The Ninth Floor (10 page)

They didn’t
match the fireproof steel doors on the other floors. They were badly dented,
wooden things that looked like they hadn’t been painted in forty years. It was
like this floor was not only closed off, it was sealed in time. The chains
strung through the handles were thick, the padlocks heavy—and in addition to
those measures, three iron bars were bolted across the doors from wall to wall.
What were they hiding in there? I pressed my palm against the door, and I could
almost feel it sigh. I had to get in. I softly drummed my fingers against the
door, trying to think of how to gain entry. Something rapped back from the
other side, mimicking my rhythm. I snatched my hand away. The tapping sound
repeated. I raced up the rest of the stairs two at a time.

By the time I
made it to Bee’s room, I had missed Jack. I didn’t mind. For the most part it
was a relaxing day. Bee was in good spirits and nothing too peculiar happened.
When she fell asleep, I snuck out of the room and went to the waiting room to
call Ashley.

“Have you been
leaving boxes at my door?” I asked when he answered.

“Ryan?”

“Yeah.”

He was quiet
for a moment. “Someone’s left you boxes? What’s in them?”

“So it isn’t
you?”

“No.”

Huh. Not
knowing who sent them was even more unsettling than receiving them. “Why do you
have the police checking on me?”

He sighed. “We
should probably talk.”

“We are
talking.”

“In person.”

“Okay, when?”

“Can you meet
me for lunch?”

A one-on-one
visit with Ashley wasn’t high on my priority list, but I wanted to know what he
was keeping from me. “Sure.”

He told me to
meet him at “the club” and gave me a time. I turned around to leave and Aiden
was sitting behind me. He nodded at me.

I forced a
smile, too creeped out by everything going on to be glad to see him.

“You doing
okay? You look stressed,” he said.

“Oh, you know,
just family stuff.”

His phone rang
and he gave an apologetic grimace as he answered it. I pretended to inspect the
vending machines while listening to his side of the conversation, but he said
all of ten words that told me nothing—a lot of “Yes” and “No” and “I
understand.” Before I left, I turned back to him. “Who are you visiting here?”

“A sick
friend.”

I nodded and
looked at my feet. “What room?”

He blinked. “1009.
Any other questions?”

I shook my
head. “Sorry,” I mumbled as I left. I thought he’d just said 1009. Was I going
crazy or had I heard that room number before?

Ashley was already at a table
when I got to the country club. I followed the host through the sea of the
tables draped with white linen tablecloths. He held my chair out for me.

“Thank you,” I
told him and smiled at Ashley. “Okay, talk.”

“How much do
you know?”

I leaned
forward, resting my elbows on the table even though it was bad manners. “Let’s
start with what
you
know. Why do you have the police checking on me? Why
is everyone in town staring at me and acting crazy around me? Who is leaving me
presents?”

“You don’t
need to worry about any of this, Ryan. We’ve taken care of everything. You’re
perfectly safe.”

“Why wouldn’t
I be? Damn it, you’d better start telling me something soon, or I’ll make a
huge scene. What’s going on?”

“You should
really talk to Mom and Dad about this.”

“Well, I’m
talking to you. You’re the one who asked the police to keep an eye on me.”

He took a
drink of water and glared at me. “For your protection.”

“From who?”

“There have
been threats.”

I sat back. I
couldn’t fathom why anyone would threaten me. I’d never done anything to
purposefully hurt someone. I hadn’t been back in so long. “What do you mean threats?”

“Letters
mostly. We never received any packages. But the intent was always clear.
Someone is obsessed with you and ...”

“And?”

“And Dad’s FBI
friend thinks it could escalate into something more dangerous.”

“Like someone
might try to kill me?”

He nodded.

“How do you
know all of this? I haven’t been back that long.”

“They’ve been
coming for years, Ryan.”

I picked up my
water to take a sip but sat it back down. “Are you kidding me?”

