Three Mates for Judith (12 page)

“Well fuck. I was happy asleep.”

Nevertheless she rolled off the bed and opened her closet, pulling out clean underwear, a T-shirt and jeans, and pulled them on fast. He wondered if she was usually the kind of person who liked to spend time planning her clothing or if she often got dressed as easily as this.

When she went to leave the room barefoot, he shook his head and said, “You need to wear shoes. You don’t want to step on a splinter.”

“Hmm. That’s true. Wearing my boots might be better in case I want to kick someone, too.”

By the time they went downstairs to Cherise’s rooms, Nelson and Nahum had disappeared. Instead of knocking on the door, Judith took out her cell phone and called her mom. Her mom woke just as fast as Judith had and answered with a “Fuck that fucking man. I haven’t even had a chance to check whether he’s stolen anything from the brownstone yet.”

The door opened while Cherise was still taking, and Naftali blinked at the flowing nightgown his lover’s mother was wearing. It was completely decent but was a frothing sea of turquoise, blue, and green lace that trailed behind her as she retreated to her bedroom.

“Put shoes on as well,” Judi called after her mother.

Cherise didn’t get dressed as fast as Judith had, but she didn’t take an inordinately long time either. Still, Naftali was on edge. If the shit hit the fan while they were downstairs, he knew Judith would want to be part of the defending party, and he wanted her safely out of the way long before then.

Mrs. Davey appeared, fully dressed and carrying a large wooden rolling pin like a character out of a B-movie. But if it made her happy, Naftali wasn’t going to say anything.

The moment Cherise returned, he hurried them out of her rooms, waited while she locked the door, and then followed Judi and Mrs. Davey back up to Judi’s attic. There he ensured she’d locked her door as well, and he trailed behind them into the living room.

Mrs. Davey had laid her rolling pin on the kitchen counter and was busy making coffee. Cherise wandered around the room for a while and then dragged a chair over to the bookshelves. Naftali watched, intrigued. Was she planning to read a book right now? But no. She stood on the chair, pulled a handful of books off the top shelf, and put something she took out of her pocket behind them before replacing them.

It appeared her ex-husband wasn’t the only person who liked to hide things around the house.

“Do we have any reason to believe it’s dear old Dad outside?” asked Judith.

Naftali shook his head. “Not at all. It might be someone who’s innocently broken down and whose cell phone has a flat battery. But on the other hand…”

“On the other hand, my husband has a vested interest in removing as much of my personal property as he can and selling it before the divorce is finalized, damn him.”

“Pretty much,” Naftali agreed.

* * * *

Nahum and Jake were watching the back of the house. Nelson had already called the Alpha, who wasn’t getting anymore sleep tonight than they were. The Alpha, in turn, had alerted the authorities, who were very much hoping it was Lutterworth about to break and enter and not some innocent, lost passerby.

Nahum wondered if it was considered breaking and entering when this had been Lutterworth’s home for many years. The fact that he’d been forced to leave and the locks had all been changed made him think the man was committing a crime. But likely it’d be better to wait until he was actually about to leave with some item that definitely wasn’t his before confronting him. That was their plan, anyway. Unless he attacked one of the women. Then every bet was off. Judith and Cherise’s safety was paramount.

He and Jake moved constantly and silently from vantage point to vantage point, making sure their shadows were never visible through any of the windows. Nahum’s favorite place to watch was from the staff’s bathroom. It had a single window, which he could only see out of when standing on the side of the tub, and it gave him a perfect view over the backyard of the property. Also, it was the one window a burglar was unlikely to be watching as it was solid glass and didn’t open, plus it was too high up for easy on-ground access.

Nevertheless he made sure to keep his head behind the wall, with just his eyes able to see out. From there he crawled along the floor and peeked out the bottom of the Daveys’ bedroom window and then moved to the mudroom. Nothing, nothing, nothing.

