Masquerade (3 page)

Clarissa jumped at the sound of
Slade and, in doing so, banged the side of her face into the bottom of the couch. Then, more slowly, she turned to look up at him. He was taller than she’d expected and even more striking. In real life his hair was darker, his features stronger, and his brown eyes had an intensity she never saw on TV. There was something about him that reminded her of a lion. Something sleek, powerful, and full of pent-up energy.

Clarissa got to her feet.
“I was looking for my daughter. She seems to have wandered off.”

“Under the couch?”

“Well, no. I just figured she must be in here someplace, and I’ve looked everywhere else.”

Slade
appraised her silently. “You lost your daughter?” And although he didn’t actually come right out and say, “And yet you want a job taking care of mine?” the question hung in the air.

“She was just here and I
. . .” How could she explain? She couldn’t tell him she’d been so busy eavesdropping she hadn’t been paying attention to Elaina. “She can’t have gone far.”

The
door to the hallway stood slightly ajar. She went to it and peered down the hallway.

Empty.

“Elaina?” she called.

No one replied.

Clarissa stood there, feeling her heart pound, and looked hopelessly down the hallway.

Slade came up beside her and
looked down the hallway himself. “How far did you say she usually wanders?”

Clarissa
wasn’t sure whether his voice was laced with amusement or just amazement. At this point it didn’t matter. “Look,” she told him, “you probably don’t consider me capable of watching children. You don’t have to hire me to watch yours, but could you please help me find my daughter?”

He nodded slowly. “All right.” He stepped out into the hallway
and tilted his head back. “Meredith?”

She appeared in one of the doorways down the hall. “Yes?”

“Mrs. Hancock has misplaced her daughter. Could you help her search down here, and I’ll try upstairs?”

Meredith’s gaze turned to Clarissa, and for a moment she saw sympathy there. “Certainly.”

Slade walked leisurely down to the end of the hallway and disappeared through one of the corridors. Meredith walked to the other end of the hallway and began looking in rooms. Clarissa followed her, scanning everything for movement, and every once in a while called out, “Elaina, come here right now!”

Clarissa
tried to quell the sense of panic that nipped at her. After all, Elaina wasn’t really lost. It wasn’t as if someone had spirited her off. At least, Clarissa hoped not. She suddenly wondered how many employees Slade Jacobson had and if all of them had been given background checks. She shook off the thought. Elaina wasn’t kidnapped, she’d simply wandered off, and they would find her any moment. Still, as she searched, Clarissa said a silent prayer that Elaina wasn’t somewhere hurt, or scared, or breaking priceless antiques.

Meredith and Clarissa
systematically went from one room to another, which proved to be quite a task. Clarissa didn’t see any signs of a little girl, but she did see enough cherry wood furniture to convince her that somewhere there was a large empty space in a cherry orchard with Slade Jacobson’s name on it.

T
hey reached a spacious living room. As Clarissa was checking inside a fireplace that could have comfortably accommodated a band, Slade reappeared at the top of a winding staircase.

“Bella isn’t
in the playroom anymore,” he called to Meredith. “Have you seen her downstairs?”

Meredith shook her head.

Slade’s jaw clenched, then he banged his hand against the banister and yelled, “Isabel Jacobson!”

Only silence followed his call.

He stormed down the stairs, mumbling something Clarissa couldn’t hear, then walked into the kitchen.

Meredith sighed and resumed her head shaking. She leaned toward
Clarissa confidentially. “This is why I don’t tend Bella anymore. I’m too old to be chasing wild fillies.”

Wild fillies? So Slade Jacobson,
Mr. We-have-no-dust-bunnies-under-the-couch, had a daughter who could be classified as a wild filly? It made Clarissa feel a little better about blowing her interview. At least she knew Mrs. McGrath would have to work for her money.

Slade came from the kitchen with a
small black dog happily trailing behind him. The dog stared expectantly up at Slade, wagging his tail so fiercely it looked like it would topple him over.

“Blitzer,” Slade spoke slowly to the dog. “Where’s Bella? Go find Bella.”

The dog’s droopy ears lifted momentarily, and he peered about the room intently. Then he put his nose down and ran in what seemed a random manner around the room. Clarissa watched this with her mouth slightly open.

Slade glanc
ed at her and shrugged. “It’s Bella’s dog. They play hide-and-go-seek together, and he can always find her.”

“
That’s because Blitzer cheats,” Meredith said. Then to Clarissa she added, “He counts to ten but never closes his eyes.”

The dog apparently caught a whiff of the little girl
, because he charged into the kitchen. Slade followed after him, and Meredith and Clarissa followed after Slade. The dog sniffed around the kitchen, then ran through an archway into the dining room. Once there, he went straight to the dining room table and stuck his head and front paws under the tablecloth. The tablecloth, like the matching curtains nearby, puddled lace onto the floor so that only the backside of Blitzer stuck out, his tail again wagging wildly.

Blitzer gave one sharp, happy bark, which was followed by giggling. Two pairs of giggles.

Slade crossed his arms and glared down at the table. “Bella!”

The giggles stopped.

“Bella Jacobson, what are you doing?”

Two little heads
peeked out from underneath the tablecloth. The one with light brown curls said, “We’re having a hot chocolate party, Daddy.” Her smile grew wider. “Because you don’t let me drink real tea.”

Slade shook his head. “Bella, you were supposed to stay in the playroom until Meredith called you to come down.”

Bella’s smile instantly turned to a pout that made her look even more charming. “You said I would get to play with a friend, and then she came and you forgot to get me.” Bella pulled Blitzer into a hug, and he licked her face until she laughed and let him go. He then disappeared under the tablecloth completely.

