Sweet Liar Part 5

aMike,a she said, smiling, feeling a little flattered by his concern and his seeming to want her to be as possessive as he was. aGo on, go on your date. Iall be fine. Nothing will happen to me, and I wonat do anything strange, so you donat have to worry about me. Go. Have a good time.a He hesitated, for he didnat trust her at all. If this appointment werenat so important, he wouldnat leave. aAll right, Iam going, but lock the door behind me.a She shook her head at him, but when he was gone, she bolted the door, and when she turned back, the house seemed enormous and a little creepy with Mike gone. After drawing the curtains, she jumped when a siren screamed down Lexington Avenue. When the doorbell rang, she nearly came out of her skin, then laughed at herself. Waiting a moment for her heart to settle down before she went to the door, she opened the little panel and looked out.

A man was standing there, a tall, broad-shouldered, dark-haired, extremely handsome man. aYes?a she said through the grill.

aIs Mike home?a he asked.

aYes, but heas busy at the moment,a she answered cautiously. If this man was a criminal, she could understand the high rate of crime in New York.

aWould you tell him that Raine wants to see him?a When Samantha made no response, he said, aRaine Montgomery. His cousin.a aOh. Do you have any identification?a She watched him remove his wallet from inside his suit jacket and hold his driveras license up to the grill. Raine Montgomery. Thirty years old. Six foot one. Black hair, blue eyes. He looked authentic to hera"authentically gorgeous. She unlocked the door.

aActually, Mike isnat here,a she said, opening the door. aHe had a date and went out a few minutes ago.a The man smiled at her and she smiled back. He was very different from Mike, and all they seemed to share as cousins was dark hair. Mike was all fire and movement, whereas this man was quiet and mysterious.

aActually, I came to meet you. That is, if youare Samantha.a aI am, but howa?a He smiled again and she smiled broader in response. aMikeas mother called me from Colorado and asked me to have a look at you. Mike has mentioned you, and Aunt Pat wanted me to make sure you werenat a gold digger.a She found his honesty disarming. aWonat you come in?a she said, sweeping her arm toward the living room.

aIad better not. It wouldnat beaa aProper?a she asked. Mike had said his Montgomery cousins had manners and here was proof. Here was a man in the twentieth century who was concerned about what was proper and what wasnat. Propriety was not something that seemed to concern Michael Taggert, for half of his day seemed to be spent lounging on Samas beda"uninvited, unwanted.

aI think Iall return when Mike is here, but I shall call Aunt Pat this evening and tell her that she can rest her fears, that you are an eminently respectable and extremely pretty young woman.a Blushing under his praise, she followed him to the door. aIam sure Mike will be sorry he missed you.a As he stepped onto the porch, the man laughed in a way that let her know he was fully aware of Mikeas antagonism toward his cousin. He turned back to her. aYou said Mike is on a date. I thoughtaI mean, I understood that you and he had moved in together.a Wanting to make herself clear from the start, she said, aIam sure Mike gave his mother that impression, but actually Iam merely his tenant. I rent the top two floors.a At this information, Raineas eyes brightened. aIn that case, would you like to go out with me tomorrow? Maybe in the afternoon? We could go to the park and eat ice cream and watch the kids play.a Samantha was sure shead never heard such a romantic invitation in her life. So different from Mikeas, letas-go-to-bed-and-screw-our-brains-out-honey type of invitation. aI would love to go out with you,a she said sincerely.

Looking at her as though nothing in his life had ever pleased him as much as her acceptance, he smiled. aTomorrow at two, then,a he said and walked down the stairs to the sidewalk.

She was still standing in the doorway, watching him walk away when he turned back to her. aWhat color of balloons do you like best?a he asked.

aPink,a she answered, smiling.

Still smiling, he waved and kept walking down the block.

