Secret Prey

22.

Jealousys an ugly thing, the older cop said complacently. As they walked out on the street to the car, he looked up at the apartment building and said, Maybe.

And even if not, he thought, the woman had made his day.

AUDREY MCDONALD, COMING IN FROM THE GARAGE, found her husbands orange coveralls on the kitchen floor, and just beyond them, his wool shooting jacket and then boots and trousers in a pile and halfway up the stairs, the long blue polypro underwear.

Oh, shit, she said to herself. She dropped her purse on a hallway chair and hurried up the stairs, found a pair of jockey shorts in the hallway and heard him splashing in the oversized tub.

When Wilson McDonald got tense, excited, or frightened, he drank; and when he drank, he got hot and started to sweat. Hed pull his clothing off and head for water. Hed been drunk, naked, in the lake down the hill. Hed been drunk, naked, in the pool in the backyard, frightening the neighbors daughter half to death. Hed been in the tub more times than she could remember, drunk, wallowing like a great white whale. He wasnt screaming yet, but hewould be. The killing of Dan Kresge, all the talk at the club, had pushed him over the edge.

At the bathroom door, she stopped, braced herself, and then pushed it open. Wilson was on his hands and knees. As she opened the door, he dropped onto his stomach, and a wave of water washed over the edge, onto the floor, and around a nearly empty bottle of scotch.

Wilson! she shouted. Goddamnit, Wilson.

He floundered, rolled, sat up. He was too fat, with fine curly hair on his chest and stomach, going gray. His tits, she thought, were bigger than hers. Shut up, he bellowed back.

She took three quick steps into the room and picked up the bottle and started away.

Wait a minute, goddamnit… He was on his feet and out of the tub faster than shed anticipated, and he caught her in the hallway. Give me the fucking bottle.

Youre dripping all over the carpet.

Give me the fucking bottle… he shouted.

No. Youll

He was swinging the moment the no came out of her mouth, and caught her on the side of the head with an open hand. She went down like a popped balloon, her head cracking against the molding on a closet door.

Fuckin bottle, he said. Shed hung on to it when she went down, but he wrenched it free, and held it to his chest.

She was stunned, but pushed herself up. You fuck, she shouted.

You dont… He kicked at her, sent her sprawling. Throw you down the fuckin stairs, he screamed. Get out of here.

He went back into the bathroom, and she heard the lock click.

Wilson…

Go away. And she heard the splash as he hit the water in the tub.

DOWNSTAIRS, SHE GOT AN ICE COMPRESS FROM THE freezer and put it against her head: shed have a bruise. Goddamn him. They had to talk about Kresge: this was their big move, their main chance. This was what theyd worked for. And he was drunk.

The thought of the bottle sent her to the cupboard under the sink, to a built-in lazy Susan. She turned it halfway around, got the vodka bottle, poured four inches of vodka over two ice cubes, and drank it down.

Poured another two ounces to sip.

Audrey McDonald wasnt a big woman, and alcohol hit quickly. The two martinis shed had at lunch, plus the pitcher of Bloody Marys at the club, had laid a base for the vodka. Her rage at Wilson began to shift. Not to disappear, but to shift in the maze of calculations that were spinning through her head.

Bone and ODell would try to steal this from them.

She sipped vodka, pressed the ice compress against her head, thought about Bone and ODell. Bone was Harvard and Chicago; ODell was Smith and Wharton. ODell had a degree in history and finance; Bone had two degrees in economics.

Wilson had a B.A. from the University of Minnesota in business administration and a law degree from the same place. Okay, but not in the same class with ODell or Bone. On the other hand, his grandfather had been one of the founders of Polaris. And Wilson knew everyone in town and was a member of the Woodland Golf and Cricket Club. The vice chairman of Polaris, a jumped-up German sausage-maker who never in a million years could have gotten into the club on his own, was now at Woodland, courtesy of Wilson McDonald. So Wilson wasnt weaponless.. .

SHE HEARD HIM THUMPING DOWN THE STAIRS A MINUTE later. He stalked into the kitchen, still nude, jiggling, dripping wet. What ya drinking? he asked.

Soda water, she said.

Soda water my ass, he snarled. Then his eyes, which had been wandering, focused on the cold compress she held to her head. What the fuck were you taking my scotch for?

Because weve got things to think about, she said. We dont have time for you to get drunk. We have to figure out what to do with Kresge dead.

I already got his job, he said, with unconcealed satisfaction.

What? She was astonished. Was he that drunk?

ODell and Bone agreed I could have it, he said.

You mean… youre the CEO?

Well… the board has to meet, he said, his voice slurring. But Ive already been dealing with the PR people, putting out press releases…

She rolled her eyes. You mean they let you fill in until the board meets.

Well, I think that positions me…

Oh, for Christs sake, Wilson, grow up, she said. And go put some pants on. You look like a pig.

You shut the fuck

He came at her again and she pitched the vodka at his eyes. As he flinched, she turned and ran back into the living room, looked around, spotted a crystal paperweight on the piano, picked it up. Wilson had gotten the paperweight at a Senior Tour pro-am. When he came through the doorway after her, she lifted it and said, You try to hit me again and I swear to God Ill brain you with this thing.

He stopped. He looked at her, and at the paperweight, then stepped closer; she backed up a step and said, Wilson.

All right, he said. I dont want to fight. And we gotta talk.

He looked in the corner, at the liquor cabinet, started that way.

You cant have any more…

She started past him and he moved, quickly, grabbed herhand with the paperweight, bent it, and she screamed, Dont. Wilson, dont.

Drop it, drop it… He was a grade school bully, twisting the arm of a little kid. She dropped the weight, and it hit the carpet with a thump.

Gonna fuckin hit me with my paperweight, he said, jerking her upright. Gonna fuckin hit me.

He slapped her again, hard, and she felt something break open inside her mouth. He slapped her again, and she twisted, screaming now. Slapped her a third time and she fell, and he let her go, and when she tried to crawl away, kicked her in the hip and she went down on her face.

Bitch. Hit me with, hit me, fuckin bitch… He went to the liquor cabinet, opened it, found another bottle. She dragged herself under the Steinway, and he stopped as though he was going to go in after her, but he stumbled, bumped his head on the side of the piano, caught himself, said, Im the goddamned CEO, and headed back up the stairs to the tub, his fat butt bobbling behind him.

Audrey sat under the piano for a while, weeping by herself, and finally crawled out to a telephone, picked it up, and punched a speed-dialer.

Hello? Her sister, Helen, cheerful, inquiring.

Helen? Could you come get me?

Helen recognized the tone. Oh, Jesus, what happened?

Wilsons drunk. He beat me up again. I think I better get out of the house.

Oh, my God, Aud, Ill be right there… hang on, hang on…