2 Big Apple Hunter (14 page)

I was disappointed
there weren’t more works by Rembrandt, but there was one self-por
trait on display. I stood
staring at it. He was staring right back into my eyes, his brow furrowed. He looked worried. What was he worried about?

“Where’s the necklace?”

What? Who said that? I turned to my left,
but
no one was
beside me
. I whipped to my right and
saw Indiana Jones
standing
directly at my side
. His face was flushed, he was inarguably angry, and he gripped my elbow hard. I gasped, my heart clenched with fear.

“Where’s the necklace?” he asked again. He was talking low, his tone was menacing.

I quickly looked around. There was no one else in the room at the moment. Rembrandt’s self-portrait wasn’t high on anyone else’s list right now. I tried not to panic, but I couldn’t pull my arm from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I
said frantically
.

“The necklace from the jewelry store yesterday morning. We want it back
,” he snarled
through gritted teeth.

What necklace did he want? The jade was the least expensive piece and not wholly uncommon. The mother of pearl wasn’t unusual either, just different. He had to be talking about the morganite. It was exquisite, and I had assumed it was custom made. It had a custom made pr
ice tag to go along with it
.

I tried to stare him down, but I doubt I pulled it off as my fear was too great. “I don’t have it. It was lost or stolen, but I don’t have it,” I told him while trying to sound defiant.

“Of course you do
,” he snapped
.
“
Now you listen to me, missy. I know you’re staying at the St. Regis. Get the necklace and bring it to the Pulitzer Fountain at 4:00.” I l
ooked at my watch and saw it was already 3:20.
“Take a cab
,
”
he grunted as h
e dropped my elbow and walked out of the room.

I sat down on a bench and hyperventilated for a few minutes. I didn’t know if S
aks had called the hotel
with any information about my lost bag, and I couldn’t use my phone in the museum. I needed to get outside. I rushed to the first floor.

I
paced
on the steps outside the museum, called Saks, and asked to speak to security.
A helpful man told me
they had left a message for me at the hotel. Nothing was found in the store, and the security tape showed the collision with the woman, but nothing
looked
to be out of the ordinary. He s
aid they could only assume
I had lost
or forgotten
my bag
somewhere in my travels
.

What was I going to do now? Why weren’t these people from the jewelry store nice to me? If I bought something from the store, and they wanted it returned, why didn’t the Angelo Brothers just ask me for it? What was with all of this cloak and dagger stuff?

I didn’t have
any of the necklaces
, and I certainly wasn’t going to face Indiana Jones again, but I was going to
attempt
to
see what he was up to. Maybe I could get some answers to this mystery on my own. I walked to the curb and hailed a cab by myself. It was easy now that I was on a mission.

T
he driver drop
ped
me at The Ritz Carlton on Central Park South, which was nearly
the same spot
where I
had
dashed into the park in the first place. I crossed the street and walked east again along the park wall toward Pulitzer Fountain and Grand Army Plaza.

I cut across the plaza and stood beside a hot dog vendor’s tall cart at the corner of Fifth and Central Park South. I had a good view of the fountain, and I wanted to see what Indi
ana Jones would do when he realized I didn’t show up
. It was 3:50.

I smiled at the hot do
g vendor. I was standing
close to his cart. I purchased a bottle of water from him. Th
e cart was facing Fifth Avenue. B
y standing on the north side of it, I could peek around the corner and see th
e fountain while staying
well hidden.

I waited and watched. T
he next few minutes seemed like
an hour. I finally saw Indiana Jones on my side of the fountain. He was definitely looking around for me. I shrunk back against the cart. The vendor stepped back to see what I was doing. I put my finger to my lips and gave him the universal shush sign.

I peeked again at the fountain. Indiana Jones was still looking around, but now he was joined by Bernardo’s companion from last night, the chest watcher. And from around the fountain came the two thugs that had been in the shadows at the theater. Oh my gosh! This was bad. This was really, really bad. I squatted down on my heels beside the cart. My heart started racing, the fear
was
coming on fast.

“Hey, lady,” the cart vendor addressed me. “Whaddya think you’re doin’?”

“Mister, please
,” I begged with imploring eyes
.
“L
et me stay here for a few minutes. There are some men following me. Please don’t look at me or talk to me. Please.” He
frowned, but he
nodded
his head
and took his usual position behind the cart.

I peeked around the corner again. The men were still at the fountain. They were looking in all directions. I leaned against the cart and called Darby.

He answered right away
.
“Hi, Susan, what’s up?”

I almost broke down and cried right then, but I choked it back. “Darby
,” I squeaked out
,
“
are you
finished
working yet?”

“We’re packing things up here now, and I was just getting ready to leave
,” he said
.
“
Why?”

“Darby, listen, please
,” I said. “
Don’t say anything out l
oud. Don’t repeat anything
I say to you. Ok?”

“Susan, you’re scaring me,” he
said sounding alarmed
.

“Darby!” I raised my voice. “Don’t say anything! Just listen.” I took a deep breath trying to steady my nerves. “Don’t walk. Take a cab. Have the driver drive south on Fifth Avenue to the corner of Fifth and Central Park South. He can pull along th
e curb in the bus zone
. You have to pick me up right now at the corner of Fifth and Central Park South. I’m hiding beside a hot dog cart.”