He passed Jake in the hallway, but the older man shook his head. He’d seen nothing either. Nahum hoped like hell that meant the intruder was coming from the front of the house, not that they’d lost track of him. That was the main worry about leaving the women in the attic. If anyone did break through from the roof, that’s where they’d finish up, and then the women would be in grave danger. Unless removing the tiles made a lot of noise, and no competent burglar would be that stupid. Lutterworth might be a lot of things, but Nahum was certain stupid wasn’t one of them. So far, he’d been extremely smart.

Every now and then, Nahum gave a single beep on his cell phone to his twin. Nelson, in turn, did the same to him. It was a deliberately random contact so no one would be able to anticipate their actions. It reassured him that Nelson and Sam were still alert and on guard at the front of the house. Mr. Davey had refused to go upstairs with the women and was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping a cup of coffee, with a heavy, solid silver tray on the table at his right hand. Nahum wasn’t quite sure why the older man was so intent on having it right there. He’d have preferred to have hidden the valuable item. But once again, it made the man happy, and Nahum wasn’t going to argue about it. Another pair of eyes was a good thing, even if he suspected Mr. Davey’s fighting days were far behind him.

Nahum patrolled the rooms again, checking from every window, swallowing down the mounting tension trying to engulf him in fear for his woman. An innocent bystander would have knocked on the door by now. This had to be a less-than-innocent person. But was it Lutterworth, or was it a distraction while he attacked from another angle and caught them unprepared?

His cell vibrated in his pocket, and he snatched it into his hand and read,
At front door now
. At least he knew what was happening. The house was silent, and he’d have heard even a timid knock, but there was nothing. Nahum desperately wanted to look out one of the front windows to watch the action, but instead, he redoubled his efforts at the rear of the property in case it was a feint.

Sure enough, only a few minutes later, a gray shadow moved around the back. The person was wearing dark jeans and a dark hooded sweater, so Nahum had no hope of recognizing their face or even their hair color. He stood on the edge of the tub, watching the person approach the back door. Once the person was on the stoop, he couldn’t see them anymore, so he crept closer until he could hear faint rustling noises. Of course, Mrs. Lutterworth had changed all the locks. Perhaps this person hadn’t known that. If it was Lewis, though, shouldn’t he have expected her to do it? Did this mean it wasn’t him but some neighbor in distress after all?

Jake commando-crawled across the kitchen floor, out of sight of anyone looking in the window, and disappeared into the hallway, still keeping guard, so Nahum thought it was all right for him to wait here.

Then there was a tapping on the kitchen window. The person had seen Mr. Davey and was asking to be let in. Well damn. If it was a burglar and they let him in, that would kill half their arguments in court, as he would have been invited into the house.

Mr. Davey shuffled across to the window and opened the curtain. He called out quite loudly, “I’m sorry, sir. I can’t let you in. Miss Cherise’s orders.”

There was a muffled reply, but the older man returned to the table, sat, and picked up his cup, which Nahum was certain would be empty by now, but it was a nice piece of acting.

The person outside banged on the window and called out, “Damn you, I just want to collect a few of my own things. You can come with me and watch what I take if you want to.”

So it was Lutterworth. He was here, not at the brownstone after all. That meant that sending the teenagers here had been a trick. He and his men were meant to be watching the brownstone right now, leaving this place vulnerable so Lutterworth could come back and take whatever it was he wanted from here.

Mr. Davey shook his head and remained seated at the table.

Suddenly Nahum remembered he wasn’t watching a play. This was real life, and meanwhile, someone else, an entire horde of someone elses, could be attempting to break in at an unwatched part of the building.

Silently he padded around the back of the house, checking every window, looking outside and along the line of the house, listening for any strange noises, such as the sound of a car engine. But nothing.

Until the stillness was shattered by the sound of breaking glass back the way he’d come.

Every instinct inside Nahum wanted to race to the scene and take down Lutterworth, but they needed a solid legal case against him, and breaking a window because someone wouldn’t open the door could be explained away as bad temper.

