Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [24]
"Since you've been following me, you know that I haven't."
"I thought he might have called you."
"He didn't."
"Is that unusual? Not hearing from your father when he has a valuable artifact out of your store?"
"Potentially valuable," she corrected.
"Oh, come on. If it was a fake, it would have been returned to us hours ago."
"There's nothing to worry about, Mr. McAllister."
"Riley," he corrected. "And I am worried, because as I said before -- you're nervous."
"Maybe I'm nervous because you've been following me around." She paused as her cell phone rang. She hesitated, then pulled out of her purse to answer. "Hello."
"Hello?"
Riley watched the color drain from her face. "Wh-what did you say?" she stuttered. "Where? When? Yes, I'll come right away."
"What's wrong?" he asked as she ended the call.
"My father," she said, her eyes dazed, frightened.
"Where is he?"
"He's in the hospital. He was attacked in an alley in Chinatown. He's in critical condition."
Chapter Five
Paige found her mother in the waiting room on the fourth floor of St. Mary's Hospital. Next to Victoria was her closest friend, Joanne Bennett, another well-to-do socialite in her fifties, and Joanne's son, Martin, the object of their earlier discussion. A tall, lean man in his mid-thirties with perfectly styled dark blond hair, Martin was still wearing the charcoal gray Armani suit he'd had on at work earlier that day. While sometimes his never-a-hair-out-of-place demeanor annoyed Paige, right now she found it reassuring. Things couldn't be that bad if Martin looked so calm
Martin got up to greet her, putting his arms around her in a comforting hug. "It will be all right, Paige."
She wanted to linger. It felt good to let someone take care of her, but she knew she couldn't hide in Martin's arms. She had to see her mother's face, look into her eyes, and then she would know the truth. She pulled away and said, "Mother?"
Victoria's face was white. There were tight lines around her eyes and mouth. She'd come out of the house without touching up her lipstick, without wearing hose, for God's sake. In fact, she had on a blue skirt and a yellow sweater that didn't match, all the little details her mother took such pride in. It was bad. It had to be bad.
"How is Daddy?" she forced herself to ask.
"They don't know yet. He's unconscious. He has a bad gash in his head, maybe a skull fracture." Victoria cleared her throat as the words came out choked and emotional.
"But he's going to be all right? He'll recover?"
"I'm sure he will," Victoria replied, but there was no strength in her voice, no confidence, just fear. "The doctor said it may be awhile before we know anything."
"I don't understand what happened. Was he robbed? What was he doing in Chinatown?" The questions tumbled out of her mouth. "Did they find the person who did this to him?"
"Paige, slow down," Joanne chided gently. "There's time to know everything."
"Is there time? Are you sure there's time?" Paige asked, meeting her mother's gaze.
"I hope so," Victoria muttered.
"This is a private conversation. Do you mind?" Martin said.
Paige turned to see Martin bearing down on Riley, who had stopped a discreet distance away. She'd forgotten he was there, forgotten he'd given her a ride to the hospital.
"Are you with the press?" Martin demanded.
"He brought me here," Paige answered. "Riley McAllister, Martin Bennett." She turned to her mother, leaving the two men to shake hands or not. "Have you spoken to the police?"
"Just for a few moments. They don't know anything. Or at least they're not saying what they know. Someone found your father lying in an alley in Chinatown." Victoria put her head on her hand. "God. An alley, of all places."
Her mother's words created a vivid picture in Paige's mind, one of her father defenseless and in pain, maybe crying out for help, for family. Paige felt nauseous at the thought. "I don't understand how this could happen—"
"Paige, I know you're terrified, and you want answers," Joanne