Going into the house, Samantha shut the door behind her. What a delightful man, she thought. What an utterly lovely, sweet man. Smiling, humming, she went upstairs to wash her hair.

aA Montgomery!a Mike shouted when Samantha mentioned her approaching date to him. aA G.o.dd.a.m.n nose-in-the-air Montgomery. Youare going out with a mothera"a aStop it,a she yelled back. aIave told you a thousand times that what I do is none of your business. I am your tenant, nothing more than that. Your tenant! Your renter and thatas all. You donat own me or have any right to tell me what to do.a aBut a Montgomery! You canata"a She turned on him. aAs far as I can tell, Raine Montgomery is a very nice man. Hea"a aYou donat know anything about him,a he snapped, as though he knew something dreadful about his cousin.

aI know that he has manners, which is more than I can say for you.a She stopped shouting and drew a deep breath. aCan you honestly tell me anything bad about the man? Is he a criminal of any kind? Already married? Does he even have any bad habits?a aHeas perfect,a Mike said with a curl of his upper lip. He was so angry he was shaking. Never before in his life had he felt so betrayed. In the last few days head put out five times the effort with Samantha that head ever expended on any other female, yet shead given him less in return than any woman head ever met. The girl at the corner grocery was more obliging than Samantha was!

Seeing his anger, which had no justification whatever, she threw up her hands in frustration. aThis is the strangest situation anyone has ever been in. Last night you went out on a date. Why is it all right for you and not for me?a Leaning toward her, he put his nose close to hers. aBecause my adatea was eighty-six years old and in a nursing home. Iad been told that she once worked in the nightclub where Maxie sang. Maxie, remember her? Your grandmother. I was out on a Sat.u.r.day night interviewing some old woman who couldnat remember who she was, much less what happened in 1928, while you were in my house flirting and heaven only knows what else with one of those G.o.dd.a.m.n Montgomerys.a She glared at him. aYouare sick, you know that? You should see a doctor.a Turning away from him, she started toward the stairs. aI have a feeling Raine is punctual. I will be down at exactly two.a In spite of her telling Mike that this was none of his business, his rage had upset her. Didnat it ever cross a manas mind to wonder if he had the right to be angry? Never in her adult life had she been angry that she hadnat asked herself if she should be angry. By any logic in the world Mike shouldnat be upset because she was going out with another man. She was an adult; she was unattached; there was nothing romantic between her and Mike. So why was he furious?

She gritted her teeth. Just once in her life shead like to understand, really, truly understand, what went on inside a manas head.

Suddenly, she stopped ranting at Mike. How very odd, she thought, to be this angry at a man who meant so little to her. She hadnat been this angry after shead found out what her husband had done, nor had she been this angry after shead heard her fatheras will. She remembered wanting to throw something through a window when shead heard the terms of her fatheras will, yet shead been able to control herself.

But Mike could make her throw things. Michael Taggert made her want to tear telephone books in half with her bare hands.

Jerking the closet door open, she looked inside at the heavenly clothes hanging there and touched the sleeve of a soft, peach-colored jacket and remembered how nice Mike had been when theyad bought the clothes. He was half the most pleasant, easiest person shead ever been around in her life and half the most infuriating, exasperating person shead ever met. Sometimes she wanted to climb in his lap and tell him things shead never told another person, and sometimes she wanted to hit him in the head with an axea"sharp side down.

All in all, she thought as she reached for a pair of linen trousers, it would be better for both of them if she left immediately after they saw Barrett. There had been too much turmoil in Samanthaas life already for her to live in a house where she fought with her landlord.

10.

A nswering the doorbell to his cousinas ring, Mike stood for a moment with his hand on the doork.n.o.b, not allowing Raine to enter. aYou touch her, Montgomery, and youall never be able to breed any children.a Without a smile, Raine nodded, acknowledging what Mike meant: He had claim on Samantha.

Turning away, Mike left the room, for he didnat think he could stand to see Sam smiling at another man. But in spite of his n.o.ble intentions, he found himself standing at the front window the moment he heard the door close behind them, standing there watching the two of them walk toward Central Park. Physically, Mike thought, they were wrong for each other. Samanthaas small curvy body didnat match his cousinas tall, thin, scrawny body.

