Breathless (72 page)

“I want to hear them.” She turned toward Tony. “Daddy, make them start now.”

Apparently Nichol believed there was no limit to her father’s abilities.

“I could, princess.” Tony replied.

Claire shook her head. Maybe Tony wasn’t aware of his boundaries either.

Tony continued, “But see all the people who aren’t in their seats yet? If I had the orchestra start playing, they’d miss the opening act.”

Nichol pressed her lips together and wrinkled her forehead. “Then they should have gotten here sooner, like us.”

“Yes, my princess, they should have.”

Trying to distract their daughter, Claire said, “Honey, why don’t you tell your daddy about our trip to the museum yesterday?”

Her brown eyes opened wide. “I lost Sophie!”

Tony reached for her doll and handed it to his daughter. “No, you didn’t. Here she is.”

“No, Daddy, I did lost her at the maseum. She was gone! Mr. Phil found her for me, on a bench. I didn’t mean to get her lost.”

Claire put her arm around Nichol. “It’s all right. You have her back, and yes, Mr. Phil was quite the hero. Just like the time we accidentally left her at that ice cream shop in Iowa City a few weeks ago.”

Their daughter’s dark eyes narrowed. “I didn’t lost her at the ice cream shop. She was hiding.”

Claire rubbed Nichol’s shoulder. “It’s all right. We found her there, and Mr. Phil found her yesterday.”

Nichol smiled back at Taylor. “And Miss Taylor too.”

“I’m glad you had all that help,” Tony replied. “Sophie sure has a pretty dress. It looks just like yours!”

“Mommy did that. We have matching shoes, too. See.” Nichol lifted her shoes near the doll’s feet.

“I don’t think I’ve asked you: how did you come up with that pretty name?”

“I named her for the lady who painted the pretty picture of Momma, the one of Momma in her beautiful princess dress.”

“You did?” Claire asked.

“Yep,” Nichol said. “I like her name, and she painted good. You look pretty in that picture.”

Claire’s eyes met Tony’s, seeing a hint of sadness swirl below the surface. “You’re right, princess,” he said. “She did do a good job, and your mommy looked even prettier in real life than she does in that painting.”

The theater darkened and the music began. It wasn’t until Tony had had the chance to speak with Phil during intermission that Claire noticed his change in demeanor. When he looked her way, she silently questioned him. He only shook his head and mouthed, “Later.”

Once they were back in the car after the show, the pieces of the puzzle began to slide into place. As Nichol snuggled against Claire’s side and watched the lights through the window of the limousine, Tony said, “We’re going home tomorrow morning.”

Lowering her voice, Claire replied, “Why? What happened?”

Shaking his head, he looked down at Nichol.

“But something happened, didn’t it?”

Tony pulled out his phone and opened up the camera application. Silently, he handed it to his wife. Adjusting her eyes to the small screen, Claire looked down at the image. The picture was of a plastic bag with an envelope with the name Nichol Rawlings printed on the outside. Claire’s forehead furrowed.

“Swipe the screen,” Tony said. Claire did. The next was a picture of a similar bag containing a similar envelope with the name Claire Rawlings on the outside.

“Where were these?” Claire asked.

“On our seats in the private box.”

“On our seats?” she questioned. “But we just made these reservations?”

“Phil’s running leads, but we didn’t even use our name.”

Claire looked closer at the screen and enlarged the image. “They’re different, more like the recent
I’ll save you
messages. The names are handwritten and it says Rawlings, not Rawls.”

Tony nodded. “Phil called the FBI. They’ve picked them up and will call as soon as they know anything. The fact that they’re different worries me more than if they were the same.”

Claire glanced at Nichol who appeared unfazed as she stared out the window, her little eyes getting heavy. “How could anyone know we were there?”

With the light from the street, and line of lights within, Claire saw Tony’s jaw clench. “I don’t know,” Tony replied. “That isn’t all. There was another one waiting for you at the restaurant.”

Claire’s stomach fell. “The restaurant? Where we just ate? It was waiting for
me
?”

Tony reached for her hand. “I’m not trying to scare you, but this is serious.”

“I agree. What did they say?”

“I don’t know. The FBI told us not to open anything. Once they do, we’ll know more.”

“Tony...” Claire peered down at Nichol, who, despite the chaos around her, had fallen asleep with her forehead against the window. “...I’m scared.”

He scooted near and pulled her closer. “I’d feel better if we were home. I have a few early meetings, but then we’re heading back to Iowa.”

