2 Big Apple Hunter (18 page)

“Only the back door was damaged
,” she said
,
“
and we can’t find anything missing at all, but someone went through everything in the house. The police are here taking a statement from Dad right now.” She sounded strained and tired. “Insurance will cover the door. I probably shouldn’t have called you, but it’s all so unsettling, and sometimes I just need t
o hear your voice and know
you’re ok there all by yourself.

“I’m sorry this happened to you and Dad,” I told her. “
And
I’m
doing
fine. You know Darby is right across the hall, and h
e watches out for me
. As a matter of fact, he went to New York City this past weekend on business, and I went with him.”

“Susan Elizabeth Hunter!” she squealed.

Oh my gosh! My full name. Here comes the lecture, probably about the dangers of the big city and strange men, blah, blah, blah.

“I can’t believe you went to New York City again!” All sign of fatigue and stress was instantly gone from her voice. She actually sounded buoyant. “I’ve been trying for years to get your
father to take me, and he
keeps making excuses. I think he would love everything about the city if he would just give it a chance.”

“Mom?” Was this my mother I was talking to? The b
reak-in must have shaken her
more than she realized. “Have you ever even been to New York City?”

“Yes, of course,” she said. “Our senior class trip was to
New York
, and I fell in love with
the city
.” She practically whispered, “I almost had a fling in Central Park with a street entertainer. He was a singer, and he was young and sexy. If our chaperone hadn’t shown up when she did … well, let’s just say it was a good thing she showed up.” She giggled at the memory.
I was astounded.
This was a side of my mo
ther
that was new to me. She continued with her memories, “The shopping, the museums, the theater, Times Square at night, I loved all of it! It was magical to me. I’ve wanted to
go back ever since, but it
hasn’t been in the cards. Tell me all about it.” She sounded genuinely excited and interested.

I was relieved there would be no lecture today. I laughed and told her, “Let’s save the stories for
later
. There are
too many to tell over the phone, and it will
take hours, but I had a
good
time, and I met a lot of
nice people.”

“I’m glad, Susan,” she said with a hint of wistfulness in her voice. “Your
dad and I miss you
, and we’re
looking forward to our Christmas visit. You’re still coming right?”

“Of course I am
,” I said
.
“
I already have the time off and can’t wait to catch up with you and dad. There’s a lot to tell.” The conversation was obviously winding down. “Mom, before you get away from me, I have to ask you to do something for me.”

“Anything, honey, what do you need?
” she asked.

“Have you been to the post office yet to pick up your mail?” Mom and Dad always had their mail held when they went out of town, even if it was only for a day or two.

“No, I’ll ru
n down in the morning to get it,” she said. “
Why do you ask?”

“Darby’s new contract is with a jewelry store in New York
,” I told her
.
“
I bought a necklace in the store and mailed it to you as a gift.”

“Susan, how thoughtful,” she said quickly, and I could hear appreciation in her voice.

“Yes, it was, wasn’t it,
” I
said laughing
. “But, Mom, it tu
rns out the piece wasn’t
for sale. I have to have the necklace back to Darby by Thursday or his job will be in jeopardy.”

“Well, how can you g
et it back that fast?” she asked, confused
.

“When you go to the post office tomorrow,” I told her, “the box will be there. Don’t take it with you, and don’t open it. Just have the clerk put a new label on the box, and send it right back out to me by way of overnight mail. It has to be overnight, Mom, because I absolutely have to have it on Thursday. Please, it’s really important, and I’ll pay you back for the postage.”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Susan
,” she said. “
I’ll take care of the postage, and I’ll get the box on its way to you. Since I
won’t be able to see the necklace
, tell me about it.”

I laughed again and told her, “It
’s really pretty. It’s a
black jade
,
oval
,
pendant, and it has a symbol of an ancient Chinese musical
instrument
on the front. I thought you could wear it or display it in your case with your other jade
pieces
. Once all of this is resolved, I’ll have Darby look for something similar for you.”

“That Darby is so nice,” she said. “Your d
ad and I both like him
, and y
ou guys are just so sweet together. I don’t know why you two have never dated. You get along well, and spend so much time together.” Obviously mom had no gaydar either.

“Darby and I are just friends, Mom, you know that,” I said with
some
condescension in my voice.

“I know,
” she said. “B
ut he doesn’t seem to make you crazy like Mick does. How are you two getting along? And when will we get to meet him? Are you bringing him
for
Christmas?”

I tried to keep the sadness out of my voice
and said
, “Well, it’s an on-again, off-again relationship
,
and for now
,
I think we’re off-again.
I’ll be coming by myself
at Christmas.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, honey,” she sympathized, “but try to change your perspective and give that cute Darby some signals and see what happens.”

“I’ll think
about it, Mom,” I assured her, b
ut I was smiling at the thought of giving Darby signals. If I wasn’t getting a lecture, talking with my mother always made me feel better.

