Olaf laughed. “Yes, she would be. It was the right thing to do though. It is a good decision.”
“That’s not the point.”
The towers of the city blinked at him through the darkness; he could hear their hum calling to him, taunting him. Somewhere, somewhere in those canyons, Naomi was wandering around all on her own right now. Jon had the terrible urge to leave the house and the people in it, return to Manhattan, and walk through the streets searching for her. He tried to find the right words, tried to tell Olaf; but looking at the stern, lean face, he stumbled over his own words.
“We took that decision away from her, Olaf. It was hers to make, and we took it away from her. You, by suggesting Harvard to Joshua without consulting her, and me by signing those papers without her consent. She was right. I didn’t have the right to do that, and you didn’t have the right to talk to Josh without her knowing about it. No wonder she’s hurt and angry.”
Olaf waved him away. “You don’t know that. You don’t know what’s going on. Maybe she’s just shopping and…”—he pointed at the useless cell phone in Jon’s hand—“and her battery has run out, just like yours. You should really get better phones. Those are old and outdated. I’ll have some sent over to you tomorrow.”
Confused, Jon stared at the thing. He could hardly remember having been in a more surreal situation, ever. Not even when Naomi had been in the hospital, fighting for her life, and he had been alone with her parents at the Malibu house.
“Yes. Thank you,” he replied. “I don’t think she’s just shopping or having a good time. Our parting was too angry for that. And knowing Naomi, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s on a plane back to Norway right now. I’m just very worried.”
Olaf stared at him. “That’s easy to find out, isn’t it? Have you called the airports?”
The question was so ridiculous, Jon wanted to laugh. “Not even I would be able to get an answer from them.”
“Well.” Olaf got out his own phone. “Good thing I have some friends, isn’t it?”
chapter 33
She had no idea where she was. They’d been driving around for hours once they had left Manhattan through the tunnel, first along the Pulaski Skyway and then toward the shore, where he had taken her to the beach and made her walk through the surf with him. He had even carried her sandals, very gentlemanly and courteous, and offered his hand in support. She hadn’t taken it and bent down to pick up a shell instead, pretending to admire it. Parker had smiled and nodded, and commented that this was what he had wanted all along, to spend time with her without all those men who constantly hovered around her.
“Because,” he said, “you are way too lovely to waste your time with someone like Jon Stone. He can have any woman in the world, but he shouldn’t have you. You are meant to be free.”
Naomi did not point out that she wasn’t free right now, that he had virtually abducted her and was keeping her away from her husband and home against her will and wouldn’t even let her make a phone call. She had tried, but Parker had taken the cell from her, shaking his head. “Don’t. Just let it go. I promise, you are perfectly safe with me. Enjoy your new freedom!” He hadn’t returned it to her, nor had he given back her sandals but locked them in the car trunk. “Those things,” he explained, “looked uncomfortable with their high heels. We’ll get you more comfortable ones later.”
With a look at her hands he had added, “And those rings. You don’t want them anymore. Give them to me.” She had hidden her hands behind her back and tried to move away from him, but he had been faster and grabbed her wrist, forcing the wedding band and her diamond ring from her finger to fling them into the sea. Terrified, heartbroken, Naomi had sunk down on the sand and cried.
Parker had comforted her, telling her over and over that they had been her manacles, signs of her captivity, that he would see to it that she would never be a prisoner to anything or anyone at all. It was then that it dawned on her that she was in real danger.
The fast-food place where they had stopped was off the highway, on a small road and surrounded by parking lots. They were mostly empty at this time of night; only the one surrounding the restaurant was busy.
Parker hadn’t been too happy about stopping, but she had insisted she needed to use the bathroom, and she was hungry. Pointing at the billboard announcing food at the next exit, Naomi had said, “Go there. You don’t want to harm me, do you?” and he shook his head no .
There weren’t many people inside but enough to allow her to slip outside without him noticing while he stood in line for her food.
She looked around in the humid darkness, lost and disoriented, barefoot, and totally alone.
Her purse was in the car; he hadn’t let her take it, saying she didn’t need it in the bathroom and he would get her a burger. He had said it very kindly too, and patted her shoulder. “It’s a very nice purse, and you might drop it in that restroom. You don’t want it to be ruined, do you?” Obediently, she had shaken her head and let him lead her away.
A car came up slowly and turned into the drive-through lane, a single woman behind the wheel. It stopped at the first window. With a furtive glance to check on Parker, Naomi hurried over to her.
“Help me,” she whispered, hunkering down on the side of the vehicle. “Please, help me. I’ve been kidnapped. He’s in there, getting food, and I managed to get away when he let me use the bathroom. Please. Please, help me.”
The woman looked at her through dark-rimmed glasses, lips pursed and brows drawn. Then she reached over and opened the door.
“Get in,” she said, and stepped on the gas as soon as Naomi had clambered in.
She took the car onto the road and through a number of loops, confusing Naomi even further. Not even in LA were the highways this convoluted.
“You’re barefoot,” the woman remarked. “Did he take your shoes?”