Claire nodded. “I promised Nichol one more trip to
FAO Schwarz
and
American Girl
. We’ll do that first thing and then we’ll be ready to go when you’re done.” Noticing his expression, she added, “Don’t worry. We’ll have Phil and Taylor with us the entire time.”

When they arrived back to their apartment building, Phil went up ahead to the apartment. Tony carried Nichol, Claire carried Sophie, and Taylor led the procession with Eric following closely behind. Once their apartment was declared safe, the Rawlingses were cleared to enter.

Dropping Sophie on the sofa, Claire sighed. “I know she won’t remember all of this, but this wasn’t how I envisioned Nichol’s first trip to New York.”

Tony laid their daughter on the sofa and undid her coat. “Look at her. She’s blissfully unaware.”

Claire smoothed Nichol’s hair away from her face. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened—” Tears threatened her painted lids.

Tony’s strong arms surrounded Claire. “Stop. Nothing will happen. We’ll be home tomorrow.”

Claire nodded against his Armani suit jacket and listened to the beat of his heart.

“Let’s get Nichol into her bed. It’s been a long day.”

“All right,” Claire replied. Her eyes widened as Tony picked up Nichol. “When do you expect to hear from the FBI?”

“Hopefully tomorrow.” He started walking toward the front stairs.

“Oh, don’t forget Sophie!” Claire said, as she picked up the doll. “You have no idea how traumatic it was when she went missing. We don’t want Nichol waking in the middle of the night and not being able to find her.”

The next morning, Claire and Tony woke to the running feet and launch of their daughter onto their bed. “Momma, Daddy, I want to go to the doll store!”

Claire looked toward the red numbers on the bedside stand. “Honey, it’s not even 6:00 AM. Look out the windows. It’s still dark. Maybe you should go back—”

Her little forehead wrinkled. “What time does it open?”

Claire was about to finish her suggestion that Nichol go back to sleep when Tony pulled himself up to a sitting position and tucked Nichol under his arm. “Come here, princess, let’s look at what time it opens.”

As Tony turned on his phone, Claire shook her head. “I think that could wait until after—”

“Nichol? Where’s Sophie?” Tony asked.

“Right here,” she said, as she produced the doll from the foot of the bed.

“Oh, my. She’s still wearing her dress from last night!” Tony said.

Nichol’s eyes widened. “She is!”

“Doesn’t the poor doll have jammies?”

“She does.” Nichol climbed down from the big bed. “I’ll get them.”

Claire’s brow furrowed. “Since when are you concerned about her doll’s clothing?”

Instead of answering, Tony handed Claire his phone. It was open to a text message:

“MR. RAWLINGS. ALL THREE ENVELOPES AND CARDS TESTED CLEAR. THE MESSAGES WERE AS FOLLOWS: THE CARD FROM THE RESTAURANT, ADDRESSED TO MRS. RAWLINGS:
THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO SAVE YOU. SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE CITY. SOON I WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU.”

“CARD FROM THEATER, ADDRESSED TO MRS. RAWLINGS:
I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN’T RESPOND, BUT
TOMORROW. YOU WILL BE FREE TOMORROW.”

“CARD FROM THEATER, ADDRESSED TO NICHOL RAWLINGS:
SOON YOU TOO WILL BE FREE.”

Claire read the text a second time. “What is it supposed to mean? I don’t understand.”

“I’ll cancel my meetings. We’ll leave right away.”

Claire shook her head. “If we do that, he wins. I almost felt better about the Rawls-Nichols mailings. At least they were consistent.”

Nichol came rushing back, Sophie in tow. “I didn’t put on her jammies. She’s too excited about the doll store. She wanted to get dressed.”

“
She’s
excited?” Claire asked.

Nichol nodded. “Yep. Daddy, when do they open?”

Tony brushed the screen. “Just a minute. Oh, here it is.
American Girl
opens at 9:00 AM. Look at that, you silly: we have over three hours.”

“I don’t want to wait three hours. I want to go
now
.”

Claire gave Nichol a big hug. “Me too, but we have to wait. That way we can eat a big breakfast! I bet Sophie would like some scrambled eggs.”

“Nope. She wants pancakes.”

“Of course she does,” Tony laughed.

When 9:00 AM came, Claire, Tony, Nichol, Phil, and Taylor were all anxiously awaiting the opening of the
American Girl
store on Fifth Avenue. After a discussion with Eric, Phil, and Taylor, Tony decided to cancel his meetings and stay close to Claire and Nichol. Still blissfully unaware, Nichol bounced in her seat, excited to have her whole family see the store.

