“Okay. Ellen’s it is.”
After we finished our dinner, Hope and I stepped outside onto Broadway. As we were heading down the street to the subway station, I heard someone call my name.
“Lorelei!”
I looked across the street and saw Jack standing outside his limo. He held his finger up, signaling us to stay put as he crossed the street.
“Hi, Mr. Sutton.” Hope smiled.
“Hello, Hope. Lorelei. What are you two doing in Times Square?”
“We had dinner at Ellen’s.” I coughed. “What are you doing here?”
“I just had a meeting with someone about the magazine. Are you on your way home?”
“Yeah. We were just heading to the subway station.”
He sighed. “Come on. Tony will take you home.”
I put up my hand. “We can take the subway, Jack.”
“Lorelei. It’s cold out and you’re not taking the subway.” He bent down and spoke to Hope. “Would you rather ride the subway or in that black car across the street?” He pointed.
“Is that your car?” she asked.
“Yes. That is my car.”
“Your car is better than the subway.” She giggled.
He stood up and looked at me. “It’s settled. Tony will drive you home.”
I rolled my eyes and took hold of Hope’s hand as we crossed the street and climbed into the limo with Hope sitting in between me and Jack.
****
Jack
I looked down and noticed a pair of blue eyes staring up at me.
“What?”
“Did you have a good day?” she asked.
Lorelei glanced over at me.
“Yes. Did you?”
“Yes. I got an A on my math test. I was the only one in the class who got all the problems right.”
“Congratulations.”
“Thank you. You remind me of Prince Charming from Cinderella.” She smiled.
Was this little girl for real? I couldn’t believe she just said that. I heard Tony snicker.
“I can assure you a Prince Charming I am not.”
“You can say that again,” Lorelei mumbled and I shot her a look.
“Why?” she asked.
“Why what?”
“Why aren’t you a Prince Charming?”
Lorelei began to cough uncontrollably. “You really should go see a doctor about that cough.”
“If it doesn’t clear up in a couple of days, I will,” she spoke.
Tony pulled up to Lorelei’s apartment building and I let out a sigh of relief. How was I supposed to answer Hope’s question? How would I explain to a seven-year-old that I was far from ever being a Prince Charming?
“Thank you for the ride.” Lorelei gave a small smile.
“Thank you, Mr. Sutton. It was fun talking to you.” Hope placed her small hand on mine and Lorelei looked at me with fear in her eyes.
“It was nice talking to you, Hope, and you’re welcome.”
I watched out the window as the two of them walked hand in hand up the steps of the apartment building.
“She’s an adorable little girl,” Tony said.
“She’s okay.”
Chapter Thirty
Jack
The next morning, I had a phone conversation with the private investigator regarding Bradley. He had a lead as of his whereabouts and he was going to call me back later. I looked at the clock. It was ten minutes after eight. I opened my office door and noticed Lorelei wasn’t at her desk. I walked down to Coco’s office and asked Franny if she’d heard from her.#p#分页标题#e#
“No, Mr. Sutton. She hasn’t called?”
“No. She hasn’t and this isn’t like her to be late.”
I walked to my office and pulled my phone from my pocket. I dialed the business phone I gave her. No answer. I called down to Garrett.
“What’s up, Jack?”
“Do you have Lorelei’s cell phone number? She hasn’t shown up for work and she hasn’t called. I tried calling the business phone I gave her and she didn’t answer.”
“That’s odd. Hold on; let me pull her file.”
A few moments later, he rattled off her number as I wrote it down on a piece of paper. I dialed it.
“Hello,” a soft voice answered.
“Lorelei?”
“No. This is Hope.”
“Hope. It’s Mr. Sutton. Where’s your mom?”
“She’s sleeping. When I went into her room, she was lying on the floor, so I helped her back to bed. She’s really sick, Mr. Sutton.”
Suddenly, a wave of fear overtook me.
“Hope, I’m on my way over. So when you hear a knock at the door, you ask who it is first. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Mr. Sutton.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
I grabbed my suitcoat and flew out of the building. Tony was already waiting for me.