You’re my beautiful flower, baby, he used to say.Everyone’s looking at you and won’t even notice me.He’d cast himself as Robin Hood, preying on the rich to redistribute wealth, but he was a common con artist—a good one until he got caught. His hubris was his downfall, and he had his claws in deep enough to nearly drag me down with him.
Memory of our last job seeped into my tired mind like a shadow.
The deal, the hotel. The room the FBI had wired without us knowing.
The blood. The body.
I woke with a start, the sharp crack of a gunshot echoing across a decade. My heart thudded in my chest, sweat dampened my brow. I didn’t remember falling asleep, but the murky blue haze of twilight blanketed the bedroom.
I sat up and reached for my phone, shaking my head to chase away thought of the night that had changed everything.
A new text message waited for me, not from Wallace, as I hoped, but from Bray.
Don’t miss movie night!?
He honest to God used a smiley face.
His jolly though annoying message, my surroundings, and the prompt about my evening plans reminded me I was far from crime scenes and gunshots. I was Lauren Thomas, neighborhood nanny extraordinaire, and I had to mingle with the local moms.
I thought of texting Bray something snarky back but didn’t want to encourage the micromanaging. Instead, I climbed from my bed and headed to the closet to find something appropriate to wear for a night out in suburbia.
CHAPTER5
In all honesty, I was not sure what movie night would entail. As it turned out, it involved a spread of lawn chairs and blankets filling Melanie Browning’s driveway and a projector casting a singing snowman and two princesses on the garage door. Someone had rolled out a popcorn cart worthy of a carnival and filled the night air with the smell of kernels and butter. Children bobbled and crawled, dangling from their parents like jungle animals. A string of lights swung from the oak tree in the lawn’s center to the picket fence at the end of the drive. The whole scene emanated a warm, wholesome glow.
I lingered on the edge, assessing how best to insert myself. I didn’t have to wait long before someone made the move for me.
“Hey, neighbor!” Alisha sang as she approached. Jeffrey was not strapped to her chest this time but bundled in a stroller even more impressive than the one Jana had nearly pushed in my front door earlier.
“Hey! Still on the clock?” I said and wondered what kind of hours being a nanny entailed if she was still on duty at this time of night.
“Yes. The Wilsons asked me to come help with the baby since they have the other two watching the movie.” She pointed at the crowd filling the driveway.
I observed the crowd for a moment. My best guess was five families in attendance: the three women I knew from Bray’s photos, a pair of dads, and one other couple who were likely Jeffrey’s parents. They sat together like a little tribe, their offspring sharing toys and babbling at each other. The barrier between them and me and Alisha was almost physical.
“Is that the new BuggyBaby X3?” I asked with a nod at her stroller, and remembering what Bray had said about the hottest stroller on the market.
Alisha rolled it back and forth. “Sure is. You could break down a door with it. The titanium rods are triple reinforced but light as a feather.” She lifted its back wheels off the pavement to demonstrate.
I tried not to gape, not being well-versed in stroller features, but needing to keep up my front. “So I’ve heard. My old family had the X2,” I said, only guessing the X3 had a predecessor.
“We had that one for Kendra, but upgraded for Jeffrey,” she said like thousand-dollar strollers were a dime a dozen. “So, are you getting settled okay?”
“Sure am, thanks!” I smiled to match her enthusiasm. “Jana stopped by earlier and invited me to this. I figured it would be a great way to get to know people.”
“Oh, how nice of her. Melanie hosts movie night once a month, so it’s perfect timing for you to move in!” Jeffrey started to fuss. I studied how Alisha carefully lifted him from the stroller and patted his bottom like a sack of sugar as she bounced.
I didn’t get the chance to covertly ask her for any tips because Jana came over, excitedly waving both hands like plane propellers. “Lauren! I’m so glad you made it!” She pulled me into a hug, which felt overly intimate for only our second meeting. Over her shoulder, I recognized both Sandra and the hostess herself, Melanie.
I snapped to, realizing I needed to be on point.
“Here she is,” Melanie all but purred at me with a feline smile. “I’m so glad you could join us tonight for this informal kickoff.”
A little boy, maybe five or so with a slash of sticky blue painting the side of his mouth, swung from Melanie’s arm. He chattered at her and bounced from the concrete like he’d had too much sugar. Fear pummeled my heart that this was my future.
“Kaden, Mommy is talking right now. I need you to go watch the movie,” Melanie said.
“ButMom, the swing broke again!” he whined and thrust an arm toward the oak tree where I saw a plank dangling from a long rope while the rope that was supposed to hold up its other side pooled on the lawn, having come loose from the branch.
