Page 80 of The Agent
Natalie glanced at her watch. It was only nine o’clock but her body was telling her it was midnight. That’s what major emotional upheaval did to you. However, she needed to stay awake in case Sarah was ready to talk.
Jenya stretched and yawned before she stood up. “You two ladies sit and relax. I’ll do a quick security circuit and then take care of the dishes.”
When Natalie started to object to the latter, Jenya pinned her with her gaze and gave a tiny shake of her head. So she thought Sarah might talk more freely if Jenya wasn’t nearby.
With an effort, Natalie sat up. “Sarah, tell me how I can help you. Do you want to talk about why you left?”
Sarah continued to stare down at her plate. “I’m not ready,” she said in a barely audible voice. “Can I just go to my room and sleep tonight? I’m so tired. I’ll be able to face it all tomorrow.”
“Of course.” Making the decision to seek Natalie’s help had clearly exhausted all the young woman’s inner resources. “I’ll show you to your room.”
Sarah nearly bolted up from her chair and grabbed her tote bag from the sectional.
Natalie stood with a slight wobble. The Manhattans must have hit her harder than usual. She started toward the stairs but had to brace herself against a wall as her head spun. “I’m sorry. I’m a little dizzy,” she said.
“Why don’t you just tell me where my room is,” Sarah said. “I can find it myself.”
“No, I’ll be fine in a second.” She waited until a wave of nausea had subsided before she straightened. “Okay, let’s go.”
She got to the foot of the staircase and looked up. The stairs looked so steep and her legs felt so shaky. She turned and sat down on the bottom step. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“I’ll get you a glass of water,” Sarah offered.
“Thank you.” Another wave of nausea hit and Natalie had to inhale hard to prevent herself from throwing up. Too much rich food.
There was a loud crash of something hitting the tile floor in the kitchen, and she heard Jenya’s voice as though through a fog. Several curse words. Something about Sarah being an evil bitch.
Then Natalie slid down off the step and curled up on the rug in her foyer, her eyelids so heavy she couldn’t stop them from closing.
Chapter 18
Tully tossed the new Julian Best novel onto the coffee table and picked up the television remote. Usually he ripped right through the super spy’s adventures but in this one, Julian found his soul mate, and reading about their love affair rubbed salt in Tully’s new wounds.
It wasn’t football season but Tully had found a video of Luke Archer and the New York Empire’s last Super Bowl victory. As far as Tully was concerned, Archer was the greatest quarterback in football history and that was one nail-biter of a game. He had to admire a guy who retired when he was still on top.
Guilt nagged at Tully as he watched Archer coolly nail a precision thirty-yard pass. He should have gone to check on Natalie’s new houseguest in person instead of relying on Jenya and Deion’s reports. But the thought of seeing Natalie without being able to touch her had slashed at his chest like a bowie knife. So he’d stayed at the office late, working on a security plan for a Silicon Valley CEO’s new mansion in the Hamptons.
He hit fast-forward to take him to the fourth quarter of the game, when the Empire were down by thirteen points and staged a stunning comeback, starting when Archer ran the ball himself. Just as the quarterback figured out he had no other options, Tully’s phone vibrated.
He took a swig of beer before he checked the caller ID and frowned. It was Alastair York. What the hell would he be calling about so late on a Saturday night?
“Gibson. What’s up?” he said.
“I’ve received a phone call from Dobs Van Houten.” Alastair’s accented voice was tight with tension. “He says he needs to speak with his wife immediately. It’s of the utmost importance.”
“It’s midnight on Saturday. How the hell did he get through to you?” Tully was already sorting through possible reasons why Van Houten wanted to communicate with Regina at such an odd hour. None of them were good.
“The firm has a twenty-four-hour answering service. They judged the call urgent enough to route through to me.”
“What did you tell him?”
“That he wasn’t legally allowed to communicate with her as per the restraining order.” Alastair paused a moment. “He became insistent, saying that she would be extremely upset if she found out I had blocked his call. He also threatened to file various legal charges against me.” Alastair’s tone became sardonic. “He must have some legal counsel of his own to have come up with a couple of the more obscure ones.”
“So he wouldn’t give you a reason?” Van Houten had to have known Alastair wouldn’t just hand the phone to Regina.
“He told me that it was between Regina and him. He suggested that I tell Regina to contact him so she could make up her own mind about how important it was. I don’t think he’s accustomed to meeting with resistance when he wants something.”
“You got that right. The restraining order forbids him from communicating with his wife in any way, correct?” That would be one charge they could lodge against Van Houten, but it wasn’t enough by itself to win a custody battle, particularly if Regina herself chose to call him.
