Look Closely - Laura Caldwell [86]
I put my hand on the front door, saying a silent I’m sorry. I opened the door then and ran down the street, the persistent warning bleat of the alarm following me.
20
“I’m here to see Madeline Kennedy,” I said to the doorman.
“Name, please.”
“Hailey Sutter.” I smoothed my hair, trying to look composed, trying not to sound out of breath, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being chased.
I had called Maddy from the car, and once again, she didn’t answer her cell or her home phone. I was desperate to talk to someone. I actually called Ty at Long Beach Inn, but got only a night receptionist, and finally I’d come to Maddy’s apartment on Eighty-sixth and Lexington, hoping that she would come home sometime tonight.
The doorman dialed the house phone. He listened for a few moments. “Ms. Kennedy,” he said. “There’s a visitor here for you. Ms. Sutter.” A pause. “I’ll send her right up.”
Maddy opened the door in her pajamas. Her dark curly hair was wet, her cheeks flushed, and she had an unmistakable glow. “Hey!” she said.
I stepped into her apartment. “Did you just have sex?”
She winked. “He just left.”
“Well,” I said. “At least one of us is having fun these days.”
“Oh, yes, I’m having fun.” She gave me a hug. “But I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.”
“New relationship. I understand.”
“I’m glad you came over, because I have those sandals I bought you at Saks. But what are you doing here on a Sunday night?”
The main area of Maddy’s apartment was shaped like a long, rectangular box. The kitchen, which was at the far end, was inexplicably bigger than the minuscule living room, and yet the kitchen was cold and impersonal with its black-and-white tiles and white paint layered a thousand times over. Maddy’s bedroom, on the other hand, was the coziest room in the place, the one where we always hung out. She led me in there now, and I curled up on the overstuffed chair she had in the corner. She stood at the mirror over her bureau, combing gel into her long curls. In the center of the room, her ivory sheets were twisted and shoved aside.
“I think I’m going crazy over this stuff with my mom,” I told her. “I don’t know if I’m paranoid or smart or just a complete freak.”
“I vote for freak,” she said, smiling in the mirror.
“Thanks. Do you have any wine?”
“Sorry. Grant and I finished the last bottle.” She grinned again, and I was happy to see her so content. “Now, tell me what happened,” she said.
“Oh, God, Maddy, I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. This whole thing is making me insane. I’m not even sure that there’s anything to find out, but I’m running around like a nutcase. I even broke into my dad’s place today.”
“What?” She spun around from the mirror. “What happened?”
I told her about New Mexico and about Annie. I told her how my niece seemed to be clinging to my mind. And I told her about the police records, my visit to Crestwood Home, and finally my covert trip to my dad’s house and the New Orleans phone number I found there.
“Wow, hon,” Maddy said. “You’ve got to take a step back. I mean, I was all for New Mexico and everything, but sneaking into your dad’s, and running out without talking to him? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking that he knows something!” My voice got loud. “He definitely knows something and not only won’t he tell me, he’ll hide it.” I dropped my forehead onto my hands. “God, I’ve got a headache.”
“I’ll get you some aspirin.” Maddy went around the corner into her bathroom. “Have you called that New Orleans number again?” she called out.
“Not yet.” I rubbed my head some more, and then reached out and began playing