Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Addison wasn’t surprised to wake up alone the next morning, though she was disappointed.
She sensed he wasn’t in the apartment so didn’t bother calling out to him.
She rolled off the high bed and felt around for her clothes, which he’d folded neatly on his desk.
She left his apartment quickly and made her way down to hers.
She took the elevator, wanting to get there quickly.
She wanted to call him and make sure things were okay between them.
Addison felt a sense of urgency as she entered her apartment and reached for her phone. She told Siri what number to call and sighed as it went straight to voicemail. “Hey Daniel, it’s just me. Can you call me when you get this? If not, then I guess I’ll see you later tonight.”
She hated the desperate note of question in her voice, but she couldn’t seem to help it.
When a woman told a guy that she loved him, but didn’t hear the words back she tended to get a little jumpy.
She kept her phone with her as she showered and got dressed.
After, she rifled listlessly through her wardrobe, wondering what to wear.
She wanted to wear something pretty in case Daniel did stop by to see her later, but she didn’t want to appear like she was dressing up for him.
“Darn it!” she huffed in exasperation. “It’s not like I even know what I look like!”
She yanked a long white cotton skirt with a five inch frill along the hem off a hanger and matched it with a watermelon coloured top that dipped temptingly into her cleavage.
At least she hoped it was watermelon coloured.
She hadn’t worn it in a while and couldn’t quite remember what the shop person had told her.
Oh well, whatever colour it was, it wasn’t going to clash with white unless it was off-white.
Then she would look like an escapee of some sort of cult.
She paired the outfit with leather flip-flops that had coins sewn into the tops and jingled when she walked.
She thought the outfit was bohemian pretty, but casual, exactly what she needed to face the day.
Picking up her purse, cello and cane, Addison made her way down to the lobby, out the front door of the building and toward the subway with the intention of spending a busy day at work not thinking about Daniel Mercer.
Which was pretty much exactly what she got.
Maestro was full steam ahead with his Summer program, which required Addison’s full attention.
There was in-fighting amongst the entire orchestra about what pieces should be played for the upcoming Atlantic Cities Cooperative Tour (ACCT), which apparently only Addison could solve.
Although she did have a brief panicked thought about Daniel at this point in her day when she realized she was going to have to tell him she needed to go on tour for two weeks.
She was pretty sure she could imagine that conversation.
Daniel: No.
Addison: But it’s my job.
Daniel: NO.
Addison: But I’ll get fired.
Daniel: Fuck your job.
Addison: I like my job.
Daniel: Correction, used to like your job.
And on and on until they had angry sex, make up sex or both kinds of sex.
Either way, he wasn’t going to want her leaving him for two weeks.
Especially now that they were back together and things seemed to be going smoothly.
She was in the process of wondering how she was going to go about sneaking out of the city with her cello when Erica grabbed her arm hard and interrupted her thoughts.
“I need your opinion on the invite list for the donor bash at the Hilton. Maestro wants First Chair approval before we send out the invitations,” she said in a much less cheerful voice than usual.
Addison was so startled by this less-than-friendly version of Erica that she wasn’t even annoyed by Erica’s customary grabbiness. “Uh… sure,” she said, going with the other woman to Maestro’s office.
Erica pulled another chair up to her small desk so Addison could sit.
Erica huffily shoved papers aside for Addison and slammed a document down on the desk in front of her.
Addison jumped and tried covering it by folding her hands on the desk and getting comfortable in the chair.
She raised a brow at Erica, waiting for the other woman to start reading the names on the list.
Erica sniffled in annoyance and began reading down the list, her voice grew noticeably more chill when she mentioned Tyson King and Claudia Cantore.
When she reached the end of approximately fifty people she snapped, “Am I missing anyone?”
Addison had to consciously keep her jaw from dropping.
Erica had never spoken to her this way before.
“You need to add Eleanor Channing to your list and her nephew, whom I believe is in town for the next few months. She’ll be tickled pink to introduce him to her friends at the orchestra.
I believe Niccolo DeLuca is in the city as well.
He has connections with Mrs. Channing’s nephew and Mr. King. Please invite him and a date as well.”
“Will that be all, Miss Sterling?” Erica asked, ice dripping from her voice.
Addison really, really wanted to just get up and leave, but she couldn’t bring herself to abandon any creature that might be in pain.
Not even the most obnoxious, annoying human being she was ever forced to spend too much time with.
Sighing, Addison patted her hand along the desk until she reached Erica’s arm.
She wrapped her fingers around the other woman's hand and said, “Erica, what’s going on? Can I do something to help?”
Addison half expected Erica to become angry and wrench her hand away. Instead she dropped her head onto their combined hands, causing Addison to jump and wince. With a sob she wailed pathetically, “Why am I such an unloveable loser, Addie?”
“Oh Erica, you’re not a loser. You’re a very special young woman,” Addison said, reaching out to pat the other girl awkwardly on the head.
“You really think so?” Erica sobbed, dripping warm fluids that Addison really hoped was just tears onto their hands.
“Of course I think so, my dear,” Addison said soothingly, stroking her hair back from her forehead. “Look at what you do for the orchestra. You work so hard to keep everything running smoothly. Everyone really appreciates how much effort you put in.”
