Willow Pond Read Free Page B

personal life and my family's.”
    “Or else what?”
    “You'll pay the consequences.”
    “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?” Rudy asked, unimpressed by the threat.
    “Who?”
    “Your niece. I see that worried look in your eyes whenever anyone mentions Laura.”
    “So now you’re interested in my niece. What’s going on, Rudy?”
    He shrugged. “I’ve never met her.”
    Virginia glanced at him sideways, then shifted the clock on her bedside table so she could see it. “We have to get moving.”
     
    ***
     
    When Rudy heard the bathroom door close behind her, he slid open her bedside table drawer. It was empty apart from scattered Q-tips, a box of toothpicks and a razor. Kneeling down, he peered under the bed, then pulled out the large box there. Inside were six neatly folded cashmere sweaters.
    He was about to get up off his knees when he realized the bath water had stopped running. She hadn’t had time to fill the tub. He made a mad dash for the chaise lounge, then heard the click of a closet door. A few seconds later, the bath water was running again.
    She probably had two address books, he figured. One for family and friends, and one the cops would love to get a hold of. He walked around the room trying to get a feel for where the mysterious books might be. She had two mahogany dressers, and he opened the bottom drawer of the taller of the two, then smiled when he saw the picture album. He flipped open the first couple of pages and stopped at two photographs of a little blond boy. The lad was playing in a pond that had to be on his father’s estate. It wasn’t exactly what he'd been looking for, but it gave him an idea. He flipped through the rest of the photographs quickly and found another, this one focused on the entrance to the estate.
    The jingle of the telephone interrupted him. For a second he stood frozen, his hand poised on top of the album. Then he closed the dresser drawer, sat on the bed and waited for her to come into the room and answer the phone.
    When it stopped ringing, he waited a few more seconds, then grabbed a couple of toothpicks from the bedside drawer to calm his nerves. Then he headed toward her walk-in closet and opened the double doors.
    The old closet bubbled over with color, bright against the faded white walls. It wasn’t until he pushed some of her evening gowns aside that he noticed a section of the back wall seemed to be freshly painted. He pressed his hand against the panel then stepped back in surprise as a rush of hot air hit his face. Peering curiously through the new opening, Rudy saw a room about the same size as her closet. He stepped inside.
    The first thing he saw was row after row of champagne bottles. There had to be three or four hundred of them. To the left sat a couple of large boxes which he began to sort through. Finally he sat back, chuckling, and pulled out a small book filled with names and addresses.
    Of course, he thought. He bought his booze from her.
     
    ***
     
    Virginia strode back into the bedroom when she'd finished her bath, and flipped on the radio just in time to hear the opening music for Amos n’ Andy. Rudy lay on the chaise lounge, smoking a cigarette and reading the racing form. He gazed up at her with deep brown eyes and she yanked the cigarette out of his mouth.
    “If you had any clothes on, I’d make you empty your pockets.”
    He ignored her, standing to admire himself in the full-length mirror. Rudy was always fishing for compliments. He thought he was a dead ringer for Rudolph Valentino.
    “What statue did you say I looked like?”
    “David.”
    “Who’s he?”
    “Never mind. You don’t need culture in your line of work.”
    She rolled a silk stocking over one long, shapely leg, then attached the garter in front. She felt his eyes on her as she stretched her leg out to reach the snap in the back.
    “Some pair of legs, baby.”
    “What a cake-eater you are.” She frowned and pointed at the floor. “Just look at