“You can’t blame me for not calling you about that,” I said, feeling on more solid ground. “There wasn’t one thing you could have done to make me better. I had help, right? Virginia and Phillip. Angel came by, too. And Emily Scott!” (Though most of that help had been completely by chance. Again, I realized I had been wrong. This was a very unpleasant conviction, and one I wasn’t used to.) “I wanted you to have your celebration. I knew you would win.”
That brought a reminiscent smile to his face. Robin is amazingly attractive when he smiles. He’s not model-handsome by any means, but he has charm oozing out of his pores. His anger was draining away, but he still looked serious. “I wish you had been honest with me,” he said.
“I wish I had been, too,” I said. If I had an apology to make, I liked to think I was woman enough to do it. “I am really sorry. I was wrong.”
There was a long moment of silence, while I cringed inside. I think Robin could see how miserable I was. Finally, he said, “But I did enjoy the win. I’ve waited a while.” I knew the incident was over.
“Where is the Anthony? The actual award?”
“Still packed in my carry-on bag. This year it’s a little carved tombstone,” he said. “I’ll show it to you in a few minutes. Roe, tell me what happened. Where is Virginia? Who was the dead woman?”
With her usual strategic timing, Sophie begin to fuss. Robin was out of the room before I could count to one.
“Here’s my girl,” he crooned. “Wet? Daddy’ll change you. Hey, I missed you, little pumpkin.”
Sophie made a tiny noise, which came clearly over the monitor.
“Hear that?” Robin called, forgetting I could hear in stereo. “She’s trying to say ‘Daddy’!”
“I’m sure she is,” I said, trying not to sound skeptical. “If you can keep her busy for a minute, I need a little time.” I slipped into the bathroom, washed my face, brushed my hair, and laid some toothpaste on my teeth. When I realized I cared about the way I looked and smelled, I knew I must be getting better. By the time Robin came in with Sophie, I was ready for her. While she and I had our little communion, I explained to Robin what had happened the night before. Only the night before! It seemed like a week.
“So, what did the nanny cam show?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“When I left,” he said, using his Very Patient voice, “I told you I’d bought a nanny cam and put it in Sophie’s room. I didn’t think about Virginia spending the night in there. I hope I didn’t film anything that would embarrass her.”
“Since Virginia’s missing, I figure she has bigger problems than you seeing her in her panties or whatever. You need to call the police department now. Where is it? Maybe this can tell them exactly what happened.” I was excited.
“You don’t remember me telling you?” Again with the judgment, about what I considered the least relevant part of our previous conversation.
“I was beginning to feel bad by then, so I guess it didn’t register.” (Frankly, I suspected that Robin, who seemed to think very loud, simply believed he had told me. Also, this was not important at the moment.) “Where is it?” I said again. Since Sophie and I were through, I handed her to Robin for the burping routine.
“It looks just like a plug-in air freshener,” he said proudly. “It sends a signal to the receiver attached to our TV.” He was patting Sophie’s back forcefully, and he was rewarded with a huge belch.
“Which TV?” I really didn’t like things taking place in my house I didn’t know about. That had been happening a lot lately.
“The one in the living room. Pretty timely installment, huh?”
I swallowed my irritation, because that was the truth. “Speaking of time … what time is it now, anyway?” Robin was between me and the clock.
“Eight A.M.,” he said, with a jaw-cracking yawn. “Okay, I’ll call Cathy about the camera. I guess she’s the one to call? Not too many detectives on the Lawrenceton force.”
“Yeah. Oh, Levon got promoted. He was with her last night.”
“Was Phillip a help?” Robin asked, as he punched in the Sparling County Law Enforcement Complex (SPACOLEC) number on his phone. “Cathy Trumble, please,” he told the clerk.
“Before he gets up, I want to tell you what a rock Phillip was,” I said, from the bottom of my heart. “He was a tremendous help. He’ll probably sleep until noon.”
Robin held up a finger to let me know Cathy had picked up. “Detective Trumble? This is Robin Crusoe. I got back an hour ago. No, I didn’t answer my room phone, but I finally heard your message. You got mine? I called from the airport. I was focused on getting home.” Robin’s expression showed he was definitely discomfited. “I’ll explain that later. Listen, I called to tell you something I’m sure you’ll want to know. There’s a nanny cam in Sophie’s room. Maybe there’s something important on it.” He listened, looking even more unhappy. “Okay, if you really think so. Bring it by.” He hung up.
“What?” I was playing with Sophie’s fingers and toes. She looked at me seriously. It was still intoxicating to realize I was Mama. When I had been a child, my mother had been everything to me, since my dad had not been home much even in the years before they divorced. Mother had been interested in my life. She’d been my manners coach, my yardstick of correctness, my moral compass. She had always loved me. She’d praised me when I’d earned it, and she’d expected better of me when I fell short.
Now I was this almighty figure to my own baby. It was awesome, and it was terrifying.
I glanced up at Robin, to see that he too was lost in rapt contemplation of the miracle we’d created.
He sighed heavily, and returned to planet Real Life. “Cathy wonders why I wasn’t in my hotel room when she called last night. She’s bringing by a photo of the dead woman for us to look at. Let’s watch the recording right now. Once the police take it, we’ll never see what’s on it.”
“Should we?” I couldn’t deny I really, really wanted to see the recording. More importantly, I was relieved Robin and I were again in sync. We hadn’t been married long, and I’d realized there would be rough patches. We’d just hit one of them.
“If you’ll hold on to Sophie, I’ll get dressed,” I said. “I’ll feel better when Cathy comes if I’m dressed.” I pulled my nightgown over my head. Robin watched with some interest.
Maybe I’m shallow, but that made me feel better. I hesitated. I was reluctant to get dressed when I felt I wasn’t really clean. “I’m going to take the quickest shower on record. Do you really think it’s okay if we watch the recording before Cathy gets here?”
“It’s ours,” Robin said, and shrugged expansively.
When I emerged from the two-minute shower and pulled on some jeans and a T-shirt, Robin and Sophie were in her room. His nose was wrinkled. “I needed to change her again. You want to get the cam?”
I noticed the “air freshener” immediately. It really did look just like a plug-in. If I’d been in the habit of using them, I would never have questioned its purpose. I unplugged it while Robin laid a sleepy Sophie in her crib.
In the living room, I sat expectantly in front of the television. I hoped so strongly that the nanny cam would reveal everything, and there would be no more mystery. We’d learn what had happened to Virginia.
Chapter Eight