Obsessed (9 page)

“I doubt it, honey. It’s been a madhouse all night. We’ve got all twelve rooms in emergency filled, and we’re stacking them up in the hallway.”

“But you’ll call before you leave?”

“Sure, honey. I’ll try to get off by two, but it’ll probably be closer to three. Keep the security system on, and don’t let anyone in, okay?”

Mary Beth nodded. “I won’t, unless it’s Michael. He promised to drop by later to check on me.”

“You’re very lucky to have a friend like Michael. He’s a nice boy, much nicer than that awful
—”

“Oh, Mom!” Mary Beth interrupted what was sure to be a lecture about Kevin Mallory. “I know you don’t like Kevin. That’s the reason I broke up with him.”

“That was a wise decision, honey. He was much too old for you. You might not realize that now, but when you look back on it, you’ll know you made the right choice.”

“Yes, Mom.” Mary Beth nodded obediently, even though she knew her mother couldn’t see her.

“They’re paging me
—
I’ve got to go now. I love you, honey, and I’ll see you about three.”

Mary Beth winced as she hung up the phone. Her mother didn’t know it, but she was still seeing Kevin. She didn’t like sneaking around and lying to her parents, but she planned to keep on dating Kevin for as long as she could.

Her mother definitely had a point. Mary Beth realized that. Kevin wasn’t as nice as Michael, but that didn’t seem to matter. A nice boyfriend like Michael wasn’t very excit ing, and she was dying for some excitement in her life.

There were lots of fun things that Michael wouldn’t do. He wouldn’t take her to a real nightclub like the Palace, and he’d never buy her a fake I.D. so that she could order drinks. He wouldn’t tear down the freeway at ninety miles an hour with the stereo blaring, and he’d never invite her to a wild party where everybody went skinny dipping. Michael wouldn’t suggest that she tell her parents she was staying with a girlfriend and spend the night with him, instead. Michael was trustworthy and reliable, the type of guy she wanted to end up marrying. But Mary Beth intended to have some wild and crazy times with Kevin first.

There was a picture of Kevin in her wallet, and Mary Beth took it out. She loved his dangerous eyes with thick, black lashes that never quite opened up all the way. Kevin was older. He’d been out of high school for five years now, and he knew plenty about women. She could see it in his eyes. Kevin knew how to drive her wild when he kissed her, and he wasn’t the type to stop with just kisses. She’d fantasized about spending the night at
Kevin’s apartment, and she’d imagined what it would be like to stretch out on his waterbed and feel satin sheets against her bare skin. Of course things hadn’t gone that far . . . yet.

Mary Beth gave a little shiver of excitement. She was glad she’d hedged her bets. Michael had career plans, and he was very serious about school and work. Kevin lived every day as
it came, and being with him was always fun. She didn’t want Kevin for life. She just wanted to borrow him for the summer and learn how to live on the edge. Then she’d settle down and go back to school and be Michael’s nice girlfriend and her parents’ good daughter again.

There was nothing but news on the television, and Mary Beth clicked it off. It was ten o’clock and Michael had promised to try to make it by midnight. That meant she had another two hours to wait, and Mary Beth hated waiting. She was just thinking about finishing the lemon meringue pie her mother had baked when she heard a loud crash in the front yard. Was it a burglar? Their neighbors had been burglarized a month ago, and that was why her father had installed the expensive security system.

Even though she was almost afraid to look, Mary Beth walked to the window and peeked out through the drapes. At first she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, but then she noticed that their garbage can was tipped over on its side. As she watched, she caught a glimpse of a big black dog running down the street. It was nothing to get worried about. Tomorrow was garbage day, and the neighborhood dogs had been in the trash again.

The wind had picked up, and Mary Beth saw several sheets of newspaper fluttering down the sidewalk. Should she go out and pick up the trash before it was scattered all over the yard? Mary Beth thought about it for a moment, and then she shook her head. She didn’t want to go out alone at night. It would be stupid to leave the safety of the house when there was a killer on the loose.

