I smiled at him. What an understanding guy. “Nikki? What’s up?”
“Abby, I think someone’s following me,” she whispered tensely. “What should I do?”
“Where are you? Isn’t Morgan with you?” I glanced over at Marco, and he raised his eyebrows questioningly.
“I dropped Greg off and went to find a parking space, but the lot was jammed, so I was looking for off-street parking when this white van-Omigod, Abby, he’s right on my bumper!”
Make that
“What’s happening?” Marco asked, leaning toward me.
“A van is following Nikki,” I whispered. “She dropped Morgan off, then-”
“I floored it, Abby. The van’s still right behind me,” Nikki cried, in a panic.
“Honk the horn and keep driving, Nik. Try to attract attention.”
“There’s no one on the road,” she cried, “and where’s the damn horn button?”
“It’s not a button! It’s-”
“Let me talk to her.” Marco took my mobile and handed me his. “Call 911.”
While I called the police, he pressed my phone to his ear. “Nikki, where are you? Heading toward Concord Avenue? Good. Keep going. Forget the horn. No, do not let the van pass. Drive down the middle of the road if you have to. He might be trying to run you off. When you get to Concord, cross the intersection and pull into the gas station on the corner.”
I gave the dispatch operator Nikki’s location and ended the call, my stomach in fist-sized knots. What if the van ran Nikki off the road? What if she ended up in a ditch? My mom’s worst nightmare had just become my own.
“Okay, Nikki,” Marco said, “as soon as you pull up in front of the door, put the car in park, kill the engine, grab the keys… Hello?” He looked at the screen, then, with a muttered curse, started punching buttons.
“What happened?”
“Dropped call.” He held my phone to his ear, listened, then cursed again. “Nothing.”
“I’ll try your phone. We’ve got different phone companies.” Quickly, I entered Nikki’s number in Marco’s phone, tapping my fingers on the tabletop as I counted the rings. “Four, five, six-either she should have answered or the call should have gone to voice mail-eight, nine, ten.” I clapped his phone shut. “She’s not answering.”
Marco tossed down a twenty-dollar bill for the wine and ushered me toward the coat-check closet. I thrust my arms into the sleeves as he held open my navy coat, then clung to his arm so I wouldn’t slip in my heels as we hurried to his car.
He drove as fast as he could, but it still took more than ten minutes to reach the north side of town. When he screeched into the gas station, two cop cars were there, lights flashing, and my yellow Corvette was parked in front of the gas station/convenience store’s door. As we hurried toward the entrance, I took a hasty glance at my car, and everything looked fine, luckily.
When we stepped inside, Reilly and another cop were with Nikki, who was seated on a folding chair with a bottle of water in her hand. When she saw me, she started to cry.
Marco, Reilly, and the other cop formed a huddle to discuss the situation, while I went straight to Nikki to hug her. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”
She took a deep breath and blew it out, wiping tears off her cheeks. “I’m okay, other than wanting to vomit.”
“Did you see the guy who was following you?”
“There were two people, Abby. I didn’t see their faces, but I noticed their van when I circled through the parking lot. I thought they were looking for a space, not for a car to steal.”
And then my bright yellow Vette went sailing past their thieving little eyeballs.
Nikki took a sip of water. “Remind me to never borrow your car again.”
No problemo.
Within minutes, an APB went out for a white van with no markings and two people inside. Unfortunately, since Nikki hadn’t seen their faces, the search was going to be difficult. Reilly took her back to the country club to meet up with Morgan, who’d been frantically phoning her, not realizing Nikki had hit a dead zone. Since she’d lost her appetite for a heavy meal, she and Morgan planned to hail a cab back to our apartment for a light supper of toast and eggs.
“Take my car,” Marco told me, as we left the gas station. “I’ll follow you in the Vette, just in case anyone tries anything.”
Still my hero. “Thanks, Marco.” I gave his arm an affectionate squeeze. “Are we going back to Adagio’s or do you want to call it a night?”
“Your choice.”
Hmm. If we went to the restaurant, I’d have to leave my car parked on a main street, and after what had just happened, that wasn’t something I was ready to do. But Marco lived on a quiet block with little traffic. “How about we pick up a pizza and go back to your place?”
“Okay, but Rafe will be there. We’ll have to get two pizzas.”
Darn. I’d forgotten about Marco’s younger brother, a supposedly temporary houseguest who’d now been there a month. After Rafe had dropped out of college one semester shy of graduation, Marco’s mom had asked him to take Rafe under his wing to get him back on track. I was still waiting for that to happen.
“How about your place?” Marco asked.
“Two words. Nikki. Morgan.”
“Right. Let’s just grab a sandwich at Down the Hatch.”
In my green silk dress? At least we’d be fed quickly, and since my stomach was starting to eat itself, it worked for me. “Let’s go.”
But once back at Marco’s bar on a crowded Saturday night, we found nowhere to sit but in his office, so we pulled chairs up to his desk and gobbled our sandwiches as though we hadn’t eaten in weeks. Quite romantic.
“I almost forgot,” Marco said, swallowing a mouthful of barbecued beef. “Reilly said to tell you Nils Raand agreed to meet Monday afternoon at two o’clock. If that time doesn’t work, you should call the distribution center and leave a message.”
“I wonder why Reilly didn’t tell me.”
“You were busy. I told Reilly no problem. Grace and Lottie will cover.” He gave me his sexy little grin. “Right?”
“Yes.” Still, he could have asked. Making assumptions was not a positive attribute.
“It’ll be quiet here at the bar, so I’ll be able to make it, too.”
Wow. With no invitation or anything-not that I minded his company. “So you’re going with me, then.”
“Damn straight. Raand’s not going to intimidate you while I’m around.”
I put down my sandwich and wiped my fingers on a napkin. At least that was how it looked to Marco. Actually I was counting to ten. “That’s sweet, Marco, and I appreciate your support, but Raand’s not going to intimidate me.”
“You got that right.”
“But not because you’ll be there, Marco. Because I won’t let him. It’s all about mental attitude.”
“Trust me, Sunshine. It won’t come to that.”
Arrogance. Straight into the minus column.
PLUSES : MINUSES
Protective: Bossy
Confident: Arrogant
Open-minded: Stubborn
Sexy:
Hardworking:
Brave:
Trusting:
Family oriented:
