Beyond the Consequences (Book 5 of the Consequences Series)(16)

Dropping Sophie on the sofa, Claire sighed. “I know she won’t remember all of this, but this wasn’t how I envisioned Nichol’s first trip to New York.”

Tony laid their daughter on the sofa and undid her coat. “Look at her. She’s blissfully unaware.”

Claire smoothed Nichol’s hair away from her face. “I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened—” Tears threatened her painted lids.

“Stop,” Tony interrupted, as his strong arms surrounded Claire. “Nothing will happen. We’ll be home tomorrow.”

Claire nodded against his Armani suit jacket and gained strength with each beat of his heart.

“Let’s get Nichol into her bed. It’s been a long day.”

“All right,” Claire replied. Her eyes widened as Tony picked up Nichol. “When do you expect to hear from the FBI?”

“Hopefully tomorrow.” He started walking toward the front stairs.

“Oh, don’t forget Sophie!” Claire said, as she picked up the doll. “You have no idea how traumatic it was when she went missing. We don’t want Nichol waking in the middle of the night and not being able to find her.”





EARLY THE NEXT morning, Claire and Tony woke to the thunder of running feet as their daughter launched herself onto their bed. “Momma, Daddy, I want to go to the doll store!”

Claire looked toward the red numbers on the bedside stand. “Honey, it’s not even 6:00 AM. Look out the windows. It’s still dark. Maybe you should go back—”

Her little forehead wrinkled. “Why? You said in the morning. It’s morning.”

“Honey, the store doesn’t open—”

Not waiting for her mother to finish, Nichol asked, “When does it open?”

Claire was about to complete her suggestion that Nichol go back to sleep when Tony pulled himself up to a sitting position and tucked Nichol under his arm. “Come here, princess, let’s look at what time the store opens.”

As Tony turned on his phone, Claire shook her head. “I think that could wait until after—”

“Nichol? Where’s Sophie?” Tony asked, interrupting Claire.

“Right here,” she said, as she produced the doll from the foot of the bed.

“Oh, my. She’s still wearing her dress from last night!” Tony said.

Nichol’s eyes widened. “She is!”

“Doesn’t she have a nightgown?”

“She does.” Nichol climbed down from the big bed. “I’ll go get her jammies.”

Claire’s brow furrowed. “Since when are you concerned about her doll’s clothing?”

Instead of answering, Tony handed Claire his phone. It was open to a text message:

“MR. RAWLINGS. ALL THREE ENVELOPES AND CARDS TESTED CLEAR. THE MESSAGES WERE AS FOLLOWS: THE CARD FROM THE RESTAURANT, ADDRESSED TO MRS. RAWLINGS: ‘THIS IS THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO SAVE YOU. SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE CITY. SOON I WILL BE ABLE TO HELP YOU.’”

“CARD FROM THEATER, ADDRESSED TO MRS. RAWLINGS: ‘I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU CAN’T RESPOND, BUT TOMORROW. YOU WILL BE FREE TOMORROW.’”

“CARD FROM THEATER, ADDRESSED TO NICHOL RAWLINGS: ‘SOON YOU TOO WILL BE FREE.’”

Claire read the text a second time. “What is it supposed to mean? I don’t understand.”

“I’ll cancel my meetings. We’ll leave right away.”

Claire shook her head. “If we do that, this person wins. I almost felt better about the Rawls-Nichols mailings. At least they were consistent.”

Nichol came rushing back, Sophie in tow. “I didn’t put on her jammies. She’s too excited about the doll store. She wanted to get dressed.”

“She’s excited?” Claire asked.

Nichol nodded. “Yep. Daddy, when does it open?”

Tony brushed the screen. “Just a minute. Oh, here it is. American Girl opens at 9:00 AM. Look at that, you silly: we have over three hours.”

“I can’t wait free hours.” Her shoulders slumped. “That’s forever! I want to go now.”

Claire gave Nichol a big hug. “It’s not quite forever, honey, but I understand. I’d like to go now too. However, we have to wait. I know, we can eat a big breakfast so we won’t be hungry looking at all the toys. I bet Sophie would like some scrambled eggs.”

“Nope,” Nichol answered matter-of-factly. “She wants pancakes with lots of siwup.”

“Of course she does,” Tony laughed.

When 9:00 AM arrived, Claire, Tony, Nichol, Phil, and Taylor were all anxiously awaiting the opening of the American Girl store on Fifth Avenue. After a discussion with Eric, Phil, and Taylor, Tony decided to cancel his meetings and stay close to Claire and Nichol. Still blissfully unaware, Nichol bounced in her seat, excited to have her whole family see the store.

Phil watched the entrance for suspicious patrons while Taylor stayed by Nichol’s side. Claire had arranged for a personal shopper to help guide Nichol to the areas of the store that interested her most, and the nice woman was waiting for their arrival. As she ushered Nichol about, Tony and Claire followed closely behind.

With each new section of the giant store, Claire began to relax. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Just before they were to leave, Nichol tugged on her mother’s hand and whispered that she needed to use the restroom. They handed Sophie to Taylor who followed them into the restroom. As soon as Nichol and Claire entered a stall, the commotion began. It happened so fast that it was difficult to keep up.