Glass Towers, Shattered (Glass Towers Trilogy) (9 page)

He looks surprised, “Wha…well...I was worried about you.
After I got your message last night, I tried to call you back, but I kept getting a recording saying the number wasn’t valid.”

I am totally confused.
“What number did you call? How did you find me here?”

“I called Simone this morning to see if she knew anything.
I also called your parents. Um you should call them, they are slightly worried.” I give him another dirty look.

“Don’t get upset with me, I was worried.
I called them back right after I got a hold of Simone. Just call them soon, okay?!”

“Seriously
, Bradley, why didn’t you call me on my new number? It should have been on your caller ID when I called you last night. Didn’t you think to check that?”

“No, I don’t have your new number.
It did not show on my cell phone, it only appeared as a blocked call. Simone wouldn’t give it to me, which by the way, I had to pry your whereabouts out of her. She is like a steel trap, but she did finally tell me all that has happened. You know, she really hates me. What have you told her?” He gives me this smarmy look.

I snort, “Just the truth Bradley
; isn’t that enough?”

“Okay, okay.”
He looks down at my knees, “Say, what happened to you? Your knees are bleeding. Did you trip?”

“No!
I was pushed.” As the words come out of my mouth, I realize how badly my knees and palms hurt. Now that I think about it, my neck hurts also. I must have tweaked it when I fell.

“Pushed?
By whom? This beast here?” He motions to Henry, who is engrossed in sniffing Bradley’s left black loafer.

“No!
I was pushed by a man. He pushed me from behind, I lost my footing, and fell forward onto my knees. I am lucky that I had Henry with me. There is no telling what would have happened if he had not been there to protect me!”

Bradley looks stressed and there’s something else in his eyes that I can’t put my finger on.

“My God Dani, what the hell is going on? Did you get a good look at him? We should call the police and report this.” He turns and shuts the mudroom door behind him and reaches into his jacket, pulling out his phone. 

“I did not get a good look at him.
All I saw was someone in black running away, with Henry chasing after him. The only other thing I saw was a black SUV driving down the hill. Similar to the one I saw pulling away from my building last night. I assume it is the same creepers.” A nasty violent chill runs down my spine at top speed.

He looks at me and shakes his head.
“Oh Dani, what kind of mess are you embroiled in? It’s not like you to have so much drama!”

He moves toward me as I put my hand out to stop him.
“Look Bradley, I promised Harrison that I would not interact with you. He has one of his men coming here soon to keep an eye on things. I appreciate that you came to check on me, but I think you should go.”

He steps back and looks at me with his wounded
-puppy-dog look. He has used this look on me for years. It used to work on me back in the day. Not now, I am immune to his wiles.

“Wow Dani, I thought you and Mr. Towers were on the outs?
Last I heard he was engaged to that hot chick you showed me in the newspaper.”

My stomach does a flip.
I feel nauseous at the thought of that reality. Bradley is so insensitive, but of course, he would be --he is my ex-husband.

“You know you are a real fucking jerk
, Bradley! It’s complicated.” Before I start blabbing too much, I reign in my anger.

He tilts his head at me and scrunches his nose.
“What is complicated about it? He is engaged to someone else. What gives here, Dani, are you to be the ‘other woman’?” He uses his fingers to make air quotes, which he knows I detest.

“I resent that
, Bradley. I am not the other woman. I told you it is complicated, and I am not seeing him. He is just helping me out.”

“Sure, I get it.”
He winks at me. “But be careful not to become a hypocrite Dani, apparently it is not an admirable trait.” He gives me a knowing look. I had used that line on him many times when we were divorcing. Now he is throwing it back at me.

“I am tired of this conversation
, and my knees are throbbing with pain.” I look down and notice that the blood is dry and crusty. “If you will excuse me, I need to get cleaned up and give the detective a call to report my latest drama as you put it.”

He doesn’t move
, but stands there in front of me, with his arms crossed and a smug look parked on his face. Oh, how I would love to smack that look off his face clear into next week!

I take a side step to move toward the door to open it for him to leave.
He grabs my elbow as I try to pass.

“Be careful
, Dani. I think you are in over your head. Believe it or not, I do still care about what happens to you, and I would hate for this to escalate.”

I yank my arm away from him.
The menacing look on his face is something I have never seen. Never. I am frightened beyond anything else so far. I wouldn’t have expected this kind of behavior to come from Bradley.

Calmly
, I say, “Thanks for coming by. I want you to leave now!” I stiffly walk the rest of the way to the door, and with shaking scraped up hands, I open the door. I turn to look at him just in time to see a dark shadow travel across his face. To mask his anger, he looks down at Henry, who is still sniffing him. When he looks back at me, his face looks normal and he shrugs his shoulders. He nonchalantly leans down and kisses the top of my head, as if everything were normal, and then he walks through the doorway. I am shaking head to toe, and just now when he kissed my head, it sent a negative shock wave down my spine. I feel nauseous again.

“Bye
, Dani, good luck, I am afraid you will need it.”

As he heads down the walkway
, he began whistling. Since when does he whistle?

I shut the door and lock it.
I run past the kitchen, down the long hallway to the bathroom. I barely make it to the toilet, when I proceed to get violently sick.

An hour later, I emerge from the bathroom, feeling refreshed. Actually better than refreshed, I feel like a new woman. After Bradley left and I got sick, I called the detective, while sitting on the floor of the bathroom. I leaned against the wall and filled him in on everything, getting him up-to-date. He asked if I had received any more of those crank calls. I hadn’t noticed, but once I thought about it, I had not received any creepy calls since yesterday.  That is one positive thing to be happy about. After I got off the phone with him, I took a shower and got myself ready for the day.

