Obsessed (8 page)

Carla frowned as Andy set the box inside the locker. “You should wear a weight belt, Andy. You could hurt your back that way.”

“This is nothing.” Andy grinned at her. “I’m bench press ing three times more than that little box weighs.”

Linda looked a little worried. “Carla’s right. You should be more careful. You could hurt yourself.”

“But would you care?” Andy grinned at her.

“Of
course I’d care! You’re the best kicker on our football team. Who’s going to punt if you hurt your back?”

“At last! I’ve done it!” Andy let out a whoop. “Linda wants me for my body!”

All three girls started to laugh, and Andy joined in. Then Mary Beth walked by and they quickly sobered. Linda waited until she was gone and then she turned to Judy. “Is Michael taking Mary Beth home again tonight?”

“Probably. He’s been spending every night with her.”

Andy scowled and then he gave a deep sigh. “I called Mary Beth and offered to help out. I said I’d come over to protect her if Michael couldn’t make it.”

“That was very nice of you,” Carla said.

“Mary Beth didn’t think so. She said if Michael couldn’t make it, she’d rather stay alone.”

The girls exchanged glances. Mary Beth shouldn’t have been so mean.

“What’s the big deal with Michael, anyway?” Andy looked puzzled. “You girls are all crazy about him.”

Linda did her best to explain. “Well . . . he’s already in college. And everybody thinks he’s going to be a big star someday. Going out with Michael is sort of
a status symbol.”

“And going out with me isn’t,” Andy finished. “Okay, Linda. I get it. But I don’t like it.”

The three girls stared after Andy as he walked away. Then Carla shrugged. “Poor Andy. I’d probably go out with him if he asked me. But he won’t. Andy’s only interested in the girls he can’t have.”

“Do you think that’s why we’re interested in Michael?” Linda raised her eyebrows. “Because we know that we can’t have him?”

Carla snorted. “The only reason everybody’s interested in Michael is because of that stupid contest. Mary Beth is pulling out all the stops to win, and I bet she’s not one bit afraid to stay alone.”

“Are you sure?” Linda didn’t look convinced.

“I’m sure. What’s the killer going to do? Break into a locked house just to get her? Mary Beth’s taking advantage of the situation so she can spend every night with Michael.”

Judy was deep in thought as they took their places at the round table. Carla was right. Mary Beth had bragged about her parents’ new state-of-the-art security system. She’d told them that if anyone tried to break into the house, bells would ring, sirens would blare, and armed guards would respond in a matter of seconds. All Michael had to do was take Mary Beth home and wait until she’d turned on the security system. Then he could leave. Mary Beth would be perfectly safe inside the house. There was no real reason for him to stay until her mother got home.

“Judy? Can I see you for a minute?”

Judy turned around to see Michael beckoning to her. She got up quickly and joined him at the deserted bar. “What is it, Michael?”

“I need a favor. It’s kind of embarrassing, Jude. I hope you don’t think I’m a louse, but I need some help getting Mary Beth off my back.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’re dark tomorrow night, and I have to go to U.C.L.A. to accompany someone at a student performance. Mary Beth just told me that her mother has to work, and I really don’t want to take her with me.”

“Why not?” Judy was curious.

“Look, Jude. I know I can trust you not to say anything, right?”

Judy nodded. “I promise.”

“Okay.” Michael looked very uncomfortable. “Mary Beth is getting a little too serious about me. Part of the problem is that we’re together every night, and last night . . . things got a little heavy, if you know what I mean. I’d really like to cool it off before Mary Beth gets the wrong idea.”

Judy nodded. “I understand, but what can I do?”

“Will you invite Mary Beth to your house to watch a movie or something? You wouldn’t have to take her home or anything. Her mother could pick her up.”

Judy nodded. “I’ll ask her, but I don’t think she’ll go for it. Andy already offered to fill in for you if you couldn’t make it, and Mary Beth turned him down.”

“She did?” Michael frowned slightly. “She’s not really afraid to stay alone, is she?”

