Golden Lies - Barbara Freethy [38]
"That she stole it." The thought had already crossed his mind.
"Your mother isn't a thief."
"My mother doesn't know right from wrong, up from down, red from blue. Her vision of the world was skewed most of the time, even when she wasn't on drugs. You know that."
"If she took the dragon from somewhere, she didn't think it was stealing."
"It doesn't matter," he said, trying not to show his exasperation with Nan's loyalty. After all, she'd extended that same loyalty to him.
"It might matter. Maybe your mother saw us on TV the other day. I've gotten a couple of strange hang-up calls recently."
"Why would she call and hang up?" Riley asked, trying to be logical and practical instead of emotional. "Why wouldn't she just say hello?"
"She might be working up her courage. We had words that last day before she left, and I told her that she couldn't come back unless she said she was sorry. I had no idea I was asking something that was just impossible for her to give."
Riley knew his grandmother still wanted to hear those words, still wanted to believe that her daughter would one day realize how much she'd hurt them all and apologize. Riley had hoped for the same thing for a long, long time. But not now, not after fifteen years.
"She must think about you, Riley. I'm only her mother, but you're her son, her child. I know she thinks about you. I know she wants to see you."
"You don't know anything of the kind," Riley said somewhat harshly. "I'm sorry, Grandma, but the truth is we don't even know if she's alive. And the odds of her calling and hanging up are really long. It's more likely a wrong number, or maybe even Grandpa dialing the phone and forgetting who he's calling. You should have caller ID on your phone; I don't know why you don't. I'll get that added tomorrow."
"Oh, Riley, more security measures? I don't want to feel like I'm living in a prison. You're probably right. It's probably your grandpa. He does have that phone by his bed."
Riley paused as the buzzer for his apartment rang. "Someone is at the door. Call me if you have any problems." He hung up the phone and walked over to the intercom. "Yes?"
"It's Paige. I need to speak to you right away."
He buzzed her in, having a pretty good idea of what she wanted to see him about.
She made it to the second floor in less than a minute and, judging by the flushed red of her cheeks, she'd taken the stairs. He waved her into his apartment.
"Before you—" he began.
"What the hell were you thinking, talking to the press about this?"
"I didn't."
"You must have. They have the whole story. My phone has been ringing off the hook all day. They want to know about the dragon. And our other customers want to know if their priceless artifacts are in danger of disappearing. My mother is livid. This is the last thing we needed, with my father fighting for his life." She finally took a breath.
Riley jumped in. "I didn't call the media, Paige. I mentioned the dragon to the police detective last night. I asked him if they'd found anything in the alley."
"The police told the press?" she asked with a disbelieving frown.
"I'm sure someone has a source in the department. And you said yourself that the Hathaways are always news, aren't they?"
"Yes." She let out a sigh. "I need to sit down."
Riley swept a pile of newspapers off a nearby armchair so she could take a seat. "How did you find me, by the way?"
"Your secretary was very helpful."
"I'll fire her in the morning."
Paige smiled weakly. "I guess I should apologize. I shouldn't have come here. I just had to yell at someone."
"How's your father?"
"No change. It's hard to see him lying so still. My mother is there now, along with a private nurse. My grandfather is planning to stop by tonight. He'll probably just order my father