There was a loud rattle, and Mary Beth jumped. What was that? The sound seemed to be coming from the bath room, and she remembered that the vent on the roof always flapped when it was windy. Maybe she should put on the stereo. Their house always made creaking and groaning sounds when the winds were blowing. It had never really bothered her before, but she was all alone tonight, and the noises seemed almost ominous.

It was only five minutes after ten. Had the clock stopped? Mary Beth walked over to look, but the second hand was sweeping around in endless circles. Time passed so slowly when
she was bored, and Mary Beth was definitely bored. Maybe she should have taken Andy up on his offer to stay with her. Andy was a nice kid, and she could have told him to leave the minute Michael arrived. She would have felt a lot safer with Andy here, but spending the evening with him would be even more boring than being here alone.

Mary Beth thought about all the invitations she’d received for tonight, and that made her feel much better. The girls were definitely worried. Judy had suggested watching a movie at her house, Linda had asked her if she wanted to come over to spend the night, Nita and Berto had offered to take her out for pizza, Vera and Ingrid had said they’d come by to keep her company, and even Carla had called to say she’d be glad to drive over to check on her. Of course, Mary Beth had turned down every one of their suggestions. She knew exactly why the girls had seemed so concerned about her. It was their strategy. They were trying to keep Michael away from her because they didn’t want her to win the contest.

But their strategy wasn’t going to work. Mary Beth was determined to win. Michael would be here at midnight, and that meant she’d have three hours alone with him. Tonight was almost like a final exam, and Mary Beth had spent hours preparing for it. She was going to do her new dance for Michael, and if that wouldn’t convince him to make her his girlfriend, nothing would!

Mary Beth walked out of the rec room, and down the hall
way to her bedroom. Her costume was hanging on a hangar behind her door, all ready for action. She’d blown two week’s salary on a sexy gold satin stripper’s outfit, com plete with gloves and black lace lingerie. And that had been only the beginning.

Her mother left for work at five-thirty every day, and Mary Beth didn’t need to be at Covers until seven. She’d spent every minute of that time rehearsing. She’d studied scenes from the movie about Gypsy Rose Lee, until she could practically do every move in her sleep. Of course she could never perform that kind of sexy striptease at Covers, but that didn’t matter in the least. She was going to do the dance for Michael, and she’d never perform it for anyone else . . . except maybe Kevin. And she’d only do it for Kevin if he bribed her with a bottle of champagne.

Mary Beth grinned in anticipation. She was going to knock Michael out of his socks with her dance. There was no way he’d be able to resist her. The other girls might think they had a chance, but they didn’t. They were going to lose, and she would win the contest.

It was only ten-fifteen, too early to get into her costume. Mary Beth went back into the rec room and checked the stereo to make sure she’d programmed her music correctly. Then she switched on the lamps she’d positioned around the room. They all had peach-white bulbs to give her skin a rosy glow.

Mary Beth had been busy all afternoon, preparing for Michael’s private show. She’d pushed the leather couches to the side of the room, and carried the ladder up from the garage. Even though she was afraid of heights, she’d climbed up to reposition the spots on the track lighting. The area in front of the window would be her stage. She’d use the dark blue drapes for a backdrop and the wicker peacock chair would be her prop.

A car door slammed, and Mary Beth raced to the window. Was Michael here already? But his car wasn’t in the drive way where he always parked. It must have been one of the neighbors coming home late. At least she hoped it was one of the neighbors!

Mary Beth shivered. She didn’t like to admit it, but she was getting scared. The wind was howling even harder now, and every time the house creaked, she felt like screaming. She had to calm down or she wouldn’t be able to do her dance. It was impossible to be sexy when you were scared out of your skin.

