Chapter 4


Nikolas loved Manhattan but he doubted anyone could find a thing to love about the city in the midst of a bone-chilling November rain.  Sitting at the functional desk in his hotel room he ignored the open laptop and stared at the steady drizzle inflicting itself on East 51st street, his thoughts turning to home and another rainy night not long past.  He’d caught himself thinking of that evening spent with Gia very often in the past week.  While meeting with the band he’d come to town to speak to and observe in action, he found his thoughts drifting to some of the things she’d said that night.  Earlier that same day, as he walked along 5th Avenue, he caught himself comparing every woman on the street to Gia; nowhere near as pretty, nice eyes but not as nice as Gia’s, pretty mouth but not as inviting as Gia’s, and on and on.  He thought of calling her but couldn’t think of a believable reason for calling without raising a lot of questions.

He imagined she was methodically eating everything in the refrigerator, putting empty cartons of ice cream, milk and jars of peanut butter back on his shelf as though he would never notice their contents were gone.  He knew he should be feeling annoyed with her but more and more he found himself amused by her antics.  Each morning he’d sit at the table eating breakfast, lingering in order to see what unusual collection of clothes she’d choose to wear that day.  He leaned back in the chair and indulged himself with the memory of her lying curled up on the sofa, sleeping soundly through most of “Casablanca” looking young and vulnerable and entirely too beautiful for his peace of mind.

He checked his watch and wondered if she was home.  He could call, he thought, and ask if she’d run into Lucky or Emily while he was gone but that wouldn’t fly.  If he wanted news of his brother and his friends he could call them directly.  One by one, he considered and rejected each excuse to call her until finally he had it.  Sheba.  He would feign concern at not being able to get in touch with the stable and ask her if she’d seen George take Sheba out for a ride that day.

He dialed the number quickly and leaned back in his chair propping his feet on the desk.  Absently, he closed the laptop and looked back out at the rain as the phone rang in his home miles away.

“Hello,” came the answer after four rings.

“Gia?  No, Emily?  Is that you Emily?” he asked, surprised.

“Nikolas.  I’m glad you called.  We have a problem here and you need to speak to Gia,” came the alarming response.

“What happened?” Nikolas asked.  “Is she okay?  Are you?  Is it Alexis?  What did Helena do now?”

“Here, talk to Gia.”

A moment’s pause and Gia’s voice came on the line, soft and uncharacteristically vague.

“Nikolas.  Everything’s okay.  Emily’s overreacting, that’s all.”

“Overreacting to what?” He was sitting up now, his entire body tense and his hands clenched.  “What happened?  Why is she there?” he added knowing well enough that Emily would not be paying Gia a casual visit.

He heard her breathe deeply and take too long to answer him.

“Gia.  Please tell me, I’m very worried here.”

“Someone broke into the house.  He ran off when he heard Emily come to the door.  Nothing happened, it doesn’t look like he took anything and we’re both fine.”  She took another breath and continued, “I don’t want to call my brother, please, try and convince Emily that I can’t do that.”  He heard the edge in her voice and thought, correctly, that she was probably nearing hysteria.

“Let me have Emily again,” he told her, keeping his voice calm.  “It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, I’m here.”  Emily was back on the line.

“Em, listen.  Call Lucky.  He’s not working tonight, I spoke to him earlier.  Try Liz first, he’s probably with her but I don’t know if she’s working or at the studio.  Tell him to get over to the cottage right away and call me as soon as he gets there.  I’m calling George right now and he can be over there in minutes so sit tight until he gets there.”  He thought a moment and added, “Turn on all the lights and stay downstairs; keep Gia with you.  Get the Jag’s keys, Gia knows where they are, and if you hear anything suspicious just press the blue button and the car alarm will go off, then call the cops right away.  Okay?  Call Lucky while I get in touch with George and I’ll call you again in a few minutes.  Emily, do you have all that?”  He asked.

“Got it.  I’ll talk to you soon.  Bye.”  His friend hung up and Nikolas wasted no time dialing the stable-hand’s number.  The man had been Stefan’s employee for over twenty years and as unquestionably loyal to Nikolas and his uncle as they could hope.  Nikolas spoke to George, his instructions succinct, the authority in his voice unmistakable.