“No one forgot to get you,” Slade said. “It just wasn’t your turn to play yet.”

Clarissa motioned to her daughter. “Come here, Elaina.”

Elaina crawled from underneath the table with a frown. “I
just started playing.”

“You have to ask me before you play. You know that. I was worried when I couldn’t find you.”

Elaina sighed dramatically and, with her ponytails bobbing, stomped over to her mother. “But that girl said I’s ‘posed to go with her.”

Slade cocked his head and gave Bella another stern look. “Isabel, did you
go get Elaina and tell her to come with you?”

Bella nodded and her curls bounced around her shoulders.

“Why didn’t you ask her mother if she could play?”

“Because we’re playing spy and
so it’s a secret. That’s why we’re in our secret hideout.”

Slade nodded. His voice had a crispness to it when he spoke. “We will talk about your career as a spy later. Right now I want you to go back into the playroom so I can talk to Elaina’s mother.”

“You still want to interview me?” Clarissa asked.

“Do you still want
the position . . .” he glanced at the table, “even now that you know my daughter is an underworld spy who lures unsuspecting bystanders underneath the dining room table?”

“T
hat depends,” Clarissa said. “Does the dog come along as part of the job description?”

Slade smiled a broad, even smile, the same one she’d seen plastered on the cover of TV Guide not long ago. “I’ll talk to Bella about hiding.”

Without a trace of emotion Meredith said, “And perhaps you could put a bell around her neck.”

Slade shot Meredith a look, but when he turned back to Clarissa, he seemed to be the person she’d first seen in the waiting room—professional and impatient. “Well, let’s get
on with the interview. Where did I leave my notebook?”

He looked toward the door. Before he could move in that direction, Meredith spoke up, “I’ll get it for you.” She smiled coolly, turned, and her heels clicked sharply across the floor as she left.

Slade turned to Bella. “Why don’t you and Elaina make a secret hideout in the playroom now?”

“The table is the best hideout.”
Bella’s pout came back. “Pleeeease.”

Slade shook his head, and Clarissa could see the answer forming on his lips. Th
en just as quickly, he stopped and half smiled. “I suppose we can do the interview in here.” He glanced over at Clarissa. “If you don’t mind.”

Clarissa shrugged and let go of Elaina’s hand. Her daughter happily skipped over to the table and disappeared back underneath.

Slade walked to the table and pulled two chairs a little way from it. He motioned for Clarissa to sit down on one of them. As she did, he scrutinized her carefully.

“I
read the résumé the agency sent, and it seems fine. Tell me one thing, though. Do you have an acting background?”

Clarissa shifted in her chair uneasily. “I
played Liesl in my high school’s production of The Sound of Music.”

“Anything more recent?”

Not unless one considered pretending to be married, acting. “No,” she said.

“Good. The last nanny I hired
cared more about my agent than my daughter.”

“Oh. Well, you don’t have to worry about that in my case.”

He leaned back in his chair. “Now then, on to your references.”

She nodded, glad she had called the friends she’d written down for references and instructed them what to say.

“Your references spoke well of you,” Slade said, “but I have yet to speak to your most important one, Elaina.”

“Elaina?”

“She’s had the most on-the-job experience with you. And besides,” he smiled at her mischievously, “kids tell the unvarnished truth.”

Yes, exactly, which was why Clarissa suddenly felt like her heart would knock through her chest.

Without waiting for her to formulate a decent protest, Slade left his chair and sat down on the floor by the table. Flipping up the tablecloth, he looked under the table at the girls. They lay sprawled out on their stomachs, the furry black dog and a pink plastic tea set lying between them.

“May I join your party?” Slade asked.

“Of course, Daddy.” Bella put her hand out as though giving him something. “Here’s a cookie for you. It’s pretend because Blitzer ate the real ones.”

Blitzer wagged his tail.

“Thank you,” Slade said. “I’ve always had a fondness for pretend cookies. What kind is it?”

“Peanut butter chip,” Bella said.

Slade put his hand to his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Delicious.” Then he leaned toward Elaina. “So, Elaina, how old are you?”

“
Almost four.”

“And you have a mother, right?”

Elaina nodded.

“What’s her name?”

“Mommy.”

“A lovely name. One of my favorites. What type of thing
s does Mommy do at home?”

Elaina tilted her head to one side. “The dishes.”

Slade took another bite from his invisible cookie. “Ahh, I specialize in that myself. Is she a good mommy?”

Elaina held her arms wide. “She’s the
best-est mommy in the whole world.”

Slade looked over at Clarissa with raised eyebrows. “Stunning references.” He then turned back to Elaina. “What’s the nicest thing your mommy has ever done for you?”

“She’s gonna give me ice cream if I’m good.”

“Oh, that is nice. Tell her you want
Haagen-Dazs. It’s the best.”

“Just what she needs to hear,” Clarissa called over.

“Does your mommy play with you?”

Elaina nodded, making her pigtails bob.

“What sorts of things do you play?”

“Shoot and batter.”

“Chutes and Ladders,” Clarissa corrected. “It’s Chutes and Ladders.”

“Yeah,” Elaina said. “We also play Go Flesh.”

“Fish,” Clarissa said.

Slade smiled. “Do you ever get in trouble?”

Elaina hesitated, sheepishly tilting her head to her shoulder. “Yes.”

“What happens when you get in trouble?”

“Mommy sends me to the chair and says, ‘Do you want to grow up to be like Aunt Renea?’”

“Who’s Aunt Renea?”

With the exact same inflection Clarissa must have sometime used, Elaina proclaimed, “She’s a pain in the neck.”