“Susan, why are -
”

“Darby!
” I cut him off. “
Don’t say anything. Just come get me!”

“Ok. I’ll be right there,
”
he said. I heard his phone disconnect.

I peeked around the corner of the cart again. All four men were still at the fountain looking off in all directions trying to spot me. I pulled my head back and stayed hidden by the cart. My phone rang.

Oh my gosh! It wa
s Mick. We had pre-arranged
he would call me at 4:00 on Sunday. I had to take the call. Darby would be here soon. If I talked to Mick for just a minute, it would keep him from worrying, and it might help to calm me to hear his voice.

“Hello?” I knew it was Mick, but the only thing that came out was the questioning hello.

“Susan? Is that you?” he sounded confused.

“Of course it’s me,
”
I said.
I swallowed hard. I wanted t
o cry. I wanted to tell him
I loved him. I wanted him to come get me. I wanted to be anywhere but squatted down by a hot dog vendor’s cart and terrified right now.

“What’s all the noise? Where are you?” he asked.

Oh crap! I’d forgotten all about the New York City street noise. I’d become so used t
o it the past two days, it
seemed normal
now
.

“Uhm … uhm … ,” I stammered. “
I’m in New York City,” I said in a small voice. “With Darby,” I said in an even smaller voice.

“What?
” he asked incredulously. “
What are you doing in New York City? I just left on Thursday, and you didn’t say anything about going to New York. And why are you there with Darby?”

Oh boy. He wasn’t yelling, but I could hear the exasperation in his voice. My defenses kicked in. “Well, you were the one who called him and told him he had to babysit me, so when he had to come to New York City to see a client, he made me come with him.”

The hot dog vendor leaned back and shot me a look as if to say, “
Oh yeah, he’s gonna believe that one
.”

“Susan, I di
dn’t tell Darby to baby-sit you,
”
he said sounding
defeated.

“Well, you might as well have,
”
I said.
My voice was raised as much as I dared, and it definitely had a shrieky tone to it. “And now I’m hiding on the street with a hot dog vendor because four men are after me, and I’m waiting for Darby to come rescue me, and where are you when I need you, and you just want to dump me because I won’t have sex with you.” Somewhere in my rant
,
I had started to cry and was now blubbering into the phone.
A cab pulled along the curb in the bus zone.
I saw Darby
in the back seat. “I have to go,
” I blubbered. “Darby’s here to rescue me.” I slammed my phone shut.

Darby pushed the door to the back seat open
,
and he slid over to make room for me. I was too afraid to stand up for fear the men would see me. I duck walked to the cab.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Susan, what was that all about? What’s been going on the past two days?” Darby asked firmly. I knew he was concerned and confused.

We were sitting in the living room of
our hotel suite
with me in the overstuffed chair and Darby on the sofa. My crying was finally under control, and I felt safe behind the locked hotel room door.

“It has someth
ing to do with the jewelry
I bought yesterday morning. These me
n want one of the necklaces
, and I don’t have it.”

“Well, where is it?” he asked.

“That’s the problem, I don’t know. I had all of the jewelry when I was in Saks yesterday. A woman knocked me down, and my bags were scattered around me. I didn’t realize until I was in the cab that I didn’t have the Angelo Brothers b
ag. I thought for a minute
I might have been mugged, but the security people said it looked like an accident, and they’re assuming I lost my
jewelry
.”

Darby nodded and said,
“They called here yesterday and left a message that they didn’t find your bag, and the security tape didn’t show anything out of the ordinary. I didn’t know what they meant, and I forgot to
ask
you because we’ve seen so little of each other.”

“I think one of the pieces was custom made. I know it was expensive. I’m pretty sure that’s the one they want, but if the Angelo Brothers wanted it back, why didn’t they just tell you, or ask me? I don’t know why these
men are acting so intimidating
trying to get it from me.”

“Armand never said a word about it,” Darby said shaking his head.

“What about Bernardo?” I asked. “He’s the one I’ve seen with these other men.”

“I saw him yesterday,
” he said, “
but he never showed up for our meetings today. Armand had no idea where he was.”

I thought for a
moment
before asking
, “Do you remember the man with the hat yesterday morning? He was in the office when you were waiting for your appointment.”

He furrowed his brow in thought. “Vaguely,” he said. “I wasn’t really paying much attention. I was fo
cusing on the presentation
I wanted to give.”

“Well,” I said, “he’s been following me. All day yesterday and today.”

Darby looked mildly alarmed. “Are you sure? Why would he be following you?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I have no idea. Until just a little while ago, I thought maybe Armand and Bernardo had him following me to be sure I was safe in the city.”

“I don’t know. I suppose it could have started out that way,” he said. “Bernardo was really upset when you disappeared at the theater.”

“Oh Darby, I
don’t think for one minute
he thought I was abducted, or that he was upset,” I said with
disdain
. “If he was upset i
t was because whatever they
planned for me went awry when I took off.”