Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [7]
“It was no trouble and I'm spending the rest of the day at the New York office,” Moore said matter-of-factly. He extended his hand. “Gregg, remember what I told you.”
“It's burned in my mind,” Aldrich said, his voice still totally flat.
The doorman hurried across the sidewalk to hold open the car door. As Gregg Aldrich murmured his thanks he looked into the man's eyes and saw the expression of barely concealed excitement that he knew some people experience when they are close spectators to a sensational crime story. I hope you're enjoying yourself, he thought bitterly.
On the elevator to his fifteenth-floor apartment, he asked him?self: How could this all have happened? And why did he follow Nat?alie to Cape Cod? And did he in fact drive to New Jersey that Monday morning? He knew that he had been so distraught, tired, and angry that when he got home he had gone out for his usual run in Central Park, and later was shocked to realize he had been jog?ging for nearly two and a half hours.
Or had he been?
He was terrified to realize that he was not sure now.
Just Take My Heart
6
Emily admitted to herself that the combination of Mark's death and her own sudden illness had devastated her. Added to that was her father's marriage, his decision to move permanently to Florida, and the fact that her brother Jack had accepted a job offer in California—all emotional blows that had left her reeling.
She knew she had kept up a good front when both her father and brother worried about leaving her at this time in her life. She also knew that her father signing over the house to her, with Jack's heartfelt consent, was a certain salve to their consciences.
And it's not as if they should feel guilty, she thought. Mom's been dead twelve years. Dad and Joan were seeing each other for five years. They're both pushing seventy. They love sailing and have the right to enjoy being able to do it year round. And certainly Jack couldn't pass up that job. He's got Helen and two little kids to think about.
All that having been said, Emily knew that not being able to see her father, her brother, and his family regularly had made the adjustment to losing Mark even more difficult. Certainly it was wonderful to be back in the house —it had a “return to the womb” aspect that brought with it a healing quality. On the other hand, the neighbors who were still there from when she was growing up were the age of her parents. The ones who had sold their homes had been replaced by families with young children. The sole exception was the quiet little guy who rented next door to her and who had shyly told her he was very handy in case she ever needed anything fixed.
Her immediate inclination had been to turn him down flat. The last thing she wanted or needed was a close neighbor who might try to latch onto her under the guise of helpfulness. But as the months passed, and the little she got to see of Zach Lanning was if they happened to arrive or depart their homes at the same time, Emily's guard began to drop.
In the first weeks after she was assigned the Aldrich trial, she spent long hours reviewing and absorbing the file. It immediately became necessary for her to leave the office at five o'clock, race home to walk and feed Bess, then return to the office until nine or ten o'clock at night.
She liked the demands of her job. It gave her less time to dwell on her own sorrow. And the more she learned about Natalie, the more she felt a kinship with her. They had both returned to their childhood homes, Natalie because of a broken marriage, Emily because of a broken heart. Emily had reams of information she had downloaded on the subject of Natalie's life and career. She had thought of Natalie as being a natural blond, but the background material re?vealed that she had changed her hair color from brunette when she was in her early twenties. Seeing her early pictures, Emily was struck