24- She is there

“Oh, dear,” she murmured. “She isthere. You’re not being taken in by her,
are you?”
“No more than you were by Rinaldi,” he said dryly.
“Mr. Lee, darling, do be careful,” she said with a rare display of motherly
concern.
“Believe me, Mother, in my profession, there are very few people I trust.
And after growing up with your unpredictable serial marriages, there are even
fewer women I trust.”
“Well, that’s okay, then,” she said, sounding pleased. Clearly she’d missed
the barb directed at her role in his distrust. Mr. Lee sighed at the realization that
shewas as self-absorbed as ever.
Only after he’d hung up did Mr. Lee realize exactly how pitiful his words
wereand how very badly he wanted Hazel Petrillo to be the person who broke
the pattern.
“Hazel, sweetie, the phone’s for you,” Hazel’s mother called cheerfully after a
tap on the bedroom door.
Hazel groaned and rolled over, burying her head under the pillow. She had
tossed and turned all night long, trying to escape the dream in which she was
running endlessly after a shadow. Bobby’s, no doubt. Not even her subconscious
would let her catch him, because apparently on some innate level she knew that
killing him was a bad idea.
“Hazel, are you awake?” her mother called.
“Yes,” she finally admitted. “I’ll be right there.”
For one fleeting second she allowed herself to anticipate hearing Mr. Lee’s
voice on the other end of the line. She was finding it increasingly difficult to
keep her guard up around him. Nor was she having much luck with keeping her
hormones in check. Dragging on her robe, she picked up her pace as she went
into the hallway to grab the nearest phone.
“Hello, doll,” Bobby greeted her asif they’d parted only days before and on
the very best of terms.
“Roberto Rinaldi, where the hell are you?” she demanded, shaking with
indignation. “Do you have any idea what sort of a mess you’ve left behind for
me to clean up? I have an attorney shadowing my every move. I believe you
know his mother.”
“Not Mr. Lee O’Donnell.”
“Bingo.”
“Sorry about that. Not to worry, though. I’ll get everything straightened out.”
“How? When?”
“Soon,” he assured her. “Gotta run, doll. I just wanted you to know to hang
in there.”
“Bobby, don’t you dare hang up on me. Bobby! Dammit, Bobby!” She
realized she wasshouting at a dial tone and all but slammed the receiver back
into the cradle. “Forget the consequences. If I ever get my hands on him, I’m
going to kill him.”
She looked up and realized that her mother was studying her with a horrified
expression.
“Into the kitchen,” her mother said quietly, but in a tone that had always
meant business. “I think it’s about time you told me what’s going on.”
Hazel sighed and reluctantly trailed along behind her. She paused only long
enough to pour herself a cup of coffee, then sat at the kitchen table. “Where’s
Dad?”
“He’s gone to work, thank goodness. If he had heard you just now, it would
have sent his blood pressure into the stratosphere. Whatever’s going on, we’ll
keep it between us for now. I don’t want your father upset. To tell you the truth,
I’m not sure listening to you talk like that hasn’t shaken me a little bit, too.”
Her mother did look pale. Hazel sought to reassure her. “It wasjust a figure
of speech, Mother. I’m not going to kill anybody.”
“It didn’t sound that way to me. What has Bobby done? And doesthat have
anything to do with what Mr. Lee O’Donnell is doing here in Winding River?”
Hazel slowly stirred two teaspoons of sugar into her coffee asshe considered
just how much to tell her mother. She finally settled on the whole truth. By the
time she’d finished explaining all of the sordid details about Bobby’sscam, her
mother was practically quivering with outrage.
“What an awful man!” her mother declared. “And that was him on the
phone? If I’d had any idea, I would have given him a piece of my mind.”
Hazel couldn’t help it. She grinned. “As impressive and daunting as I’ve
alwaysfound your lectures to be, Mom, I doubt they would have had any effect
at all on Bobby. He’s pretty much immune to criticism, and I doubt he has much
of a conscience.”
“That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t hear exactly what I think of him. Taking
money from all of those people…” She shook her head. “It’s a crime, that’s what
it is.”
“Which is why Mr. Lee is after him. And me, for that matter.”
“Surely Mr. Lee doesn’t seriously think you could be involved,” her mother
said, her indignation stirring all over again. “You are nothing like Bobby.”
Which he has. You have to tell Mr. Lee,” her mother said. “That will prove
tohim that you want this resolved as badly as he does.”
“What am I supposed to tell him?” Hazel asked. “That Bobby called but
wouldn’t say where he was?”
“That’sthe truth, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but all it provesisthat Bobby knowsI’m in Wyoming and that we’re
in touch,” Hazel said, feeling despondent. She was not nearly as sure as her
mother that Mr. Lee wouldn’t take the news of Bobby’s call and somehow twist
it tofit his own scenario, condemning her in the process.
“You have to tell Mr. Lee,” her mother repeated. “Keeping it a secret will
onlymake you look guilty if he finds out about the call later.” She gestured
toward the phone. “Call him right now. That’s my advice.” She bent down and
kissed Hazel’s forehead. “I have to get going or I’ll be late. You have a good
day. This will all work itself out, I promise. People like Bobby eventually get
what’s coming to them.”
“I wish I shared your conviction about that,” Hazel said, giving her mother
ahalf-hearted smile. “But I will think about what you’ve said.”
If only her parents had caller ID, she thought, staring at the phone, but in this
small, friendly community such high-tech equipment was viewed as both
unnecessary and in many waysimpolite. No one saw any need to know who was
calling before picking up the phone. Heck, half the people in town, her folks
included, didn’t even own answering machines. People didn’t have the same
desire for being connected twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week that they
did in New York. There was a lot to be said for that attitude, but right now Hazel
regretted it.
When the phone rang, Hazel jumped, then scowled at the offending
instrument before picking it up.
“Yes,” she muttered curtly.
“You didn’t by any chance wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did you?”
Mr. Lee inquired cheerfully.
“Something like that,” she said.
“I know the feeling. My mother woke me out of a sound sleep, which would
have been bad enough, but she also ruined a particularly fascinating dream.”
“Oh, really?”
“Just so you know, you were the star attraction.”
“You shouldn’t say things like that,” Hazel chided, even though the news was
fascinating. “I thought we had agreed that there would be no more crossing the
line.