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I move like lightning as I snatch up a pair of sweats and grab my purse with my phone and keys. My sneakers and jacket are downstairs. I control my fingers long enough to dial a cab. I thank heavens that the company says they’ll send one as soon as I send my location. I do so and hang up. I spend a minute and get my shoes and jacket on, all the while looking at the stairs. I open the front door to go and wait by the gate and am immediately bombarded by the tripping of the alarms.
Shit!
There is no way around it now. I take off running down the driveway. I stare in panic at the locked gate. Why had I not paid attention when Archer had wanted to show me how to get in and out of the property?
I look at the wall and pick a tree I think I can manage to climb. The adrenaline rush is real as I clamber up the trunk and onto a branch. I get one foot on the wall. Then the other. I scramble down on the other side and begin to run. I run for a full minute before I see a taxi heading toward me. I stop it and hop inside.
“Just drive! Please!” I lean back in the seat, trying to catch my breath, looking in the rear windshield. There is no way Archer did not hear the alarms. And being who he is, he could be in his clothes and car in record time. But by the time we get to the main road, he is nowhere to be seen. I relax and take a deep breath.
I give the driver my address and lean back into the seat. The Sunday morning traffic is light and so I’m soon home. I head upstairs and enter my apartment. It feels surreal to be back here. The past two weeks feel like a dream. I begin to clean. It is what I do when I don’t want to think. But soon the apartment is squeaky clean and I have nothing to do but think.
I step out to take my garbage downstairs and come to a screeching halt. Tony is lounging in the corner. My mouth drops open as he stares at me.
“I-I—”
“Mr. Colleymore’s orders.”
I step back into my apartment, garbage and all. My mind goes blank. Where do I go from here?
Chapter fourteen
Archer
I’vebeenslowlystewingall morning. All that’s in my head is what had unfolded yesterday morning. The blaring alarm had been the last thing I expected to hear as I waited for Sidney to join me in the shower. I raced to the bedroom soaking wet. I grabbed my gun with one hand and flipped the switch to bring up the camera feed. The front door stood ajar. And there was Sidney racing down the driveway. I had watched in horror as she had climbed a fucking tree and gone over the wall. What the hell?
I tried calling her all day yesterday. But after a while, I knew her phone must be off as the calls went straight to voice mail. I was confused. I could not begin to even process what could have caused this. I needed an explanation but I was damned if I was going to grovel. I reinstated her security detail immediately because, in spite of everything, I need her to be safe.
I check the camera in her office once more. I ordered Steve to pick her up this morning and to let me know when they were on their way. If the truth is to be told, I had not even been sure she was coming to work. But Steve has confirmed that she is in the car and they are on their way. So now I wait.
I sit staring at the monitor until at last, she comes into the office. I zoom in on her face. Her eyes are red and puffy as though she’s been crying. And the circles under them tell me she hasn’t slept well. Quietly, she slips into her chair and puts away her purse. I reach across the desk and press the intercom.
“Sidney? May I have the Bernard Lodge file please?”
“C-Certainly, Mr. Colleymore.”
I feel as though someone punched me in the gut. So, that is how it is going to be?
I watch as she slips into the filing room. I conceal the cameras just before she comes to my office. I look up as she stands in the doorway, refusing to meet my gaze. I hold out my hand. She comes forward, places the file on my desk, and walks out. My heart plummets as I watch her go. What the hell is going on?
I watch her for the entire day as she moves around, a shell of herself. I catch her wipe at her eyes now and then. I order out for lunch for both of us as usual. She doesn’t touch her lunch but remains at her desk working. I’m torn in so many emotional directions that for the first time in my life, I don’t quite know how to approach her for fear of making whatever the problem is worse. But as the afternoon winds down, I can’t take it anymore. I press the intercom. “Sidney?”
“Yes, Mr. Colleymore?”
“Can you please bring me some printing paper?” I figure that if she doesn’t have a task requiring her presence in my office, she can refuse to comply. I stand and wait behind the door. As soon as she steps inside, I close and lock the door.
“I’ll scream if you touch me.” Her cold words startle me, and I feel a shard of pain pierce me. I look at her searchingly, but she refuses to meet my eyes. I go to my desk and sit quietly.
“Speak your mind, Sidney.”
I watch as she takes a few angry paces back and forth. Then she stops in front of my desk.
“You never told me you had a son.”
“Okay? I’m single. So, you don’t have to worry that you’re the other woman or something. I’ve been divorced for a long time. My son and I don’t speak really.”
“Grant was right about you.”
I’m startled as she calls my son by name.