“No they don’t!” Erica whined. “They hate me, they’re always complaining about me.”
Well that was true. Crap. Think, Addison, think. She really didn't want to have to participate in this conversation longer than absolutely necessary. “Well I think you do wonderful things for this orchestra, Erica, even if the others don't see it.”
“You do?” Erica said, lifting her tear drenched face to look at Addison.
“Y… es!” Addison said, thinking frantically. “Just look at that gorgeous red dress you put me in for the Spring performance. It was a stroke of genius. Maestro loved it! I loved it! Would I spend all this time with you if I didn’t think you were an amazing person? Come on, Erica, we’re friends.”
“Really?” Erica sniffled.
“Of course we are,” Addison said firmly, squeezing her hand.
Erica launched herself across the desk and hugged Addison hard around the neck.
It was about forty-five seconds later that the hug started to turn inappropriate and awkward, especially when Erica started running her hands up and down Addison’s back.
Addison cleared her throat and tried to move sideways off the chair.
Erica followed her until they were both sitting on the chair.
“Uh, Erica, I really need to get going now,” Addison said, gently trying to push the other woman back.
“Oh, of course,” Erica said, and much to Addison’s relief, released her. “Can I give you a ride home?”
Addison really wanted to say no, but after Erica’s crying episode didn’t think she could politely decline and still call herself a friend.
She rather thought Erica was a little unstable.
She agreed to let Erica give her a ride and vowed to discuss the possibility of getting her professional help with the Maestro.
She stood and reached for her cello, sighing heavily as Erica seized her arm in a hard grip.
Daniel picked up the satellite phone on the second ring.
He was somewhere over Honduras, flying back to the United States after a very successful meeting with Colombian drug lord, Javier Bastida.
He’d already talked at length to DeLuca and wasn’t expecting any calls.
The only person that could be calling him on King’s personal line, on King’s personal jet was Tyson King himself.
“Mercer,” King’s deep voice was urgent and clipped. “I have Jane Sitnikov here. She needs to talk to you urgently.”
What the fuck could the Sitnikov bitch need with him?
Daniel grunted his assent and waited.
“Mercer,” her feminine voice sounded about as pleased to be talking to him as he was to hear from her.
“What do want?” he demanded.
“Just shut the fuck up and listen you bastard,” she snarled into the phone.
“I like this about as much as you do me, but I’m not about to let my client die because you’re a woman choking asshole.
Addison hired me to find out who her stalker is, and I figured it out this morning.
I’ve been all over this damn city looking for her so I could warn her, but I can’t find her anywhere.
I’m afraid I might be too late, Daniel.”
Daniel froze, trying to process what Jane was telling him. It took him a moment to realize they must have him on speakerphone when King was demanding to know if he was still there and if he’d heard Jane. “Yes, I’m here,” he growled. “What do you mean, stalker?”
“Oh, you thought you were her only stalker?” Jane asked, snarkily. “Get in line, baby boy.”
Daniel really wished he’d kept choking when he’d had her fragile neck in his arms a few months earlier. “Just tell me about this fucking stalker.”
“Fine,” she snapped. “It started several months ago with emails and phone calls. Pretty innocent stuff, just straight up admiration fan mail. It only freaked Addison out a little because they had her personal cell number and email. She changed her number but they got her new one. Then the calls and letters began increasing in frequency. It wasn’t until you entered the picture that the threats began.
When it became clear that she was no longer single, the letters and calls took on a sinister edge, often mentioning death…
things like how her music would live on, even after she died.
Then there was the attack in the alley.”
“What?!” Daniel exploded.
“You didn’t know about that?” Jane asked innocently and, if he wasn’t mistaken, a little smugly.
“Her stalker cornered her in the alley behind the symphony hall when she was on a break, whispered “play for me” right in her face and then chased her into traffic. She could have been killed if the Maestro hadn’t pulled her out of the street. ”
“She went to you for help?” Daniel asked, helpless fury at the situation raging through him. It was probably a good thing he was trapped on a fucking airplane, because if he could get his hands on Addison at that moment he would probably beat her senseless for not telling him she was in trouble.
He was angry at himself too. How had he not known she had a stalker?
Hell, he’d seen the fucking scrapes all over her body when the freak had chased her into traffic.
He’d known she was lying to him. Yet he was so intent on getting his dick wet that he ignored the warning signs and let the woman that meant more to him than his own life get hurt.
He knew all along that Addison fucked with his head and this proved it.
“Yup, she hired me to track this sicko down,” Jane confirmed. “Of course, you were top of my suspect list, but she refused to let me shoot first and ask questions later. I think she’s attached to you or something equally stupid.”
Daniel ignored her. “What do you mean, you can’t find her?”
Jane’s voice grew serious. “I’ve looked everywhere I know to look, Mercer.
She’s not at home and she’s not answering her phone.
She’s not at the orchestra either. No one saw her leave and some of her musician friends said it was unusual for her to leave without saying good-bye.
Her cello was still there too, which seems unusual, unless she was going back for it.
I left Boris there, just in case she does go back.
But Daniel, the part that really scares me is… the suspect wasn’t there either.”
Daniel felt like his heart stopped. “Who is it?”