Mike looked away from them in disgust, disgust as himself. Maybe Sam was right and he was crazy. Never before had he been eaten with jealousy as he was right now, and frankly, he didnat much like the feeling. Nor did he understand why he felt jealous, for Samantha had certainly never given him any encouragement to think that she belonged to him.

Her father had, he thought in his own defense. Her father had asked Mike to take care of his precious daughter after he was gone. The first month he had done a poor job of looking out for her, but since then head tried to make up for lost time.

Sighing, Mike thought of the lonely afternoon ahead of him. Who was going to be here to take delight in something as ordinary as ordering from a deli? Who was going to ask him questions and take an interest in his research? Who was going to smell the roses in the garden? Who was going to look him up and down whenever she thought he wasnat looking?

As Mike started to turn away from the window, he saw a man step from the shadow of a building across the street and start walking. In New York one saw people everywhere, but something about this man made Mike notice him. For one thing, he had been standing in that same place yesterday. Mike had noticed him because all men who worked out noticed other men whose triceps strained against the back of their shirt sleeves. This guy wasnat that big, he wasnat so big that his lats kept his arms from touching his ribs, but he did indeed know which end of a barbell to pick up.

Unlatching the window, Mike pushed it up and stuck his head out. After watching for a moment, he didnat know why, but he was ninety-nine percent sure that the man was following Sam and his cousin.

Mike didnat lose a moment, and was out the door in seconds, following the man across Park Avenue, Madison, then Fifth, and into the park. At the park, Mike was sure the man was following Samantha when he stepped behind the statue of General Sherman while Raine bought Sam an ice cream and a couple of balloons.

For a moment, Mikeas attention strayed from the man, because Sam was looking up at his string bean of a cousin with a face drippy with sentimentality. From the look on her face a person would have thought that no one had ever given her anything as wonderful as that half-thawed ice cream and the cheap balloons. His stupid cousin was grinning back at her as though head presented her the head of a dragon.

aGive me a break,a Mike said in disgust.

The next moment the two of them went strolling through the park, not aware that anyone other than themselves existed, while Mike stayed back until he saw the man who was following them move. The man made no attempt at secrecy and at one point even walked ahead of them, sat on a bench, and watched them walk past.

As he stayed hidden, Mike didnat allow the man to see him, because if head been watching the house, he would recognize Mike.

For the next forty-five minutes, as Mike followed the man, he watched Samantha and his cousin. To give Raine credit, he never laid a hand on Samantha, but every time she so much as smiled at the bean pole, Mike wanted to smash him in the face. It was when the two of them stopped at the childrenas playground that Mike thought he was going to be sick. Deftly catching a swing with one hand, Raine helped Sam onto the seat as though she were an invalid, then gave her a little push, while Sam laughed in utter delight, as though head accomplished some great feat.

aI should have killed him the summer we were both twelve,a Mike muttered.

Mike did have a moment of pleasure when Samantha stopped the swing and started to get out, because when Raine put out a hand to help Sam out of the swing, she moved away from his touch.

aIt isnat just me,a Mike said in satisfaction.

After the swings they walked along through the twisting paths and every time they disappeared from his sight, the hairs on the back of Mikeas neck rose. It was when Raine stepped away from Sam to retrieve a baseball and throw it back to some kids that Mike realized the man who was following them was nowhere in sight. Mikeas attention had been on whether or not his skinny cousin was touching Sam and had strayed from the real reason he was playing private eye.

For a moment, Mike looked about in panic, knowing that something was wrong. Where was the man? Who was the man?

Mike saw Samantha standing in the shade of some trees watching Raine with a syrupy expression on her face, and behind her, coming down the hill slowly so he wouldnat make a sound was the man.