I dress myself
, once again, in a comfy, deep-pink velour track suit, then I head out to the kitchen. I pour myself another cup of coffee and pop it into the microwave. I look over at a sleeping Henry, curled up into a ball in his fluffy bed. My hero! Note to self, get that dog a chewy bone; he earned it.

While I wait for my coffee
, I get my laptop and set it up on the wooden dining table in the bright kitchen. Normally, I love my work, but today, I dread my to-do list. I have the professors’ install coming up quickly, and I have to navigate the finishing touches. I will need to map out my shopping trip, so I can make the best use of my time. I only have Thursday to get all the final pieces I need to install in a week. With my plans to be gone this weekend, time is getting short. I am very thankful for the business, but I am anxious to be done with this project. The wife has proven to be a bit of an opinionated handful. I approach my business with the attitude that the client is always right, even if they are wrong. It is my job to help them make the right decision. This is not always an easy task. She knows it all and reminds me all the time that she is writing the checks. At the end of the day, I digress because she is right and I am getting a hefty check when this job is done. 

I get up to retrieve my coffee from the microwave
, as it has given me the third reminder chime that time is up. As I move across the room, I see someone coming up the walkway to the mudroom door. I freeze, oh no! Who the hell is here? I hear a firm knock on the door. “Henry, Henry, come.” A sleepy Henry gets up from his cozy bed and reluctantly follows me to the mudroom. I see through the glass pain that the man on the other side is that gorgeous French guy, Garrin. I totally forgot he was coming over. Surprisingly, Henry doesn’t bark, instead he just stands there and wags his tail.

I open the door and give Garrin a bright smile.
  “Hi!”

“
Bonjour Mademoiselle
Austen.” He wipes his feet on the mat outside the door and advances into the mudroom.

“Please, call me Danielle.”
May I take your coat? I reach out my hand.

“
Oui
Mademoiselle, I mean Danielle.” He smiles shyly at me, takes off his coat, and hands it to me. I hang it on the hook by the dog leash. Henry is nudging Garrin’s hand. He looks down at the dog and smiles.

“I see the dog is friendly?”
He pats Henry’s head.

“Yes, Henry is a lover not a fighter really.
However, this morning he surprised me and became my hero.” I walk into the kitchen with Garrin following me.

“Oh? Did something happen or is that figurative?”
His accent is so thick I am straining to understand what he is saying. He gives me a funny look, and I realize I am staring. I feel my face turning crimson. How embarrassing. Gah!

“Yes, well it’s a continuation of the recent occurrences.
I’ll fill you in, would you like something to drink?”

He shakes his head, “No I am good right now,
merci
.” I motion for us to sit down, and I proceed to tell him my version of the last 24 hours. Well, minus Harrison’s visit yesterday. I blush again thinking about our too-brief sexual interlude. “So Garrin, how does this bodyguard thing work exactly? I have never had a need for one, nor do I exactly want one. Harrison insisted, so here we are.” I look at him nervously, hoping he understood what I said.

“Well, I am here today to make sure you are safe.
Tomorrow
Monsieur
Towers has a team arriving from Montreal. I will be heading back home for a week to keep track of things there.”

Once again, his accent has me concentrating hard on deciphering his words.
I hope the guy who comes tomorrow is easier to understand, like Harrison.

“Well that sounds good
, I guess. So, do you want to watch television or listen to music? I have work to do.” I motion to my laptop on the table in the dining area.

“Oh I have work to do
also. May I use the end of the table to set up?”  

“Of course!
Let me know if you need anything.”

“Merci.”
He follows me to the table with a black case, which I hadn’t noticed until now. He pulls out his laptop and sits down opposite me at the table.

I remember that I left my phone in my bedroom.
I head down the hallway, joined by Henry. He must think I still need a protector. I smile to myself. Someday I need to get a Henry. I enter the room, and Henry plunks down in the hallway just outside my door.

I grab my phone and see that I have missed calls from Harrison and Simone.
I shut my door and start to call Simone back first, so I can warn her of the hunk sitting at her table. This way, I can avoid the awkward situation it might pose if she were not forewarned. 

Before I get a chance to call her
, my phone starts ringing. I must remember to change it to vibrate, this ringtone is annoying and ridiculous.

It’s Harrison!
I quickly answer.

“Hello?”

“Where have you been? I’ve tried to reach you three times now!”

“Sorry, it has already been an eventful morning.”

“Oh, and why is that?”

Geeze, he sounds miffed with me.

“I went for a run with Simone’s dog, Henry. I was only a few blocks from the house, when someone pushed from behind.”

“What?
Who pushed you? When did this happen? What would possess you leave the house after all that has happened? Haven’t you got any common sense?”

“Harrison, slow down!
I needed some exercise, and I don’t need you chastising me like a child! How about asking me if I am okay?”

I get silence.

“You are right. I am sorry. I should not have jumped on you like that. Are you hurt? What happened after you were pushed? Did you see his face?”

“Whoa, one question at a time.”

“Alright, just tell me what happened.”

I relay all the details to Harrison.
I want to leave out the part about Bradley, but I knew he will find out about it. He has his ways, and if I don’t tell him myself, I know he will think that I was hiding something. An ironic situation, considering that I am not the one with things to hide.