There was some background noise on Mom’s end, and she said, “The police are done with Dad now, Susan. I’m going to go so we can clean things up. I’ll talk to you again soon.”

“Ok, but don’t forget about the box, Mom
,” I told her
.
“
It has to go out tomorrow morning.”

“I won’t forget, honey,
”
she said.

We said our good-byes and hung up.

Wednesday was another gray day.

I took some much needed time to clean the a
partment and do laundry
in the basement laundry room
. The
entire morning
was spent
vacuuming, scrubbing, and running up and down the stairs with baskets of clothing and bedding. At times I made so much noise, I was surprised Darby hadn’t stuck his head out to see what all the clatter was about. By noon, I was finished and knocked on Darby’s door. No answer. He hadn’t come back to spend the night with me last night, and he was gone today. I couldn’t help but wonder where he was and what he was doing.

With hands on hips, I
walked through the apartment surveying the completed work
with satisfaction
. Everything
was
neat and tidy, and the apartment had a faint orange scent from cleaning products.

I sat
on the sofa and tried to flip through the new
est
issue of
The
Cosmo
Woman
. One of the first articles was
How to Get a Girl to Have Sex
w
ith You
. I tossed the magazine back onto the coffee table. I leaned back against the sofa and closed my eyes. Tears welled up. I missed Mick. He hadn’t tried to call again after Sunday’s
meltdown
. How did I let this get so out of hand? Mick had never tried to put me in a position to have sex with him. Sometimes we were like teenagers making out, but he never pressed me to do more, even w
hen it was obvious we were o
n fire for each other. I always thought he was being the perfect gentleman and waiting for me to give him a signal to go further. I missed his
passionate
kisses,
his gorgeous hazel-green eyes gazing into mine
, the gentleness of his touch.

My phone rang. Oh, please let it be another synchronicity moment. Would just thinking about Mick be enough in the cosmos to actually have him call me?

I rushed to grab my phone. Crap! It was Angela. Something must be wrong that she was calling me
while I was on vacation
.

“Hi, Angela, what’s up?” I asked her.

“Susan, I’m
sorry to bother you, but I may have done somethin
g
I shouldn’t have,” she said sounding frightened.

“It’s ok, Angela. What is it?” I
asked, bracing
myself for bad news.

“Mrs. Ross came in looking for you yesterday
,” she said. “
I told her you weren’t in. S
he left, but she came back again today, and she was insistent that she talk to you personally, and she demanded your phone number. I’m afraid I was intimidated by her, and I
gave your number to her. I’m
sorry.”

My heart
jumped. Mrs. Ross could call
any minute
now
, and I didn’
t have the necklace. I forced myself to sound calm.
“Don’t wo
rry about it, Angela. I’ll
talk to her when she calls. Is everything else going well there?”

“Oh, Susan, thank you for not being mad,” she said sounding as though she was fighting back tears. “I wish I had stood up to her, but she seemed so mean. And yes, everything is going well. We signed four more people to full programs in just the last two days.”

“Good job, Angela
,” I told her
.
“
I appreciate
how well you take over the center,
a
nd I’m proud of you
.
”

“Thanks, Susan.” I could hear the relief in her voice. “That means a lot to me.
I won’t disturb you again, and
I’ll see you on Monday.”

We hung up.
I looked at the clock; it was 12:30. I didn’t want to talk with Mrs. Ross. It was time to go see Detective Bentley and fill him in on what I knew.

I took a few minutes to wash my face. My hair brushed, I quickly applied mascara and lip gloss. I was still in my black mood. I changed from my old cleaning clothes into a
pair of Levi jeans and a black-
and
-
white, horizontal stripe, long-sleeved sweater. I pulled on a pair of black slouchy boots, and grabbed my short, black, fitted leather jacket. The jacket would help to cut the chill in the air.

I couldn’t shake the feeling of dread as I drove into downtown Carbide City. Normally I loved going downtown and enjoyed the architecture and the shops of the 150-year-old city, but everything was drab today. I drove slowly down Main Street and saw that, for once, I was in luck. There was one parking spot open on the street across from the Police Department. I pulled into position to p
arallel park. B
efore I had completely pulled the front end of
the
Chevelle
into
the spot
, a car
sped
by
. It was an old, rusty
Caprice. It almost hit
my car! Who would speed
in front of a police station? I sat for a moment wondering at their stupidity and then tried to steel myself for
my
meeting with Detective Bentley.

I grabbed my purse, stepped out of
my
car
,
and promptly proceeded to jaywalk across the stre
et. Just a
s I was mid-way
, a car came
careening wildly
around the corner of the next block and was speeding directly at me. It was the Caprice.

For
a second, I couldn’t move, and I felt my hea
rt flop. I could easily see
it was Indiana Jones driving the car with Mrs. Ross in the passenger seat. I didn’t have time to fully proce
ss the thought, but I knew
they were trying to scare me and keep me from going into the police station. Racquetball had taught me to move on a dime, and I bolted the rest of the way across the street and through the front doors of the station. I never looked back.