Ashley pressed
his lips together and shook his head. “Mom and Dad have had every government
agency look at them. Experts on handwriting analysis, criminal profilers,
anyone who might be able to give a clue as to who’s behind it, but no one’s
come up with anything. So now it’s just something we live with.”

“And why am I
just hearing about this now? If it’s true, I could’ve been attacked at any time
and no one bothered to tell me?”

“We didn’t
tell you because you didn’t need to know. The less contact we had with you, the
better it was for you. If the person knew where you were, they wouldn’t have
sent the letters to the house. We kept our distance to protect you. Dad even
hired your bodyguard through a shell corporation so the money couldn’t be
traced.”

“Ashley, this
doesn’t make sense. How long has it been going on?”

“Off and on
since you were about seven—though the letters have gotten more frequent in the
past few years. The only thing that’s important is that we’ve taken the
necessary steps to protect you.”

“What do you
mean ‘necessary steps’?”

“You’ve had a
private security company following you at a distance, I’ve asked the sheriff’s
office to keep an eye out on the store, and there’s a tracking device on your
car.”

“You put a
tracker on my car?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This was not at all
what I’d expected.

“You wouldn’t
take one of my cars, so what choice did I have?” He crossed his arms over his
chest.

“How could you
think that any of this is okay? You didn’t tell me anything.”

“You would’ve
fought us.”

I ran my hand
through my hair. “Does Blair know?”

He shook his
head. “No. Blair never could keep secrets.”

“Who is this
bodyguard? How did I never see him at the hospital?”

He shrugged. “He’s
supposed to stay away from you. We didn’t want to upset you.”

“Well, it’s
too late now. I want it all to stop.”

“Ryan—”

“No. It’s no
wonder people were afraid to talk to me. They all probably know and think I’m
on some hit list.”

“No one else
knows,” he said.

“Let me be
clear. I don’t want a bodyguard. I don’t want the police to check on me. If I’m
going to stay here, I want a normal life.”

“So you’d
rather be stalked? I heard a nurse recently died at the hospital.”

I swallowed
hard. “That had nothing to do with me.”

“How can you
be so sure?”

“Are you
trying to scare me?”

“Yes. The
intent of the letters was clear.”

“I want to see
them.”

Ashley drummed
his fingers on the table. “I don’t have them.”

“Who does?”

“Mom and Dad,
but I’m not calling off the security.”

I rubbed my
hands over my eyes. This was all too much. “Did Bee know about any of this?”

“Not that I
know of.”

“Is there
anything else you need to tell me?”

He crossed his
legs. “Do you have any more questions?”

Nothing came
to mind. “Not right now.” I had trouble thinking of anything other than the
bomb he’d dropped on me.

“Then I have
nothing else to tell.”

Damn politicians.

*

By the time I got home, I was
exhausted and the top of my head felt like it could pop off at any time.

“You’re going
to love it.” Vivian met me at the door wearing a cute red dress, buzzing with
excitement. I’d forgotten I was getting my furniture. “Close your eyes,” she
said.

“I’m not
closing my eyes.” I walked into the apartment and stared in astonishment. It
was like a different world—if you lopped off the useless kitchen. Vivian had
candles lit everywhere. The cream-colored furniture was gorgeous and made me
want to run my hands over it. The chocolaty-brown velvet throw pillows were
just the right amount of texture. Lovely linen drapes edged with black velvet
hung from the ceiling all the way to the floor. Somehow, Vivian had even managed
to replace the drab light fixture with a more modern one that looked like
clusters of faery lights. It was almost enough to make me forget stalkers and
bodyguards.

I threw my
arms around her. “It’s perfect.”

“See? I
totally earned a night off.”

I laughed. “You
know you don’t have to do all this.”

“I want to. I
love it.”

“Well, you’re
awesome at it. Have you considered starting an interior decorating business?”

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious.
I think you’d do really well.”

Viv smiled
shyly and waved her hand. Then she hopped up. “I’m so glad you like it.” She
started going into detail about each piece, but I held up my hand for her to
wait.

