Inherit the Dead

introduced to him,” Perry said, then was annoyed at the secret thrill of satisfaction at hearing his daughter’s words.
    “It’s like I’ve been thinking it through. I think you and Mom still love each other, but you don’t like each other very much. Billy and I have discussed it a lot, and we’re synched on it.”
    It was raining again. Reluctantly, Perry turned on the windshield wipers. Raising his voice over the screeching sound they emitted, he asked, “Who’s Billy?”
    “He’s my boyfriend. He’s the guy who plays the milkman in the show. You’ll meet him later. His mother and father are getting a divorce, but they can’t afford two apartments so his father sleeps in Billy’s room with him. There are twin beds. His father snores, so Billy is totally going nuts.”
    They were pulling up to the school. “The auditorium door will be open, so drop me over there. Maybe you’d better get two pizzas.Some of the other kids might want a slice. And bring some Cokes. Okay?”
    Nicky did not wait for an answer as she hopped out of the car. Nor did she pull the hood of her jacket to cover her head as she made the dash to the door through the now-teeming rain.
    Before he started the car again, Perry called Angel, and her cell phone immediately switched to “Leave a message.”
    “Angel,” he said, “I want you to call me back right away. And be sure to stay inside with . . . Athena.” It had taken him a moment to recall the nanny’s name.
    Twenty minutes later he was back at the school, the pizzas and soda balanced in his arms. His visit with Nicky consisted of everyone not onstage coming over to share the pizza. By luck, he managed to get one slice. The director ordered perfect silence in the auditorium during the rehearsal, so his time with Nicky consisted of watching the rehearsal as it dragged on interminably.
    It did give him time to worry about Angel. If she was right and someone was trying to kill her, who could it be? Her mother? But her mother was his client. Was he turning into an enabler by tracking down Angel and then reporting where she was to her mother? At least he hadn’t done that so far. But should he do it?
    Finally, Nicky was onstage. The director had them do the final scene at least twenty times. “You’re not sad. You’re not glad. You’re matter-of-fact that Emily is dead, too,” she bellowed.
    At last the rehearsal was over. “How was I, Dad?” Nicky breathed.
    “You were good,” he said. The idea of acting brought Angel to mind. Had she been acting, too? Something in his gut kept saying yes.
    “You had what the director was looking for.” Perry searched his head for the right words, which he actually meant. “You had thatthoughtful remembrance tone in your voice, which is what the part calls for,” he tried.
    Nicky’s sunny smile was sufficient reward for knowing that, at least for once, he had supplied the on-target response he’d been praying for. As the rest of the cast grabbed their outer garments, Nicky turned and pulled over a baby-faced guy with a head of curly hair and a timid smile. “Dad, this is Billy. He was helping backstage. That’s why you haven’t met him yet.”
    “Hello, Billy.”
    “Hello, sir.”
    My God, the kid has manners, Perry marveled then warned himself not to prejudge. It got him thinking about Angel again. How had he judged her? He still wasn’t sure. But something about her act didn’t sit right. Even so, he was supposed to be protecting her.
    “Billy, sorry this is a rush. Hope to see you another time. But Nicky has homework to do, and her mother wants her home.”
    “Dad,” Nicky whined. “It’s a Saturday.”
    “Tell that to your mom,” Perry said, and repeated his apology to Billy.
    “That’s okay, sir. I just want you to know that when your daughter is with me you have nothing to worry about, like, I mean, I’m not like a lot of guys.”
    “Oh, Billy, shut up,” Nicky said, her face turning into a full-fledged blush.
    Methinks he doth protest too much . . . maybe, Perry thought, but he did seem like a nice guy, and if there’s one thing he was sure of, Noreen kept a close watch on Nicky. “Come on, Nick,” he urged. “Nice to see you, Billy.”
    “On the short drive home, Nicky was unusually silent then burst out, “That was a totally stupid thing for Billy to say. It’s not like . . . I mean . . . ever . . . I haven’t . . . ”
    The ring of truth. Thank God for the ring of truth. “I believe you,