Naomi wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold despite the heat of the night. Her fingers were trembling badly. “He took everything away, everything. My shoes, my cell phone, my purse…” She looked at her hands. “My wedding ring. My engagement ring.”
The stranger said nothing for a while, just looked ahead into the night. They crossed an overpass and the road turned into the main street of a small town lined with trees and pleasant homes with porches.
“I’m Jane.” They took a left turn.
Naomi looked at her. She was a slight woman with short, curly brown hair shot through with gray, somewhere in her late forties or early fifties, her face quite lovely, and very friendly. Her driving was careful, slow, but never uncertain. She glanced at Naomi when she started to cry.
“He threw them away,” Naomi sobbed. “He threw my rings away. My diamond…”
“Those can be replaced,” Jane replied briskly. “Just be glad you’re safe now. We need to call the police. And you have to call your family.” She stopped the car outside a white house. “Here we are. Come on, come inside.”
They were in a residential area. The house stood on a corner, surrounded by high trees and a clean, neat lawn. It had a small porch, more of a landing outside the door, a few steps leading up to it, also painted white. Naomi, standing on the sidewalk while Jane took her purse from the backseat, was entranced by the blue lights in the posts of the stairway, nearly like small lighthouses, and very pretty. Right now it seemed like the most inviting place she had ever seen.
“Come on in.” Jane was waiting for her. “My husband is home, and we have a dog, a rather big and lively dog; but he won’t harm you, I promise. He’s quite well trained.” She paused and added, a little less certain, “I think.”
A cozy parlor greeted them, well furnished, tastefully decorated, and with lots of bookcases. They were all glass fronted, which struck Naomi as strange until she saw the dog behind th
e baby gate, locked in the kitchen. She had no idea what kind of breed he was, but he was large, and he looked like trouble. From the parlor, through the dining room, Naomi could see a TV surrounded by more bookcases, a couch in front of it, and the gray top of a man’s head just above the cushions. He was watching baseball.
“He loves baseball.” Jane threw a brief glance in his direction. “He won’t even notice we’re here. Now.” She looked critically at Naomi. “Would you like to clean up a bit? You look a little bedraggled. I’ll put on some tea and find you something to eat in the meantime. And then you’ll have to make those calls.”
“Coffee? Could I have coffee?” Naomi felt naked, exposed, in a strange way delivered into strangers’ hands, helpless.
“On second thought, maybe you shouldn’t be here at all.” Jane tapped her fingers on the counter. “Maybe I should take you to the hospital. Were you…did he…your abductor, did he…hurt you?”
It took Naomi a moment to understand what she was talking about. “No.” The idea was so terrible, she didn’t even want to think about it. “No, I’m not hurt. He never touched me. Well, not in that way. He did take away my rings by force…” Her ring. The diamond Jon had bought for her in London, on the day he had asked her to marry him, on that magical day when she had agreed to be his wife. “I have to call my husband. My father. Oh God, my husband will be beside himself with worry!” She stopped.
For the first time that night Naomi wondered if it was true, if Jon was really worrying about her or if he had stopped caring, stopped loving her the moment he had left her in the limo after those awful things she had said to him. She was so exhausted, so scared and confused, and this thought nearly made her break.
“Yes, please. I’d like to use your phone.” Her voice was shaking with this new terror.
Jane nodded. “Come with me. You can use my office. It’s a mess, I warn you, but you’ll have some privacy there.”
The dog waved his tail at her when they walked past the kitchen door to the back of the house, where another door led into the messiest office Naomi had ever seen. There was paper everywhere, piles of books, more piles of paper, and yet more books. In a corner, three cartons stood in a precarious tower, all of them filled with what looked suspiciously like stuffed animals of all kinds. The desk was hidden beneath stacks of more books, more folders; and even the computer was propped on some copies of a dictionary. The wall behind the chair, right next to the window, was covered with notes, postcards, photographs, a Christmas ornament dangling from the curtain rod. It was the most comfortable, friendliest place Naomi had ever seen, and it looked loved.
“Toys?” she asked.
“I juggle a lot of balls.” With a shrug, Jane dug out the phone from under a heap of manila envelopes. “Here you go. I didn’t even ask; where are you from? How long have you been gone? We should really, really call the police first.” She scribbled an address, name, and phone number on a slip of paper. “Here. This is where you are, and that’s me. You’ll have to tell them where to find you.”
Naomi tried not to sob. “I’m sure my husband will take care of it. He’ll…he will take care of everything.” It sounded like a mantra, as if by saying it she could make it come true.
“But your abductor is somewhere out there,” Jane reasoned gently. “The local authorities should be informed. Really, my dear.” She hesitated. “You haven’t told me your name.”
“I’m Naomi.” And that was really all. She had no idea if she was still more than that.
“Right, Naomi. Pleased to meet you. I’ll leave you to make your calls and get the coffee going. I’ll be in the kitchen, okay? Right down the hall. The bathroom is next door. Join me when you feel you’re ready.” On the point of leaving, Jane turned back. “Are you hungry? I have some red velvet cake.”