He checked outside one last time then hid behind the mudroom door, leaving it open just an inch so he could see out. Sure enough, Lutterworth stomped past him, heading for the stairs, with Mr. Davey saying, “You really shouldn’t have done that, sir. Miss Cherise isn’t going to be happy about another broken window.”

“Shut up, you fool.”

Lutterworth moved fast and noisily up the stairs, Mr. Davey following him, and Nahum watching from where he hoped Lutterworth wouldn’t see him if he looked back.

Instead of stopping at Cherise’s room, as Nahum had expected, Lutterworth continued up the stairs. Nelson raced up the stairs after him, as silent as the panther he was, and Nahum followed. Jake and Sam stayed on guard on the first floor, protecting the front and back of the house, although Nahum no longer thought this was a diversion. It was Lutterworth himself intent on getting something. But what? And why?

Chapter Seven

Nelson felt sick when he realized Lutterworth was continuing up the stairs past the second floor and his own study and bedroom. For a moment he was terrified that Lutterworth was after Judith to attack her, maybe even kill her as he’d originally threatened, and Nelson wished he’d hidden her somewhere else. But then Lutterworth stopped and was jingling his keys again.

Likely Mr. Davey knew they’d all be listening and worrying because he asked loudly, “What are you doing, sir? That’s the storeroom. Why are you going in there?”

“What do you think I’m doing, you fool? Go back down to your kitchen and leave me alone.”

“But you told me I could watch to ensure you don’t take any of Miss Cherise’s things,” said the man. That was a damn clever answer. Of course Lutterworth had only said it to encourage Davey to open the back door, but nevertheless he had said it and was now stuck with it.

There was the noise of things being moved around roughly and then a frustrated growl. Mr. Davey was pushed out of the way, and Lutterworth rushed to the stairs and up to the attic. It was clear he was angry because something he wanted wasn’t there. And in the attic were Judith and her mom. Bile filled Nelson’s mouth, and he swallowed hard. Throwing up wasn’t going to save his woman. He needed to keep his mind on the job.

There were a few minutes of silence and then loud banging on Judith’s door.

“Open the door, Judith. You’ve got something of mine. I know you took it. Now open this damn door and tell me where you put it.”

“Tell me what it is, and I’ll tell you if I know about it.” Judith’s voice was clear but not as loud as her father’s. Nelson felt sure she hadn’t opened the door yet.

“Stop defying me, girl. Open the damn door.”

“The last time I went to visit you, I was kidnapped. Why don’t you just tell me what you want?”

There were several loud thumps, a lot of grunting, and then a crash.
Fuck!
Lutterworth must have smashed her door open. Surely that would be enough for the courts to convict him.

Nelson could hear Mr. Davey remonstrating with Lutterworth, and then there was another thump, and Nelson ran up the final flight of stairs.

Mr. Davey was lying on the floor, wheezing, but when Nelson stopped, the older man waved him into Judith’s apartment. Nelson hurried to the end of the narrow entry hallway and peeked around the wall. Judith was standing behind the kitchen counter, alone in the room. Nelson wondered why Naftali wasn’t beside her. It was reasonable that he would make Cherise and Mrs. Davey hide in the bedroom, but where was he?

Judith’s voice was cold. “I don’t believe I gave you permission to enter my apartment.”

“I’m your father. I have the right to enter your room.”

“Not in my mother’s house. Not since you ordered two men to murder me.”

“It’s just as well they were totally incompetent and useless. Now you can tell me what the fuck you’ve done with my Monet.”

“My grandfather’s Monet you mean? The one you had copied and replaced on the wall with a fake? You didn’t even manage to get the frame copied accurately. I knew immediately when I saw it that it was a fake.”

“What have you done with the original?” Lutterworth strode across the room, his fist raised threateningly, but Judith didn’t move.