Mike began to run. He ran across a blanket spread with food, causing the picnickers to yell at him; he leaped over a bench filled with people and they shrieked at him. When he hit the clump of trees he was still running, and when he hit the man with all his two hundred pounds of muscle, he flattened him. For several moments, hidden in the shadow of the trees, the two of them struggled, but it was no contest. Mike was much stronger than the man and soon had him pinned to the ground.

aWho are you?a Mike asked, holding the man down. aWhat do you want?a The man had a look on his face that said head die before he said a word, and suddenly Mike knew the answers to his questions. aBarrett sent you, didnat he?a There was the merest flicker in the manas eyes that let Mike know he was right.

aWhy?a Mike asked, truly puzzled. aDoes he want to know about his granddaughter?a He never received an answer, because the man took advantage of Mikeas puzzlement to pick up a rock and hit Mike on the head with it. The pain of the blow, as well as the unexpectedness of it, sent Mike reeling, and the man lost no time in disappearing. For a moment Mike sat on the ground, his hand to his head, his vision unclear.

aMichael Taggert! How could you do this? How could you spy on me?a Looking up, he saw Samantha standing over him, hands on hips, and he thought her face was angry, but his vision was too blurry to be sure.

aThis is really too much,a she said as she went back down the hill.

As Mike blinked a few times, trying to clear his vision, a handkerchief appeared before his eyes. Taking it, he pressed it to his head in the general vicinity of the pain.

aAre you all right?a He recognized the voice of his cousin and as Mike tried to stand, there was a strong arm placed under his to help him up.

aMike?a aIam okay,a he managed to say when he was standing and holding the handkerchief to his temple, feeling the warmth of the blood that was beginning to trickle down through his hair.

aYou want to tell me what happened?a aNo,a Mike said, not looking at his cousin. aIs Sam all right?a Raine looked into the sunlit field where Samantha was watching some children play. aSheas fine. Is there a reason she might not be all right?a aI donat know. I donat think anyone wants to harm her. Thereas no reason to hurt her.a He looked at his cousin. aWatch out for her, will you?a Raine nodded, then watched Mike walk away through the trees and saw him stagger once and catch himself on one of the many boulders in the park. After a moment, Raine went down the hill to Samantha and told her he had to make a telephone call. If he knew Mike, head not go to a doctor with his head wound, so Raine was going to call a doctor and request a house call.

11.

I t was an hour and a half later that Samantha walked into Mikeas house and by then her temper was boiling. Shead had more than enough time to think about his following her, and she had strengthened her resolve to leave New York as soon as possible. Tomorrow afternoon she would go with him to see his old gangster, then early on Tuesday shead catch a plane out of the city.

By the time she reached the town house, Raine close beside her, her only thought was to tell Mike what she thought of him. Standing at the door, she politely thanked Raine, even offered him her hand to shake. Instead of shaking it, he sweetly and expertly kissed the back of her hand. At another time Samantha would have been flattered by his attentions and his polite respect, but now her only thought was of getting to Mike and telling him what a lying, sneaking, rotten creep he was.

When Raine was gone, she unlocked the front door to the town house, her hands made into fists as she prepared herself for the coming argument. She had rehea.r.s.ed how she was going to tell him that he was never to do anything like that againa"not that she was going to give him the chance since she was leaving in under two daysa"but she wanted to let him know how childishly he had behaved.

The house was quiet, almost too quiet. If there was one thing Mike wasnat, it was quiet. She went into the garden, then into the library, where he was often sitting at his old-fashioned typewriter, then into the kitchen. Looking at the empty living room, she frowned, for it hadnat occurred to her that he wouldnat be in the house waiting for her.

It was when she was leaving the living room that she thought she heard a sound. Turning back, she walked fully into the room and saw Mike asleep on the couch.

aMichael Taggert,a she began, aI want to talk to you abouta"a She broke off because she realized that he was asleep. But there was more to the way he was sprawled on the leather couch than mere sleep, for he was shirtless and shoeless, but he still wore his trousers, which were gra.s.s stained and dirty.

aMike,a she said, walking toward him, but he didnat move at the sound of her voice. She walked closer, and as she did, she stepped on his shirt lying on the floor. As she nearly always did, she picked it upa"and saw the blood on it. Dark, dried spots of blood were on the collar and the right shoulder of his shirt.