Suddenly, the neighborhood dogs started to bark. Mary Beth raced to the window again, but she couldn’t see any thing. Her father had wanted to buy a dog for protection, and Mary Beth wished her mother hadn’t talked him out of it. Who cared if a dog chewed the furniture and left messes on the rug? Dogs were loyal and they defended you with their lives.

Mary Beth took a deep breath and let it out again. She was perfectly safe. There was nothing to worry about. But just as she’d managed to calm down, the lights flickered and there was a terrible crash. Thunder? In L.A.? They only had a couple of thunderstorms a year in Southern Califor nia!

Rain started to fall, a little patter at first, like tiny feet scampering on the roof. Then there was another loud clap of thunder and rain gusted against the windowpane. It sounded like a snare drum, growing louder and louder as rain pelted down from the sky. The sound made Mary Beth even more frightened. She’d never liked snare drums. They reminded her of executions.

Mary Beth screamed as the lights flickered again. She tried to tell herself she was being silly, but. every horror movie she’d ever seen flashed through her mind. There was always thunder and lightning whenever anyone got killed. Perhaps that was because the scriptwriters knew that thun derstorms made people nervous.

There was another loud crack, and the lights went out. Mary Beth raced across the rec room and stumbled against the couch. She’d forgotten that she’d moved it, and now she’d have a sore toe when she danced. This night wasn’t turning out at all as she’d planned.

She was just feeling around for the box of matches that sat on the end table when the lights came back on. Sometimes a storm knocked out the power for hours. She had to prepare for an emergency. She grabbed the box of matches and hur ried to the
gas fireplace. At least the gas wouldn’t go out, thank goodness. She’d light a fire and that would be very romantic. If she couldn’t do her striptease for Michael to night, she’d have to settle for cuddling in front of the fire.

It only took a moment to light the fireplace, and Mary Beth sighed in relief as she glanced at the clock again. It was ten-thirty. An hour and a half to go. The lights could go out now and she wouldn’t care. The fireplace would provide plenty of light.

But how about the security system? Was it electric? Mary Beth wished she’d paid more attention when her father had explained it to her. Did she have to reset it, or would it go back on automatically?

It paid to be safe. Heart pounding, Mary Beth hurried down the stairs to the box in the entry way. The red light was flashing and that meant the system was armed. Or did it? She could check the instruction book, but she wasn’t sure where her father kept it. She’d turn it off and re-arm it. Then she’d be safe.

Mary Beth turned off the system and punched in the code to re-arm it. But the red light kept flashing. What did it mean? She thought about calling her mother to ask, but there was no reason to worry her. Michael would be here soon, and he was better than any security system.

She was about to start back up the stairs to the rec room when the telephone rang. Mary Beth rushed to the kitchen and took the call there.

“Standby Security.” The caller was a lady with a thick southern accent. “Code, please?”

For a moment Mary Beth was completely stymied. What code? Then she remembered what her father had told her to say if the security company called. “Uh . . . this is Mary Beth. And our code is seven forty-seven.”

“We just got two alerts from your place. Is there a prob lem?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just re-set the system because our lights went off, but the red light’s still flashing.”

“Okay, Mary Beth.” The female voice sounded much friendlier. “The storm must have knocked something out on your system. We’ll ignore all alarms, and send out some one to fix it.”

“You’re going to send someone out now?”

“Absolutely. It’s part of our total protection package. We’ll have our technician at your door within the next two hours.”

Mary Beth was puzzled. “But what if someone breaks in? Will the alarm still go off
?”

“No. We’ll have to take you off-line. But don’t worry, hon. If there’s any problem, just hit the panic button, and we’ll send an armed guard right out.”

Mary Beth was frowning as she hung up
the phone. This was just great! Her Dad had bought the best alarm system money could buy, and it had gone out already. What if someone broke in and killed her before she could hit the panic button? And even if she managed to press the button, would the armed guard get here in time? Perhaps she should have agreed to go to someone’s house, or have a couple of the girls come here. Was winning the contest really more important than her safety?