Sleepwalker (Nightwatcher #2)(46)

It’s about time he called.

She presses the phone up to her ear with one hand while trying to keep the stroller on the sidewalk with the other hand as J.J. wriggles around trying to launch himself out.

“Where are you guys?” Mack asks, huffing a little, as though he, too, is in motion.

“We’re about to ring the Lewises’ doorbell. Where are you?”

“Running for the train. I’m trying to catch the 6:51.”

“Okay—wait, hang on a second.” Realizing J.J. managed to get his hands on the cat hat and throw it overboard, she backtracks to scoop it up, calling, “Hudson! Maddy! Wait up!”

“What’s going on? Don’t lose the girls in the dark. It’s dangerous out there tonight.”

Irked, she shoots back, “Do you really think that’s going to happen? They’re just a few steps ahead of me. They’re excited.”

And if you were here with us, you could hold their hands while I deal with Mr. Impossible.

“Just be careful. Did you take pictures for me?”

“I couldn’t. The camera battery wasn’t charged.”

“Can you take one on your cell phone?”

“I told you, the battery is really low.”

“Al, I really wanted to see their costumes.”

“Then you should have been here,” she snaps, and instantly regrets it. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted to be. It’s just . . . it’s been a long day.”

“Tell me about it.”

Okay, maybe he’s not inferring that his long day was somehow much longer—and thus much more difficult—than her long day. But that’s what it feels like to her.

“I’ve got to go, Mack. See you when you get home.”

“Have fun,” he says glumly.

“We will,” she returns, just as glumly.

Hanging up, she catches up to the girls.

“What’s that noise?” Maddy asks, hanging back a little as Hudson climbs the steps to the Lewises’ front door.

Realizing she’s referring to the rumble coming from the attached garage, Allison says, “It’s the generator. It’s making power for the house. See how their lights are on?”

“Why can’t we get a generator too?”

“Ask Daddy,” Allison grumbles under her breath, reaching for J.J.

“Come on, Maddy! Mommy, hurry up and take him out and put his hat on!” Hudson commands, her finger poised to ring the bell.

“Hudson, do not order me around.”

“I’m sorry. I just want it to be really good.”

“I know you do. Don’t worry. It is good.” She unstraps the baby and plops the felt hat on his fuzzy head. He immediately pulls it off and tosses it to the sidewalk.

Dismayed, Hudson picks it up. “J.J., you have to wear it!”

“Shh, he will, just ring the bell.” Allison puts the hat back on him and is gratified when it stays that way—but only for a few seconds before J.J. throws it again.

He laughs with glee as Allison bends with him to pick it up.

Hudson glares. “He’s ruining everything. He just looks like a baby in pajamas.”

“As far as he’s concerned, he is just a baby in pajamas,” Allison points out, her patience just about depleted. “And it’s past his bedtime.”

“No, it isn’t. He doesn’t go to bed until—”

“Hudson, please just ring the bell.”

“He has to wear the hat!”

“He just doesn’t understand Halloween,” Maddy pipes up. She descends the steps, takes the hat, puts it on her little brother’s head, and holds it there with a firm but gentle little hand. “There, J.J., see? You’re a kitty cat! The Cat in the Hat! Meow, meow.” The baby laughs at her cat imitation.

“Ring the bell, Huddy! Hurry!” Maddy says between meows.

Allison smiles at her middle child, so often the lone voice of reason in this family of passionate personalities.

Phyllis Lewis comes to the door with a Longaberger basket of candy, managing, as always, to be effortlessly sexy-elegant. Tall and slender, she’s wearing a snug-fitting black cashmere turtleneck with trim black pants and flats, looking like a 1960s screen siren. Her face is fully made-up and her chestnut-colored hair is short and chic and perfect, making Allison all the more conscious of her own unshowered-since-Saturday state.

“Trick or treat!” the girls shout.

“Oh my goodness!” Phyllis slaps both manicured hands to her cheeks. “What have we here?”

“We have here Thing One and Thing Two plus also the Cat in the Hat,” Hudson informs her proudly. “I made the costumes all by myself. Well, Thing Two helped a little.”

“Well, aren’t you talented?”

“Yes,” Hudson agrees immodestly.

Phyllis laughs. “I happen to love cats, so I might just have to give you an extra treat or two because of that.”

She urges the girls to take lots of miniature candy bars and deposits a handful into J.J.’s bag with a wink, saying, “I’m sure someone will be able to help him eat those. Where’s Daddy tonight?”

“He’s still at work, unfortunately,” Allison tells her, and Phyllis shakes her head.