Someone Is Watching by Joy Fielding Read Free Book Online Page B

dangerous it would be.”
    “Are you implying that it was my fault?”
    “No, of course I’m not implying that. I’m just saying that maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing in the world for you to be doing.”
    “It’s my job, Gene.”
    “Then maybe you should find another line of work.”
    “I like what I do.” I don’t tell him that I’m taking a few months off, that the mere thought of doing surveillance makes me break out in a cold sweat.
    “You like hiding in bushes and chasing down lowlifes,” he states more than asks.
    “There’s more to what I do than that.”
    “I thought you wanted to be a lawyer.”
    “I wanted to be a lot of things.”
    “I’m sure your mother would have liked you to go back to school and, at the very least, finish your degree.”
    I bite down on my lip to keep from saying something I’ll regret.
How dare you?
I want to scream. You know absolutely nothing about my mother or what she might have wanted. Except I can’t, because he’s right. My mother
would
have liked me to go back to college and finish my education. God knows I took enough courses, left at least three different degrees unfinished, as I was never quite sure what I wanted to be: a doctor, a lawyer, a criminologist, a ballerina.
    “Look,” Gene says. “I’m only thinking of you here. Believe it or not, I want what’s best for you.”
    I
don’t
believe it, but I say nothing.
What do you
really
want?
I wonder as he ambles toward the sofa closest to him and sits down, carelessly tossing two of the purple throw pillows to one side. One teeters on the edge of the large cushion underneath him before tumbling to the floor. He makes no move to pick it up. “How is it, working for Sean Holden?”
    “Fine.”
    “What’s he like?”
    I shrug, not sure what to say.
    “I always thought he was a smart guy,” Gene says, answering his own question. “A little cocky, but smart. Can’t say I enjoy facing off against him in court.”
    “He’s a good lawyer.”
    “A bit of a player, too, from what I understand.”
    “A player?”
    Gene shakes his head. “You hear things, working in the State’s Attorney’s Office. Rumors. You know.”
    My heart starts pounding. Is he fishing? Is this why he is here? To glean information about Sean?
    “I’ve been talking to the others,” he says suddenly.
    It takes me a minute to realize we are no longer talking about Sean Holden but about my half-sister Claire and my half-brothers Tom, Dick, and Harry. “You told them about what happened?”
    “They were quite horrified.”
    “I’m sure they were.”
    “They send their best wishes for a speedy recovery.” Gene looks strangely pleased with himself, although the corners of his lips continue to turn down. I wonder how his wife ever knows when he’s happy. Or if she cares. “They wanted to come.…”
    “I’m sure they did.” I shudder. The thought of all my half-siblings occupying my apartment is overwhelming. Fifteen hundred square feet simply isn’t enough room for all that animosity.
    “Claire said she’ll try to stop by after her shift.” He checks his watch, a white-faced Bulova with a black leather band. “Should be any time now.”
    “That’s really not necessary.”
    “She’s a nurse, Bailey. She might be able to help.”
    “I don’t see how.…”
    The phone rings, and I jump. Gene’s natural scowl deepens. “Probably that’s her now,” he says.
    I walk into the kitchen, grab the phone, listen as Finn identifieshimself, then tells me that Sean Holden is here to see me and can he send him up?
    “Please,” I say, mouthing a silent “Thank God” as I return to the living room, hoping this news will encourage my brother to make a hasty retreat. “Sean Holden is here.”
    “Well, speak of the devil.”
    “Thanks for stopping by, Gene.” I wait for him to take the hint and leave. But he sits tight, his body language announcing that he has no intention of going anywhere.
    I walk to the door and