Once satisfied that George was on his way to the cottage, Nikolas hung up the phone and began packing his belongings, giving Emily time to get in touch with Lucky.  He checked his ticket even though he knew his flight was for 9:30 the following morning then moved into the bathroom, threw his travel kit in the bag and looked at his watch.  Emily should be done with her calls by now, he thought and dialed his home again.

“Hello.”  Came the answer after two rings.

“Gia, are you okay?”  Nikolas felt guilt and helplessness wash over him like a wave at the sound of the girl’s voice.  Helena was up to her nasty tricks again and this time the target was someone completely undeserving of her wrath.  But, then again, was anyone deserving of Helena? 

“Did Emily reach Lucky?” He asked.

“Yes, he’s on his way.  His girlfriend, too, I guess.  This is really unnecessary, Nikolas, we’re making too big a deal of it.  It was just some creep who thought the house was empty and figured on an easy break-in and was surprised.  Nothing was taken,” she said again.

“I wouldn’t care if he took everything but the dust and cobwebs, as long as you’re all right,” he said and realized how much he meant the words as he spoke them.  Damn, if anything happened to her, he’d choke Helena with his own hands.  “Look, I’m going to get on my way right now.  I doubt there’s a flight out tonight so I’ll have to hire a car.  In the meantime, wait until Lucky gets there and tell him to call me on my cel.  We’ll figure out what to do then.  Is that George?” he asked as the doorbell sounded in the background.

“Yes, it’s him.  I’m all right, Nikolas really.  This is all getting out of control.  And I don’t want you and Lucky getting all riled up and coming up with one of your crazy plots.  It was a burglar, that’s all.  We need an alarm system, that’s all” she added but her attempts to sound casual fell flat.  He wondered but didn’t ask why she didn’t want to call the police or, at least, her brother.  She didn’t know enough about his grandmother to suspect her being behind this night’s events; the logical response would’ve been to call the cops but she’d refused which made him worry even more.  Still, there wasn’t much good in his questioning her over the phone now.

“Gia, I’m going now.  I have to call the front desk and arrange for a taxi.  I’ll talk to you again when Lucky gets there and I’ll see you in a few hours, okay?”

A pause, shorter this time, and then “Okay.  I’ll see you later.”

Gia put the phone down and turned to Emily. 

“Where did George go,” she asked.

“He’s checking the upstairs first,” Emily answered.  “I’m going to get something to drink while we wait for Lucky, do you want anything?”

“Water,” Gia said.  “Water would be great, thank you.”

She sat on the sofa and considered her next move.  There was no use for it now, she’d have to tell them all why she’d refused the cops.  The past always catches up to you, she thought putting her head down in her hands and realized she was still wearing Nikolas’ bathrobe. 

As Emily returned from the kitchen, Gia bought herself some time with the excuse of going upstairs to dress.  She put on a pair of jeans and a baby-blue beaded sweater, splashed cold water on her face in her bathroom and searched for and found a pair of pink rag wool socks.  She returned to the living room and found Lucky and Liz already in the house talking to George; he’d go and watch the house from outside but would check back inside on a regular schedule, he said.  With George gone, Emily, Lucky and Elizabeth came and sat in the living room; Lucky dialed Nikolas’ cel phone number.

“Hi, Nikolas.  I’m here,” Lucky said, still watching Gia.  “She’s okay, so’s Em.  George is outside and he’ll keep on eye on things out there.  I have a feeling this is over with for tonight but we won’t take any chances.”  He paused as he listened to his brother speak.  “No, I don’t know yet but I’ll ask her when I hang up.”  Another pause.  “Yes, she’s fine; she seems fine.  We’ll stay until you get here.”  He looked to Elizabeth for confirmation and she nodded.  “Okay, we’ll see you then, bye.”

He put the phone down and returned his attention to Gia.  Blue eyes met hers with an uncompromising gaze as he asked, “Okay, Gia.  Start from the beginning and tell us exactly what happened from the time you got home until Emily arrived.”

And Gia did so, leaving out the details of the rubber ducky, quickly filling them in on the events of the evening. 

“I don’t know who that man was,” she finished.  “I have my suspicions, though.”

“Who do you think it was,” Emily asked.

“I’ll start at the beginning,” Gia replied, her fingers toying absently with the beads on her sweater.  “It’s a long story, though, I warn you.”

“We’ve got time,” Lucky answered.

“We’re all ears,” Liz added.

Chapter 5

Rubber Ducky Main

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