“I really do
love it, but I have something I need to do really quick.” I went to the balcony
and scanned the street for my security detail. I knew they were there, and I
wanted to know where. I spotted a car that looked familiar. I needed a closer
look. I went back inside, grabbed leashes, and headed for the door.

“Ryan?”

“What?”

“Where are you
going? You just got home.”

“I promise I’ll
explain everything later, but I have to do this right now.”

I exited
through the back of the building and circled the block so I could sneak up. My
stomach twisted nervously as I got closer. I caught the man’s reflection in his
side mirror and knew I was right. I thumped on the window. Aiden frowned at me.
He rolled down his window.

“This defeats
the purpose, Ms. Sterling,” he said.

“You don’t
seem surprised.”

“Get in the
car.”

“No.”

“You’re
drawing attention to yourself.” He leaned over and pushed open the passenger
door.

I shifted from
one foot to the other. If I wanted answers I really didn’t have a choice. “You
were saying why you aren’t surprised to see me?”

“Your brother
informed me.”

“When?”

“After the two
of you had your chat.”

I nodded. “I
suppose demanding you stop following me is pointless?”

He rolled his
eyes. I took that as confirmation—pointless. “He also said you received some
packages. How were they delivered?”

“They were at
my front door. Two at Bee’s cottage and one at the apartment.”

He raised an
eyebrow. “How long had you been in the apartment when you received one there?”

“A day or two.”

He frowned.

“So you’re my
bodyguard?” I chattered on. “You didn’t stay as hidden as I thought.” I
actually minded having a guard less knowing it was Aiden.

“It wasn’t my
decision on whether or not to tell you.”

“I know.” I
opened the door and got out. “All things considered, I’m glad it’s you—but don’t
think I wasn’t already suspicious—you were always there. It was creepy.” I
smiled and shut the door.

“If you have
any problems, I’ll be here, Ms. Sterling,” he said through the window as I came
around the car.

“Call me Ryan.
I should be in all night tonight, and Jack is coming over.”

Aiden nodded
and rolled his window up. I went back to my apartment, feeling better than I
had when I first came home. Vivian was about to leave.

“I have to go
meet your brother for drinks, but I’ll be awaiting your explanation.”

“You what?” My
eyes felt like they might bulge out of my skull. “Which brother?”

She laughed. “Blair,
of course, and it’s not like that. We’re only friends. But glad to know how you
really feel.”

“Well, in case
I wasn’t clear, I really feel my brother is off limits.”

She held up
her hands in surrender. “I promise.”

I nodded and
resisted the urge to make her change her clothes. Her red dress had suddenly
morphed from cute to practically nonexistent in my mind. Jack entered just as
Viv left, looking entirely too good to stay angry with in jeans and a blue and
white plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up his tan forearms. His eyes
shone like two little chunks of the sky on a sunny afternoon, and his hair
looked slightly wet. I longed to run my fingers through his damp curls.

I crossed my
arms over my chest to fight the urge and bit back the smile that wanted to take
over when Jack gave me his charming lopsided grin. He leaned down to kiss me,
but I turned my head. Jack made a face. “Still mad, huh?”

“What on earth
would possess you to say I’d go back to that house?”

“I didn’t technically
say that.”

I tapped my
foot impatiently and waited for his excuse.

“I thought
maybe next time you guys could meet on neutral ground—might be less awkward.
Like have dinner, or even just drinks or something, at a restaurant?”

“Great. That
way Mother and I can take jabs at each other in public.” I shook my head. “You
had no right to interfere.”

“Other than
you involved me by bringing me to dinner.” He tilted his head. “However, I’m
sorry if I upset you.” His eyes were warm with sincerity, making me melt a
little. “But I think it would be good for you to close this chapter in your
life. You don’t have to like them or even be friends with them, but they are
your family. It’s sad if you can’t stand to even be in the same town as them.”

He had a
point, but that didn’t mean anything was going to change. We were Sterlings,
after all. Jack, however, wasn’t to blame. “So,” I said, stepping closer, “this
is all about you wanting me to stay in town?”