Back The Newcomer
Chapters (71)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. 56
  60. 57
  61. 58
  62. 59
  63. 60
  64. 61
  65. 62
  66. 63
  67. Epilogue
  68. Acknowledgments
  69. Also by Mary Kay Andrews
  70. About the Author
  71. Newsletter Sign-up

R U home? I’ve got something!

Letty grabbed a towel and mopped up the spilled tea, then texted back.

Yes. Home. Come now.

She heard the buzz of the Vespa approaching, and walked out onto the breezeway to wave the girl inside.

“Maya’s asleep,” Letty cautioned as they entered the unit. She gently closed the bedroom door.

“Oh man,” Sierra said, as she removed her helmet and began to unload her backpack onto the table. “This was a blast. I mean, it was crazy complicated, but I was totally into figuring it out, once I got started. It’s definitely high-tech, but it was WiFi enabled, like I thought. Normally these cameras only sync up to the network where the camera was installed. Because, like, if you’re watching your nanny, you’re not watching her everywhere. You’re just watching her at your house, right?”

“Oh-kay, I guess that makes sense.”

“But this camera—it was uploading to your sister’s iCloud.”

Sierra flipped the top of her laptop and powered it up. “I didn’t watch all of it,” Sierra said, as she clicked some keys and brought up Tanya’s iCloud. “Here’s one of the video clips. I think Ellie must have been sitting on a table nearby, because the video quality is better than a lot of the other stuff.”

To Letty’s surprise, the video was in color. The image was blurry, but as soon as Sierra tapped the arrow on the film clip, she immediately recognized Evan’s voice, and saw him, in soft focus, sitting at a table, drinking a glass of red wine.

“Maya!” His voice was sharp, irritated. “Stop dropping food on the floor. You’re a big girl now. Big girls don’t do that.”

Letty heard but couldn’t see Maya, who began crying. “I’m sowwy Daddy.”

A woman’s voice came from off camera. “Evan honey, leave her be. It’s a few Cheerios. I’ll sweep it up when she’s done.”

“That’s not the point, Juliette. She’s turning into a little slob, because Tanya lets her get away with crap like that.”

Evan’s girlfriend moved into camera range. She was lovely, slender with long hair and dressed in a flowing, gauzy green caftan. Just his type, Letty thought. Juliette began massaging his shoulders. “You’re still cranky because of your meeting with the co-op board. Can’t you let it go?”

“No! You don’t understand. They’ve hired a lawyer, and they’re threatening to take me to court over my units in that building. I haven’t been able to rent them out for nearly two months now. Do you have any idea what that’s costing me in lost income, not to mention the legal fees I’m looking at?”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?”