he could truly sink his deadly blade in. He moved forward.
When Sidney’s cab pulled up, she caught a reflection in the window of
the vehicle. The man was only focused on her for an instant, but with
her nerves set on high, it was long enough. She whirled around and
their eyes locked for one terrifying moment. The same devilish eyes
from the limo. Scales cursed and raced forward. Sidney jumped in the
cab and it roared off. Scales pushed several people waiting ahead of
him in line aside, threw the protesting cab stand attendant to the
pavement and leaped into the next available cab. It sped after Sidney.
Sidney looked behind her. Through the darkness and driving sleet she
couldn’t make out much. However, traffic was relatively light at this
time of the morning and she saw a pair of headlights swiftly
approaching. She ran back. “I know I’m going crazy, but
we’re being followed.” She gave the driver another destination.
He made a hard left, then a sharp right and roared down an empty side
street and then back out onto Fifth Avenue.
Sidney’s cab pulled to a stop in front of a skyscraper. She jumped out
and raced toward the entrance, pulling something out of her purse as she
did so. She stuck the access card into the slot in the wall and the
door clicked open. She went inside, pulling the door closed behind her.
The security guard at the granite console in the lobby looked up
sleepily. Sidney dug once more in her bag and produced her Tyler, Stone
ID card. The guard nodded and slumped back in his chair.
Sidney glanced back once more as she hit the elevator button. Only one
elevator car was activated this early in the morning. The second cab
screeched to a stop in front of the building and a man jumped out and
raced over to the glass doors and pounded on them. Sidney watched as
the guard got up from his chair.
Sidney called to him. “I think that man was following me. He might be
a nut. Please be careful.”
The guard eyed her for a minute and then nodded. He looked back over at
the doorway. One hand slipped down to the pistol in his holster as he
strode over to the doorway. Sidney glanced back once more before she
got on the elevator. The guard was looking up and down the street.
Sidney breathed a sigh of relief and got on the elevator, hitting the
button for the twenty-third floor. Moments later she entered the
darkened Tyler, Stone suite and hurried into an office. She hit a
light, pulled out her address book, consulted a phone number and dialed.
She was calling her parents’ longtime neighbor and family friend,
seventy-year-old Ruth Childs. Ruth answered the phone on the first
ring, and from her brisk tone it was clear, despite it being a little
after six in the morning, that she had been up for a while. Ruth
tenderly commiserated with Sidney over her recent loss and then, in
response to Sidney’s query, reported that the Pattersons and Amy had
left yesterday around two o’clock after hastily packing for their trip.
“I saw your father put his shotgun case in the trunk, Sidney,” Ruth said
provocatively.
“I wonder why,” was Sidney’s weak response. She was about to say
good-bye when Ruth said something that made Sidney’s heart skip a. beat.
“I have to admit I was kind of worried the night before they left.
There was a car driving by at all hours. I don’t sleep much, and when I
do, it doesn’t take much to wake me up. It’s a quiet neighborhood, you
know that. Nothing out here unless you’re going to see someone for a
visit. The car was back yesterday morning.”
“Did you see anyone in the car?” Sidney’s voice was trembling.
“No, my eyes aren’t what they used to be, even with trifocals.”
“Is the car still there?”
“Oh, no. It left right after your parents did. Good riddance, ! say.
I’ve got my baseball bat by the door, though. Just let somebody try to
break in my house. They’ll wish they hadn’t.”