Phil watched the door for suspicious patrons while Taylor stayed by Nichol’s side. Since Claire had arranged for a personal shopper to help guide Nichol to the areas of the store that interested her most, she was waiting for their arrival. As she ushered Nichol about, Tony and Claire followed closely behind.

With each new section of the giant store, Claire began to relax. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just before they were to leave, Nichol whispered to Claire that she needed to use the restroom. They handed Sophie to Taylor who followed them into the restroom. Once Nichol and Claire entered a stall, the commotion happened so fast, it was difficult to keep up.

Rants and crashes echoed throughout the bathroom, the tile walls and floors intensifying the sounds.

Nichol’s brown eyes grew to the size of saucers as she looked to her mother and asked, “What’s that?”

“Shush, honey,” Claire whispered as she hugged Nichol close to her thundering heart. Saying a silent prayer, Claire listened. She didn’t know what or who was causing the racket, but soon she heard not only Taylor’s voice but also Phil’s.

Apparently, a man in his mid-thirties had been waiting in one of the stalls. When he opened the door, in his attempt to
save
or
free
Claire, Taylor was on top of him. Immediately, the chaos brought others. It wasn’t until Claire heard the deep baritone voice she needed, that she considered opening the stall door.

“Claire,” Tony called. “Are you all right? Come out.”

With trembling fingers, Claire opened the latch. Her heart found its steady beat as her gaze melted into the dark eyes. Leaning into her husband, she turned just in time to see the back of a man as he was being led away by store security, his wrists cuffed.

“...you don’t understand,” the man protested. “She needs me. I love her, and she loves me. I need to save her from him...” His words trailed away as Claire melted against Tony, who held Nichol tight.

Once they were back in the limousine, Phil told them the information he’d learned. “The man’s name is Rudolf. He read the book,
My Life As it Didn’t Appear,
and has been devoted to save you, to free you.”

Claire shook her head. “Save me? From the book?”

“He’s delusional, thinking you’re still going through the things described in there.”

Tony’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “I hate that damn book.”

“What else did he say?” Claire asked.

“He was very forthcoming. He’s been following you for a while. However, we still aren’t sure how he knew your schedule. I know your phones and computers are clean. I check them almost daily.”

“He had an earpiece in his ear.” Taylor volunteered. “You know, like a Bluetooth.” Her mind processed. “Phil, how long did he say he has he been following Mrs. Rawlings?”

“He said that he’s been
with
you
...” Phil looked to Claire. “...for weeks.”

“I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

Tony squeezed her hand.

“I still don’t know how he knew where we’d be. And what did he mean,
with me
?”

“Nichol?” Phil asked. “May I see Sophie?”

Shaking her head, Nichol hugged her doll tighter. “No, she’s scared. That bad man scared her.”

“Honey,” Taylor began, “you know that Mr. Phil and I are here to keep you safe, right?”

Nichol nodded.

“We also want to keep Sophie safe. Can I please see her for a minute?”

Apprehensively, Nichol’s dark eyes turned to her mom. Claire nodded, unsure of the new fascination with the doll. Nichol slowly held Sophie out to Taylor. “Mr. Phil, Sophie wants to go to Miss Taylor.”

Phil smiled. “That’s just fine, Nichol. Miss Taylor can make sure Sophie’s safe.”

“I’m going to look very closely at Sophie when we get back to your apartment. Is that okay, Nichol?”

“Don’t let her get hurt again.”

“Again?” Taylor asked.

“Yes, she’s got an ouchy on her back.”

“I won’t let anything happen to her.”

“I’ve called ahead; our things should be packed for us to head home,” Tony declared.

***

BACK IN IOWA, Claire and Tony sat in their office as Phil explained the findings. “There was a microphone, GPS, and transmitter hidden inside of Sophie. That’s how Rudolf knew where you were or where you were going.”

“Did it happen at the company?” Tony asked.

“We’re confident that it was placed post-manufacturing,” Taylor replied.

Phil interjected, “We believe it happened in Iowa City, when Nichol left Sophie at the ice cream shop. I remember thinking at the time that I hadn’t seen the doll when we left. If they still have their security footage we could confirm it, but I think Rudolf was there and stole the doll when Nichol and we weren’t looking. I didn’t recognize him at first, but now I think he was familiar. We think he inserted the transmitter, GPS, and microphone then and left her for us to find. When we retrieved her, we never thought to look.”