I wasn’t sure what I needed to be careful about in a place where contraband baby products were enough to call in one of the most secret off-the-record branches of the government, but still, I set off to answer the door with caution.
CHAPTER4
It was not Wallace on the other side of the door, but a different familiar face, and it was only familiar because I had been looking at a photo of it moments before.
“Hey, neighbor!” Jana Russo greeted with a megawatt smile from behind a three-wheeled stroller she rolled back and forth like she was revving up to shove in the door. The front tire looked fit for off-roading. “I’m Jana. We’ve been watching to see when you would show up, and you’re finally here!” She sang the final word like it had multiple syllables and tilted her body back and forth in rhythm to her song. Her dark hair lay in a heavy braid over her shoulder left bare by a drooping tunic top. A hot-pink flash of spandex painted her bronzed skin where her sports bra held up her chest swollen with motherhood. She expectantly smiled, as if waiting for me to ask her inside.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Bray take a step closer. Even if I wanted to, which I didn’t, I couldn’t very well invite Jana Russo in to meet the agent laying a trap for her as we spoke. And my brief interaction with him was enough to ensure me Bray couldn’t convincingly pull off pretending to be a real estate agent for more than a few seconds. He would blow both of our covers.
I angled the door to shield my arm and discreetly waved him deeper into the kitchen and out of sight.
He shook his head in refusal.
Jana was still beaming, rolling her stroller. I managed to hold my own smile while clenching my jaw. Behind the open door, I pointed a stern finger at Bray, telling him toback up.
I heard him quietly huff before he sealed himself to the fridge, still in earshot and only inches out of sight.
“Hi there,” I greeted. “I’m Lauren.”
The name already fit like a well-worn glove.
“Lauren,” Jana said as if she were rolling the word around her mouth, testing it out. She managed to keep smiling while she did it. A disarming energy pulsed off her, one perhaps planted in my mind thanks to the records tucked in Bray’s file and everything he’d accused her of, but perhaps it was more than that. Perhaps it had to do with the way she saidwe’ve been watching.Also, they’d been waiting for me?
I scanned the street as if it might reveal which house Jana hailed from: the Tudor with paned windows and rose border, the Colonial with manicured hedges, the Craftsman with a porch swing and pull-through driveway. She had to have been watching from one of them if she managed to ring the doorbell so soon after my arrival.
I eyed the stroller and reconsidered. Perhaps she had been passing by on a walk and saw activity at the door.
But still.We’ve been watchingwas an odd thing to say.
“That’s me,” I said. “I’ve only just arrived. I’d invite you in, but the place is a mess.” I stepped forward and pulled the door further closed, shielding any view of my neatly kempt new home and the lie I’d just told.
Jana’s smile drooped for the slightest second as if disappointed she wouldn’t get to scope out her new neighbor’s place. “Oh, that’s completely fine,” she recovered. “I was just dropping by to say hi and invite you to movie night tonight. Iknow Melanie and the kids can’twaitto meet you in person! They are so desperate for help. She’d be here saying hi too, but she’s tied up right now.” Her expectant smile returned as my brain spun and tried to keep up.
Usually, my assignments took weeks of careful infiltration. I would circle a target until I got close enough, until stepping inside came naturally. I was used to a considerable amount of patience and perseverance, and it appeared I’d already been shoved headfirst into this world.
I was too shocked to say anything.
“Nanny,” Bray quietly coughed from around the corner, but not quietly enough.
Jana leaned to peek, and I mirrored her movement to block her view. “Is someone else here?” she asked, a smile returning to her face as if she were ready to make another acquaintance.
“No.” I nervously laughed. “It’s only me!”
“Huh. I thought I saw you walk in with a man. I assumed it was your husband.”
I heard Bray shuffle. I waved my hand behind the door again, urging him to hold still. “Oh! No, that was my real estate agent stopping by, but he left.”
Jana studied me with skepticism written all over her face. Thick tension hung between us, and I hoped Bray wasn’t going to cough some other cryptic message and ruin it all. I was an excellent liar, but someone actively sabotaging me made for a different story.
Another smile crept over Jana’s face, and, in the same way I knew my neighbor Alisha’s was sincere, I could tell this one wasn’t. “Well, I hope you can join us tonight!” she sang, back on point. “It would be a great way to meet everyone before you start your new position with the Brownings.” She pointed over her shoulder at the Tudor on the corner, and I found it fitting the severely angled house, which looked like it would cut me if I touched it, belonged to the woman who had fired four nannies.
The last thing I wanted to do was socialize after my impromptu cross-country trip and identity change. I needed a moment to adjust.
“Oh, that’s nice of you, but I can’t—”
Bray loudly cleared his throat.
I decided to put an end to the standoff before he unintentionally did it for me.