After hanging the shirt on the back of a chair, she bent over him. aMike,a she whispered, and when he didnat stir, she touched his bare shoulder, but he still didnat move. On the table beside the couch was a brown bottle of prescription medicine, which she picked up, reading the name of a drug she knew to be a pain killer and a narcotic.

Putting her hand on his chin, she turned his head to face her and saw a large white bandage on the right side of his head. Stunned, surprised, even feeling a bit of fear, she sat down heavily on the floor beside him and sighed, aOh, Mike, what in the world have you done?a She had a vision of his following her and in his blind obsession, falling against the boulders in the park.

He stirred in his sleep, his arm falling off the couch and landing against her. She started to place his arm on his chest, but there wasnat enough room on the couch for the width of Mike. Was there anything in the world more appealing than a strong man who was temporarily helpless? she wondered. While trying not to think of what she was doing, she touched his face, ran her fingertips over the rough whiskers just under his skin, and felt an almost uncontrollable urge to climb on the couch beside him to snuggle against him. He was in a drugged sleep so head never know what shead done, she thought, and for a moment shead have the wonderful feeling of touching another human being.

When he stirred again, he nearly fell off the couch, and Samanatha found herself with a great deal of Mikeas weight leaning against her. If she moved, head fall to the floor, and if she didnat move, about two-thirds of her body was going to go to sleep in about twenty seconds.

aMike,a she said, then louder, aMike!a She tried to push him off of her, but two hundred pounds of sleeping male muscle was more than she could handle. aMike!a she screamed, pushing as hard as she could.

Partially opening his eyes, he saw her and smiled. aSammy,a he said dreamily, putting his big hand into the curls of her hair. aYou okay?a He didnat give her a chance to answer before he went back to sleep, still half on the couch, half off, still leaning on her.

aMichael Taggert!a she screamed. aWake up!a Reluctantly, he opened his eyes again and blinked at her.

aYouare crushing me,a she said.

With a sleepy smile, he pulled her up on the couch on top of him and, comfortable now, went back to sleep.

For a moment she lay where she was, full length on top of him, her cheek against his bare chest. How many years had it been since shead been held by another human being? For a few months after she and her husband had been married, head made a pretense of loving her and wanting her, but the pretense had not lasted long. Within four months of their marriage they might as well have been roommates for all the physical contact between them.

Now, she might have been content to lie on top of Mike forever if his hand hadnat strayed from her back down to her b.u.t.tocks. He obviously wasnat that thoroughly asleep.

Putting her sharp elbows into his ribs, she gouged as hard as she could.

Mike came awake with a grunt and a frown, but when he saw her on top of him, his face changed to delight. aOh, Sammy,a he said, putting his hand on the back of her head to move her to kiss him.

Samantha moved her head to one side so his lips wouldnat touch hers as she pushed her elbows into his ribs again. When he yelped with pain, she scrambled off of him just as Mike made a lunge for her, missed, then fell to the floor with a thud that made the house shake.

He blinked up at her in drug-glazed bewilderment.

aMichael,a she said softly, trying not to allow her voice to betray what she was feeling, that she wanted to stay with him, wanted to continue touching him. aI think you should go to bed. The couch is too small for you to sleep on.a Lying back on the carpet, he closed his eyes.

aMichael,a she said again. aYou have to get up.a When he didnat move, she started to walk away, but he caught her ankle.

aHelp me get up,a he said, sounding weak and neglected.

She knew as well as she knew anything in life that he didnat need her a.s.sistance to get up, but at the same time she couldnat allow him to spend the night on the floor. Maybe he had been spying on her today, but maybe he had a reason to do so. Maybe he thought his cousin might harm her. As Mike had said a million times, he was supposed to take care of her, and perhaps in his mind, following her to the park was taking care of her.

Kneeling, she pulled his arm around her shoulders, then tried to help him stand up. It took quite some time to get him to his feet and even longer to get him all the way up the stairs and into his bedroom.

Once in the bedroom, she turned away as he unzipped his trousers and removed his socks then slipped under the covers. But there was a mirror, and she did just happen to see that he wore blue cotton underwear, the kind that were low cut on his hips. She also just happened to notice the way his thighs curved into his b.u.t.tocks, the way there was no hair at the very tops of his legs.

