Below is the conclusion of Chapter One. If you haven’t read the beginning of Chapter One, it started here .
The sounds surrounded her. The air conditioner hummed lightly. Ice cubes in the freezer dropped followed by the whirring of the trays filling with water again. The relative silence was broken by the ringing of the phone like a textbook dropping on the marble floor of a library. Maddie jumped, but held in the scream that had snaked to the back of her throat.
She answered the phone with a breathy, “Hello.”
“Maddie, you ok?” her best friend, Kelly, asked.
“Busy weirding myself out,” she said walking into the study.
“What about?”
Maddie hesitated. She peered through the window, searching for the Acura, but couldn’t see it whether from the darkness or it’s absence, she couldn’t be sure. “I’ve got someone following me.”
“What?”
“I saw an Acura parked around the corner from the house this morning. He followed us when we went to get pizza and back home.”
“Did you call the police?”
“What do you think the keystone cops will do?”
“Just because they were bunglers with me doesn’t mean you would get the same thing. Did you run a check on him? Maybe he has a warrant out or something.”
“No already checked.”
“I could send John over to have a talk with him.”
“I’m not sure BFI is the right approach for this.”
Kelly’s older brother is a former Navy SEAL and not afraid to use his training or brawn. When Kelly had a stalker several years ago, they were forced to use his brute-force-and-ignorance approach.
“Any idea who the guy is? Did you recognize his name?”
“None. My neighbors offer more to steal than I do. I’m not really the type to attract a stalker.”
“And what type is that?”
“You know what I mean.”
“A hermit doesn’t attract the creepy?”
“Something like that.”
“I guess it’s a good thing I called. I wanted to let you know I have your room all set.”
Maddie smiled. “Your idea or John’s.”
“Both. There’s no reason for you to spend three weeks there by yourself.”
Last year, Kelly and John insisted she stay with them during the kids’ visit to Kansas City. Her mother had died just a few months before and Maddie had been grateful for the offer and company.
“I appreciate the offer, but I have a case I need to finish up here.”
“Paper isn’t portable anymore?”
“Smart ass.”
“If you change your mind, the room is here. We’ve blocked it out from reservations, so it’ll be open. And if you change your mind about BFI, give us a call.”
“Thanks. I think I should find out who this is first.”
“Set your alarm.”
“Always do.”
“Call me when you get back from dropping the kids off at the airport.”
“I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
The phone beeped and Maddie pushed the off button. She sat at here desk and stared at the papers taunting her with numbers and figures. She leaned back in the chair and slapped her feet on the desk. She’d get no work done until she wrapped her fists around a reason for her tail.
She took a long drink from the bottle and closed her eyes, picturing the man she’d seen earlier in her mind’s eye. He had black hair that softened a strong profile. He was orderly, well kept and neat. His shoulder and upper arm were muscular. He was fit, not flabby.
Maddie tried to place the man. Had she seen him before? He wasn’t anyone she’d put away. She knew each of those faces, and his wasn’t one of them.
Stalker? She snorted at that thought and drank more from the bottle. I’d have a stalker right after the pope has his bar mitzvah!
She led a boring life. She spent most of her time in this room studying numbers and reports. The rest of her time she spent with the kids. She rarely went out. She certainly hadn’t gone anywhere that would bring about a stalker.
Robert. His name reverberated in her head. Robert.
Damn, would Robert really send someone to spy on her? Sure he would, you idiot. He cheated on you, lied to you, tried to steal from you. Why wouldn’t he spy on you?
“But why?” she whispered, jumping as her voice broke the silence.
She returned to the kitchen and dropped her empty bottle in the recycle bin. She set the security alarm, turned out the lights and went to her bedroom.
What would Robert have to gain from spying on me?
If that private investigator cost close to what she charged clients, Robert had to believe he had a good reason. He didn’t spend that kind of money without a firm conviction he would gain greatly from it. But what?
“Oh dear God,” she gasped.
She slowly sank to the floor, leaning against the wall for support. Her eyes went to the ceiling. Her hand covered her mouth, muffling a heart-rending groan that crept its way out of her throat. Tears rushed to her eyes.
The kids!
He hired a private investigator to gain something against her to get custody of Sarah and Casey. Why would he do that? He barely wanted them for the three weeks he did get them.
She wiped the tears from her eyes as the realization struck. The money. He hated paying his child support, but would he go through a custody battle just to keep from paying it?
An empty laugh left her lips. He’d wasted his money, simple as that. That poor man out there had to be bored to tears.
Robert would find himself in one helluva fight if he tried to take her children. Her confidence in winning such a battle hadn’t helped to loosen the knot in her stomach at the thought of losing her babies.
“Oh no, I’ll gut that bastard and stuff his colon down his throat before I let him get his hands on my children.”
3:55:06 PM 
|
