thirteen

“Nigel, I’m already late!” I said as I gently slapped his hand away from my waist.

“That’s not my fault,” he replied as his hand purposefully snaked back to my hip.

I paused in buckling the ankle strap on my black suede pump and glanced over my shoulder to where he still lay sprawled on the bed. Raising an eyebrow, I shot him a meaningful look. He grinned and said, “Okay, maybe I had something to do with it. But really, who schedules brunch for ten o’clock in the morning? What are they, farmers?”

I laughed. “Well, you needn’t let it worry you. Go back to sleep and I’ll take you to a proper brunch when I return.”

Nigel smiled. “I’ve got a better idea. How about we—” he began just as my cell phone rang.

“Will you answer that, honey?” I said as I finished buckling the strap. “If that’s Harper, tell her I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

Nigel rolled over onto his stomach and reached for the phone. Pulling the receiver to his ear, he said, “You’ve reached the phone of Nicole Martini. This is her houseboy, Juan, how may I help you?”

I threw a pillow at his head and went in search of the other shoe. I vaguely remembered it being flung in the direction of the bathroom. I began to walk/hop over that way when Nigel’s next words stopped me. “Whoa, calm down, Harper. I can’t understand you. What happened?”

I turned back to where Nigel was now sitting bolt upright in the bed, a line of worry etched between his eyes. I could hear Harper’s agitated voice on the other end of the line, but I couldn’t make out her words. Nigel’s eyes widened as he listened, and he glanced at me. Flipping off the sheets, Nigel stood up and walked toward the room’s desk. Yanking open the drawer, he pulled out a pad of hotel stationary and a pen. “Harper, honey, listen to me,” he said, his voice calm. “I need you to give me the address.”

After writing down the information, Nigel said, “Now Harper, I want you to call the police. Now. Nic and I will be there as soon as possible. In the meantime, don’t touch anything. Do you understand? Touch nothing. In fact, why don’t you go outside and wait for us there? Okay? Okay, honey. We’re on our way.” Nigel ended the call and turned to me.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “Is Harper okay?” I covered my mouth with my hand as another thought presented itself. “Oh God, it’s not the baby is it? Please tell me Gracie is okay.”

“Harper is fine and so is Gracie,” Nigel said as he grabbed a pair of jeans from the closet and pulled them on. “It’s Dan, I’m afraid.”

“Dan?” I repeated dumbly.

Nigel nodded as he shrugged into a shirt. “He didn’t show up this morning to watch Gracie. When Harper couldn’t get ahold of him, she got worried and went to his apartment.” Crossing over to me, Nigel pulled me close. “He’s dead, Nic.”