“I don’t think so.”

Michael gave a sheepish grin. “You think I’ve been taken?”

Judy nodded. “Yup.”

“How about that! She actually set me up?”

“I think so.”

“Oh, hell!” Michael laughed. “Well . . . I’ll think of something. Thanks, Jude. You’re a real pal.”

Judy frowned slightly as Michael walked over to the round table and took his usual place next to Mary Beth. He hadn’t seemed that upset when he’d found out that Mary Beth’s frightened little girl act was a scam. He’d seemed almost pleased that she’d cared enough to try to trap him. Perhaps those six nights with Mary Beth had worked. Michael might be beginning to care for her. And that meant Mary Beth had a good chance to win that stupid contest!

*  *  *

Judy pulled up the circular driveway in the most exclu sive part of Sherman Oaks, and got out of her car. The moon was almost full, and the large, two-story house looked beautiful in the dim light. The house always reminded her of the one they showed on The Brady Bunch, except her adoptive parents, the Lamperts, weren’t anything like the Bradys. And Judy wasn’t part of a bunch. She was their only child, and the only reason Buddy and Pamela Lampert had adopted her was to fulfill the terms of Buddy’s father’s will.

She had been almost ten years old when she’d arrived at the Lamperts’ home, and Judy had heard plenty of rumors from Marta, their housekeeper. Grandfather Lampert had rewritten his will. If Buddy was married at the time of his death, and if he had a family, Buddy would inherit the cor poration. It was Grandfather Lampert’s way of insuring that his son would settle down and become a family man. Of course, Buddy hadn’t settled down. He’d married Pamela Thornbull, his private secretary. She’d always wanted to be in the social register, and it was a marriage of convenience for both the bride and the groom. Of course their marriage wasn’t quite enough to fulfill the terms of Grandfather Lampert’s will, so Buddy and Pamela had rushed to the nearest orphanage and filed the papers to adopt Judy.

The adoption couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Six weeks after Judy had moved into the huge house in Sherman Oaks, Grandfather Lampert had died. Buddy and Pamela’s careful planning had paid off in spades. Pamela had wanted to be a society wife, and now she was. Buddy had wanted control of Lampert International, and he was now the president of the company and the chief stock holder. The only one who’d lost was Judy. She’d wanted a loving mother and father, and Pamela and Buddy were much too busy with their own lives to pay attention to her. Judy had been cared for by a series of nannies and maids. She’d had all the advantages that money could buy, but she would have traded it all for a normal family life.

There was a light downstairs in Buddy’s office. He was up late, probably pouring over some corporate report. Pamela’s bedroom was dark. She’d taken her sleeping pill and she was already asleep. Marta had told Judy that Buddy was flying off to
Tokyo in the morning for some corporate meeting. Pamela wasn’t going along. She was jetting to Paris for a summer fashion
showing, and then she was spending a week as a guest of some countess at a villa in the south of France.

As she let herself in, Judy tiptoed past the office door. Buddy didn’t like to be disturbed when he was working. She’d done that once, when she’d wanted to tell him that she’d won a school essay contest. Buddy had stared at her with a puzzled exp
ression on his face as she’d told him, and then he’d congratulated her very nicely. But Judy was sure he’d forgotten all about the fact that he had a daughter until she’d appeared to remind him.

Judy sighed. She didn’t really play a part in Buddy’s life, or Pamela’s, either. She’d never even called them Father or Mother. They’d told her that they preferred to be addressed as Buddy and Pamela, and Judy had never broken that rule.

At first Judy had tried to get their attention, to prove that she could be a good daughter. She’d made the honor roll in school, she hadn’t caused a speck of trouble, and she’d kept her room immaculate. But Pamela and Buddy didn’t seem to care what she did—as long as she didn’t bother them. Her adoptive parents were strangers who just hap pened to be living at the same address, and growing up had been very lonely for Judy.

