Мэри Эндрюс - The Newcomer

Ava’s usually placid face was pink and perspiring.

“Okay, already,” Jensen said. He pinched the end of the cigarette between his fingers and dropped it to the concrete floor.

“Oh no you don’t,” Ava said, pointing at him with a dustpan. “I’m not your mother, and I’m not cleaning up after you. Pick that up and put it in the trash. The next time I find one of your disgusting cigarette butts laying around out here, you’ll forfeit your security deposit.”

“I’m not the only one here who smokes,” he protested.

“You’re the only one who smokes outside this room, and you’re the only one who never heard of an ashtray,” Ava said.

“Okay, okay,” Jensen muttered. The chair creaked beneath him as he stood up, and he walked slowly back to his room.

Ava shook her head and sighed. She looked over at Letty. “Sorry about Oscar. Since his wife died, he’s gotten lazier and more ornery every year. Sue kept him on a pretty short leash, didn’t let him smoke or drink at all. You see what he’s like now. He pays in cash, right before he goes back home to Rochester every year. Arrives in January, leaves in May. I could probably ask a lot more money for that unit of his, but I just don’t have the heart to kick him out.”

“He doesn’t bother me that much,” Letty said. “I guess I could just keep my windows closed.”

“You doing okay otherwise?” Ava asked.

“We’re good, thanks. How come you’re doing the housekeeping?”

“Had another girl quit on me yesterday. No call, no show, nothing. That’s what it’s like this time of year. People can have their pick of jobs. Somebody offers fifty cents an hour more, they take it, and they don’t look back.”

Ava hesitated for a moment. “I don’t suppose you’d be looking for work, would you?”

“I need to,” Letty admitted. “But what would I do about Maya?”

“You have any family living around here?”

“No.”

“There’s day care,” Ava pointed out. “The Methodist church up the street has a program. Some of our housekeepers have had their kids there.”

“I don’t think so,” Letty said. “Maya’s been through a lot. I can’t see myself leaving her with a bunch of strangers.”

“Here’s a thought,” Ava said slowly. “My Isabelle is in a baccalaureate program at the high school, and she’s a senior, so she only has classes for half a day. She’s back here every day by lunchtime.”

Letty had seen Ava’s pretty teenage daughter coming and going in the jaunty red Jeep that was parked near the motel office. The girl always waved and smiled when she caught sight of Maya.

“What would you want me to do?” Letty asked cautiously.

“Anything and everything,” Ava asked. “I reckon you’re probably more interested in an office job. Are you good with computers? Joe’s been after me to do more online marketing, and to put our reservations system online too. He even bought me the software, but I never have had the time to learn to use it—or maybe I’m just too old a dog to learn new tricks. Maybe you could start with that?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m a whiz or anything, but I used to work in real estate management up north,” Letty said.

“Hate to ask, but do you think you might also pitch in with the housekeeping? Just ’til I hire somebody else? I’ve still got Anita, thank God, but fourteen units is too much for her to manage by herself. She leaves by three every day, because her dad just moved in with her, and he’s pretty high-maintenance.”

It was Letty’s turn to ask questions. “Has Isabelle ever done any babysitting?”

“She used to watch my niece’s two hellions every summer,” Ava said. “To be fair, that was more like zookeeping than babysitting.”

“Won’t she mind you volunteering her to babysit Maya?”

“I promise you, she’d rather babysit than change beds and scrub toilets,” Ava said. “What do you think? You’d work for me however many hours a week you can manage, and I’ll cut you a break on the room.”

Letty’s mind was already doing the math. “What would I do with Maya in the mornings, while Isabelle’s at school?”

“Same thing I used to do when mine were that age,” Ava said, smiling broadly. “I’d sit them down in the office with a picture book, or a puzzle or some crayons. And yeah, some days they watched more television than they should have, but I don’t think it did ’em any permanent harm. Joe, he was class valedictorian, and Isabelle’s already been accepted to Emory, with a full ride.”

Letty felt her spine stiffen at the mention of Joe, the nosy cop.

“I don’t think your son likes me very much,” she said. “What’s he gonna think about me working for you?”

“Probably think it’s a terrible idea,” Ava said cheerfully. “At first. But he’ll get used to the idea, and he’ll get used to you. Anyway, I’m the boss around here, not him. What do you say? Do we have a deal?”

“Letty?”

Maya stood in the doorway of the room, naked from the waist down, clutching the stuffed elephant under her arm. “I think Ellie did pee-pee in the bed.”

Ava chuckled and handed Letty an armload of freshly laundered sheets. “Looks like you’re gonna need these. How about you start in the morning? Is eight too early?”

“I’ll see you then,” Letty said. “Thanks, Ava.”

8

New York City

ZOEY SPOTTED TABLE TWO THE moment he stepped into the diner. The balls of this guy! He sat right down at his old spot, unfolded the newspaper, and tapped his fingertips on the tabletop while he read.

When Hailey headed that way with the coffeepot, Zoey grabbed it from her. “Hold up. That’s the guy I told you about. The one who used to come in here all the time. Messed with my girl Letty.”

Hailey’s eyes widened. “That girl who killed her sister and kidnapped the baby?”

“Hush! That’s some bullshit right there,” Zoey said. “Letty would never. You take my table and I’ll take yours. And I’ll split the tip with you. Okay?”

“I guess.” Hailey was new, but she wasn’t dumb.

Zoey eased over to the table. Evan held out his coffee mug and she filled it. He looked up and she could tell he recognized her. Vaguely. Men didn’t look at Zoey the way they did girls who looked like Letty.

“Long time, no see,” Zoey said.

“Uh, yeah.”

“The usual today?”

“That’s right. Rye toast, dry. Poached egg. Crisp bacon. Small grapefruit juice. Oh, and, I’ve got somebody joining me.”

“Should I go ahead and put in your order?”

He glanced at his watch and frowned. “Yeah. She’s late.”

Ironic, Evan thought. Vikki Hill had never been late when it came time for an under-the-table payoff. She’d turned up, unannounced, at his building in Tribeca two months earlier, and demanded to see the apartment on the third floor, his most recent purchase.

Naturally, he’d been alarmed. Where, he’d asked, was Norman, the city housing inspector he’d been dealing with for the past few years?

The new inspector had shrugged. “Gone. That’s all I know.”

Which was obviously a lie. Vikki Hill seemed to know quite a lot. She let him know, subtly, that she could be “influenced” to overlook his illegal short-term rentals. And she seemed to know exactly how much she could expect as reward for turning a blind eye.

Just then the door opened and the new inspector walked in. She spotted him at his table and hurried over to join him.

Interesting, Zoey thought. The woman was definitely not the guy’s usual type. She was skinny, no boobs to speak of, probably around Table Two’s age. Dressed in jeans and Chuck Taylors with a black turtleneck sweater under a boxy no-name navy blazer. A light-skinned black woman with flat-ironed hair. Or maybe she was biracial.