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“So do I.”
“And Josh needs to stay out of trouble right now, so I have to do what I have to do—if you cannot respect our wishes.”
“Fine,” Lulu said, and slipped from the barstool to her feet. “Fine,” she said again glibly and turned. “I’ll let myself out. Don’t get up.”
The doctor didn’t plan to, but watched her fly out into the mudroom. “Move, Bandit,” Lulu snapped on her way out as the dog trotted in, and she slammed the door. “I was only trying to be nice!” She yelled, from over her shoulder.
The doctor stood frozen, heart beating wildly. Why did this girl freak her out so much? She waited a moment, moved to the hall, and crossed the length of the house to the front. She slipped into the living room, crossed to the window, and hid in the dark behind the drapes.
Out in the circle, a black Range Rover sat waiting. Lulu trudged to it, climbed in, slammed the door shut, turned on the engine, and peeled out over the gravel. She sped down the driveway and disappeared from sight. She had buzzed herself in, she could buzz herself out, the doctor thought. Forever, she hoped.
At the base of the driveway, next to the Chevy, Lulu quickly keyed in the code. The gate slowly opened, and Lulu screeched right, down the hill.
The gate then rested open a moment, then started to close as Boris slipped through it.
He was on foot.
CHAPTER 12
IN DR. PARKS’S driveway, Nikolai had fallen fast asleep. Ten minutes later, Sophie did, too. It was warm in the trunk and dark outside as Lulu peeled past them, waking Sophie out of a dream. She forgot where she was, went to sit up, bumped her head, and then dropped down uncomfortably.
“Mama?” said Nikolai.
“Where is Masha?”
“She’ll be back.”
“O, Holy Angel of God,” Sophie whispered, “guardian protector of my soul…” Then she heard footsteps on the gravel. Someone was passing right by the Chevy and heading up the drive. Was it her cousin? Was it the doctor?
The footsteps came and the footsteps left, and two minutes later, Sophie heard, “I’m coming, I’m coming. I’m here.” It was Masha making her way back down.
“Oh, thank God,” Sophie whispered. Her leg was starting to cramp. Masha finally flew the trunk open.
“You didn’t suffocate? You didn’t die?”
Mother and son sat up and breathed in the cold, fragrant air. The driveway was surrounded by trees, and the house was shrouded in darkness: with its whitewashed brick and exposed timber, the English Tudor looked like something out of a fairy tale, the prettiest Sophie had ever seen.
“Snap out of it,” Masha barked at her cousin.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Sophie whispered.
“Something bad happened. I’ll tell you later. Let’s go, let’s go. She’s back inside.” Sophie and Nikolai climbed from the trunk, opened up the back, grabbed a few bags, and shut the doors gently. Inside the house, the dog started barking.
They ran up the drive and circled left at the side of the house. When they reached the back, they dodged through the hydrangeas and made their way along a stone wall and up the hill. This way they’d avoid the back patio and the back windows.
Minutes later, they wove down the hillside, sight unseen, through the orange grove to the pool house.
CHAPTER 13
LATER THAT NIGHT, around nine, Masha opened the Cuervo to drink with the tacos she bought from the Chipotle in Westwood. After the tequila, she switched to vodka. The old country Stoli. The gold. Her favorite.
“I’m going to get her back for this. She’s going to pay.” She was angry at Dr. Parks.
Sophie, on the other hand, was quietly cleaning the pool house kitchen, its marble counters, a shiny fireclay farmhouse sink, and a stainless fridge with an icemaker. A perfect kitchen. The whole cottage, she thought, was designed with care, with kindness even—a stark change from the Crenshaw motel room, with its peeling paint, mildew, grime, and roaches. She would sleep well here. She would sleep deep.
“She doesn’t know who she’s messing with,” Masha said. “We’re more dangerous than the Sicilians. Worse than the Mexicans. We have brains. Business degrees!”
“So?” Sophie said.