When he closed his eyes as soon as his head touched the pillow, Samantha couldnat help herself as she tucked the cover about him.

aDonat go,a he whispered as she started to leave the room.

aYou need to sleep. Those pills are killers.a He smiled but didnat open his eyes. aDid you enjoy your date?a He sounded as though he were merely asking after her welfare and was interested in her afternoon, but he didnat fool her.

aWe had a marvelous time. Raine is the most charming, the most handsome man I have ever met. I have agreed to bear his child.a Mikeas eyes flew open, then after a momentary look of horror, he lay back on the pillow. aYou are a cruel woman. Come over here and sit by me and tell me a story.a She knew she should stay away from him. After all, she was leaving in what was now a matter of hours and it was no good to get more attached to him than she already was. On the other hand, he had no doubt cracked his head open because of his misplaced sense of chivalry.

Primly, she sat on the edge of the bed, as far away from his warm, sleepy, nearly nude body as possible. aWhat story would you like to hear? About Peeping Tom?a He didnat open his eyes. aTell me one of your I-hate-men-and-I-especially-hate-marriage stories.a Blinking a few times, she laughed, but it didnat take her but a second to think of such a story. aI read a book that put forth the theory that the major cause of divorce in America is housework. The wives have to work at a job all day then come home and do all the housework too with no help from their husbands. After years of study, the author said she thought that modern women were marrying men, having two or three children, then getting a divorce. The husbands had served their purpose and were no longer needed, so the women got rid of them. Like the drones in the bee family, I guess.a aI hate to bring up matters that seem distasteful to you, but what about s.e.x? Are the women willing to do without s.e.x for the rest of their lives?a aI didnat say the women were celibate, and besides, what does married s.e.x mean anyway? He tosses your nightgown over your head and makes noise for four minutes.a At that Mike opened his eyes, looked at her, then began to laugh. He laughed so much and so hard that Samantha got off the bed, but he caught her hand and pulled her back to sit by him. She sat there, but stiffly.

aI am pleased that I amuse you so much.a Her voice dripped sarcasm.

aYou do,a he said. aYou amuse me a great deal, but I am also beginning to understand you.a She tried to s.n.a.t.c.h her hand away, but he held her fast. aYou need to sleep and I need to pack.a aPack for what?a he asked.

aFor leaving this city. After we see Barrett tomorrow, Iam free, remember? You arenat going back on your word, are you? You are going to give me the money, arenat you?a He opened his eyes fully. aYes, Iam going to release the money if you visit Barrett with me. But, Sam, where are you going? Do you have anyone to look after you?a She jerked her hand from his grasp. aI donat have any relatives, if thatas what you mean. Iam afraid I wasnat blessed as you were with a relative on every street corner. Ia"a aCursed,a he said. aRelatives are a curse. Always spying on you. Alwaysa"a Suddenly, she came off the bed and glared down at him in anger. aYou have no idea what youare talking about! You take everything for granted. You saunter into a store like Saks and expect your cousin to stop working and help you out. Your cousin Raine first came to your house to make sure I wasnat a gold digger out to rob you out of house and home. Your family cares about you, and Iad give anything in the world to haveaa She stopped, realizing she was revealing too much about herself.

aTo have what, Sam?a he asked softly.

aTo have you stop calling me Sam,a she spat at him, avoiding the issue. aNow go back to sleep. Tomorrow we visit your gangster.a She turned to leave the room.

aWhat did you and my cousin talk about?a You, she almost said, but caught herself. aOh the usual, life and love and all the things that matter.a aWhat did he tell you about me?a Mikeas voice was getting weak; he was falling asleep again.

aHe said that all the Taggerts were rather poor, but that your family was excellent at breeding children and all of you could add and subtract very well.a Mike smiled sleepily, his eyes closed. aHe was right about the kids part. Iall give you a free demonstration any time you want.a Trying not to smile, but failing, Samantha said, aGo to sleep,a and left the room.