Judy still remembered her thirteenth birthday. Marta had planned a party and all her friends had come, but Buddy had been in Europe on business, and Pamela had spent the entire week shopping in Paris. When Pamela had come home, she’d given Judy a lovely designer outfit, all gift wrapped for her birthday. Judy had been delighted until she’d tried it on and realized that Pamela hadn’t even known her correct size.

Of course, there were a lot of advantages to living in luxury. Judy never had to cook or clean, and she always had plenty of money. Buddy and Pamela had enrolled her at Vassar, and she’d be going there right after high school. Judy wasn’t delighted about Vassar. Her grades were good, and she could have gone to any college of her choice. But Pamela had patiently explained that Lampert women always went to Vassar. It was the only place for a young woman of her standing to meet other people from suitably similar backgrounds.

Judy walked down the carpeted hallway and peeked into the kitchen. It was dark. Marta was already in bed. She opened the refrigerator, took out a Diet Coke and carried it upstairs to her room. If Pamela had been awake, she would have insisted that Judy use a glass. Drinking out of a can wasn’t the sort of thing a Lampert did.

As Judy flipped on the lights to her suite, she wondered what Pamela and Buddy would do if they knew she was working at Covers. Naturally, she hadn’t told them. And they hadn’t
even noticed that she’d been gone every night until almost midnight.
There were some advantages in hav ing absentee parents. Of course, Marta knew. Judy had con vinced her to sign the parental permission slip that Mr. Calloway had put in her personnel file. Marta hadn’t wanted to do it, but Judy h
ad persuaded her by promising she wouldn’t mention the boyfriend that came to stay with her when Pamela and Buddy were gone.

Judy walked into her living room and used the universal remote to switch on her large color television. Then she sat down in the swivel rocker and kicked off her shoes. Even though it was past midnight, she didn’t feel like sleeping in her king-sized canopied bed. She couldn’t see Michael’s house from her bedroom, but she could from here.

A touch of the remote control dimmed the lights. Another button opened the floor-length drapes. Michael’s house was right next door, and his bedroom faced hers. She’d sat here almost every night last year, watching him study at his desk, his head bent over his books. Every once in a while, a lock of hair would fall over his eyes and he’d brush it back with an impatient gesture. That gesture had always made Judy smile. Her hair did the same thing when she sat at her desk and studied.

But Michael wasn’t home tonight. His room was dark. He was with Mary Beth. Judy tried to imagine what they were doing. Michael had said things had gotten heavy. Did that mean what she thought it meant? She’d been at Mary Beth’s house once, a small two-story place with an addition built over the garage that they used for a recreation room. Two white leather couches lined the room, and there was an entertainment center with a stereo and a color television. Were Michael and Mary Beth on one of the long leather couches right now, watching television? Or were they wrapped in each other’s arms, sharing passionate kisses, too interested in each other to even notice what was on the tube?

Judy couldn’t help but feel a little jealous. What about her? Michael had told her that she was pretty. He seemed to like having her around, but he still treated her like a kid. Judy wished she could think of some way to make Michael realize that he had the perfect girl living right next door to him. She was tired of waiting, tired of being a pal and a buddy. Judy knew she could give Michael all the love he needed, if he’d only give her a chance.

Eight

It was Sunday night and Mary Beth was alone. She’d been as nervous as a cat all night, and she was beginning to wish she hadn’t decided to stay alone. She hadn’t been the least bit afraid when this whole thing had started—she’d just pre tended to get Michael to stay with her. But she’d pretended to be frightened for a whole week now, and she was begin ning to believe her own act. She had to calm down and stop being so jumpy. She was perfectly safe. No one could get inside the house without setting off the new security system her parents had installed.

The phone rang, and Mary Beth sprinted across the room to answer it. It could be Michael, saying he was coming over early.

“Hi, honey. Are you all right?”

Mary Beth frowned in disappointment. “I’m fine, Mom. How’s work?”

“Busy. There’s a couple of knife wounds coming in the door right now, so I’ve only got a minute.”

“That’s okay, Mom.” Mary Beth crossed her fingers for luck. “Do you think you’ll be home on time?”