my doorstep two months ago. Hailey even helped clean up and load the dishwasher, and after, we watched a little TV together.
By nine thirty, she was starting to fall asleep on the couch.
“Hey, kiddo. Why don’t you go get ready for bed?”
She yawned. “Okay.”
I gave her a little time to use the bathroom, and then knocked before opening her door. She was already in bed, but the light was still on.
“You want the light off?”
“Yeah.”
I went to hit the light switch, and my eyes landed on the dresser along the same wall. The laptop I’d given Hailey was sitting on top, and I remembered what Elodie had said.
“Ummm… Do you mind if I borrow your laptop? I forgot mine at the office and need to write a few emails.”
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” I took it and felt a miniscule amount of guilt for lying when she’d been so nice all night. “Goodnight, Hailey.”
“Goodnight, Uncle Hollis.”
I went into my home office and poured two fingers of scotch. Settling into my chair, I opened the laptop and started to poke around. Nothing looked unusual. Then again, I had no idea what the hell I was looking for. Elodie hadn’t given me any direction. I opened Word and checked what documents had been recently used, and then checked the Internet search history. Nothing odd. I was just about to give up when I decided to go into the applications folder and see if anything new had been installed.
Bingo.
What the hell?
The call-monitoring software I’d installed on her cell and my laptop was also on her computer, and I sure as shit hadn’t put it there. I clicked and noted the time of the latest sign in—last night at nine thirty.
Fuck me.
I shut my eyes and shook my head. I’d been on the phone with Lucas, a buddy of mine. The last thing Elodie had said before the elevator doors closed—about her being abrasive and hot—made sense now. Because that’s exactly what I’d told Lucas about the new damn nanny.***Damn. I took a deep whiff. I was going to need to add some cardio to my exercise routine if this cooking shit kept up. I walked into the dining room and found Elodie and Hailey playing Scrabble.
“What did you make tonight?”
Elodie looked at me and waited.
What was her problem?
Oh. Shit. Fine.