Her fingers refused to dial Jon’s cell number. For the life of her she couldn’t remember it, almost as if her head wouldn’t allow her to call him.
Crying, shivering, her hand hovering over the phone, Naomi tried to think of Sal’s, or her father’s; but her mind was blank.
From one of the boxes a stuffed elephant was looking at her, his trunk raised like a question mark, his eyes big and pondering. For some unknown reason he had pink fur and was wearing a bow with a little bell, like a cat; and he seemed like the most comforting thing Naomi had ever seen. Careful not to disturb anything, she padded over and pulled him out to have a closer look. There was a price tag attached to his little string of a tail, and the badge of a toy shop. All the other animals, she saw, had something similar; but none of them was as cute as the elephant. She pressed him to her face, wondering if he was for sale, if all these things were for sale, and if Jane would sell it to her so she would have something, anything, friendly to hold on to during the night.
Again fear threatened to overwhelm her. Her feet were dirty, she had torn a toenail in her flight across the parking lot of the fast-food place, and there was a cut on her heel where she had stepped on something sharp. The black dress was rumpled, messy from sitting in the wet sand on the beach, stained from the seawater; and she knew her face was smeared with make up and eyeliner from all the crying she had done. She had not taken the time to clean herself up in the public restroom, too intent on getting away.
The elephant clasped to her breast, she made her call.
“Art,” she said, her voice wobbly with new tears, “could you please call Jon for me?”
Jane had found slippers for her and made a pot of coffee. She placed a huge piece of cake on the table in front of Naomi and sat down across from her, her chin propped on her fists, watching, waiting, ready to listen.
The coffee smelled heavenly. Naomi wrapped her hands around the hot mug and took a sip, breathing in the steam.
“We live in Brooklyn.” She picked up the fork and cut off a piece of the red cake. “We just bought a house there. I’m from Toronto. My husband’s family lives in Brooklyn; that’s why we decided to live there.”
“You bought a house in New York?” Jane picked up her own cup.
“Yes, on the Promenade. It’s a very beautiful house.” The cake was heavenly, and just what she had needed. Naomi let the cream cheese icing melt in her mouth, savoring the sweetness. “I gave it to my husband for our wedding. Last year. Almost exactly a year ago. Well, eleven months. We’ve been married for eleven months.” She was babbling, and she bit her lip to stop herself. The dog had been locked out; he was in the conservatory just off the kitchen, where he had curled up in a dog crate and gone to sleep. His paws twitched from time to time, and he kept making small, funny noises that made Naomi look his way and smile.
“He’s chasing squirrels in his sleep,” Jane said. “We have so many of them in the yard, little pests. They like to raid my bird feeders.”
“I was downtown.” Naomi took another bite of the cake, this time a bigger one. It was almost as if the first taste had stirred her hunger. Her stomach was growling furiously. “I was downtown, and I wanted to go to Lincoln Center to check out the price for a box. I wanted to buy a box for the season. And then…I had met him before. He was always very nice; he interviewed me in London, and he was the perfect, charming gentleman. So when we ran into each other in that hotel lobby, I didn’t think twice when he asked me to go with him for a drink. It was almost dinnertime anyway, and I really wanted a drink. So I thought it would be better to have one with Parker than go to a bar all by myself, but…” She broke off, realizing that most of what she was saying was totally meaningless to someone else. “That pink elephant.”
Jane raised her eyebrows.
“Do you sell those animals? Can I buy the pink elephant?” Naomi asked.
“I sell them, yes. You can buy the elephant, sure.” She poured more coffee. “You were lucky. I rarely go to that restaurant at night; but I
had a library board meeting, and it ran late. When I got out I wanted a milk shake, so I stopped there. I’m glad I was there to help you. But I really think we should call the police now, Naomi.”
“It’s being taken care of. I talked to Art, to my husband’s manager. Well, one of them. He’s in LA, but I’m sure he has called Jon by now, and…” Her voice caught on a sob. “And Jon will take care of it.”
Jane nodded. “You know what I think? I think you’re in shock. And you need medical attention, my dear. I should really take you to the hospital. Your husband will be able to find you there. Please?”
“No. No.” The tears spilled over. “If you’re okay with it, I’d really like to stay here. I don’t know if I’d feel safe at a hospital. I’ll just sit here and not bother you. Someone will be here soon to pick me up. Someone will come.”
chapter 34
She had fallen asleep on the couch. A sound woke her, and she looked around disoriented and scared until she saw Jane move across the room to peer through the window.
“Oh my,” she commented, “three limos and a row of SUVs? There’s a crowd out there for you, dear. I think I’m seeing FBI badges too.”
“Is Jon there?” Naomi sat up. “Can you see Jon?”
“Well.” Jane opened the door. “There are a lot of men out there, but I don’t know which one of them your Jon is. Why in the world wouldn’t he be here? He’s your husband, isn’t he?”
Under the Same Sun (Stone Trilogy) Page 30