Free Mrs. Robinson (Mrs. Robinson #1) by Seth King Page B

around in my house.
    But just when I was really starting to panic, I turned a corner and found him standing in the library with his back to me…and not only that, but he was directly in front of the fireplace, where our safe was hidden behind the mantle. How in the hell had he already found it?
    I grabbed the first thing I could find for protection, which turned out to be my niece’s tiny pink Dora the Explorer umbrella she’d left during her last visit. Sure, it wasn’t much, but I needed a weapon, and I wasn’t going to get killed by some prostitute – not unless I could help it, at least.
    “This has been a mistake,” I said with trembling hands, the umbrella held up over my shoulders like a baseball bat. “I’m sorry. Please leave, and don’t ever-”
    I paused. Ben was talking to someone on speakerphone and hadn’t heard me.
    “Claire?” he asked, sounding scared. “What’s wrong, are you okay? Why did you call?”
    Claire ? I thought with a frown. Thinking he’d called a girlfriend, I sighed and dropped the umbrella a little. Of course he’d lied about being single – why wouldn’t he have?
    “Hi, bubby!” the person named Claire responded on the speakerphone, making me frown. I’d been expecting the alluring drawl of a cheerleader, but the voice that came from the phone was nothing like I’d expected. Bubbly and happy but somewhat muffled, she actually sounded somewhat like Mindy, the girl with Down’s Syndrome whom I brought meals to every Thanksgiving with one of the charities I sponsored.
    “Hey, sweetheart,” Ben said, and I could hear relief and a smile in his voice. “How are you doing?”
    “Good,” the girl said. “I have so much fun today. Miss Sherry put on PBS in my room.”
    Ben sighed slowly, his shoulders dropping. “That’s amazing, sweetie. I thought – I thought someone was calling from your phone because you – you know what, never mind. Tell me about your day!”
    As I listened in like some kind of stalker, Ben talked to Claire for a few more minutes and then excused himself politely. After he told Claire he loved her, he hung up and turned around to face me, a confused expression on his face.
    “Um, is something wrong? Why are you holding that umbrella like that? And is that…is that Dora ?”
    I blinked a few times and then looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, I had forgotten all about the umbrella, which I was still holding above my head like a psycho. I probably looked like a total maniac to him, standing in a darkened doorway, clutching Dora the Explorer merchandise like a soldier headed into war.
    “Nothing, um, I forgot I had it, sorry…but what were you doing in here?” I asked him, dropping the umbrella. “And who’s Claire? You should’ve told me you had a girlfriend before you came. I’m not comfortable with that. Maybe you should go.”
    “Oh,” he said again, blushing maroon. “Sorry, I needed a moment to make sure she was okay, so I wandered back here. She’s not my girlfriend, she’s, uh, my sister.”
    “Your sister?”
    “Yeah, she’s, um, in the hospital for something. She usually doesn’t know how to call me on her own, so when she called while you were at the door, I was half afraid a nurse was calling with bad news or something.”
    I stood back a little, horrified by my thoughts. “Oh. You were so sweet with her – I’m surprised. Is this a baby sister?”
    He looked away. “She’s actually twenty-six. It’s…complicated. She has some issues we’re dealing with.”
    “Oh, wow. Sorry.” I slumped and scratched my elbow. “God, I feel like such an idiot now. To be honest, when you disappeared, I almost thought you were stealing or doing drugs or something.”
    He dropped his shoulders again. “Oh, thanks…”
    “Ugh, just let me stop talking forever,” I chided myself. “There’s my old foot-in-mouth syndrome again. I was just caught off guard, that’s all. Sorry. I guess I’ve gotten so used to being let down