The Promise of Provence (Love in Provence Book 1) (12 page)

12

A week later, the ringing startled Katherine out of a deep sleep. Looking at her clock, she noticed it was 1:30 a.m. as she fumbled for her cell phone.

Her first thought, for a split second, was of her mother.
Some habits are hard to break
. Then Molly’s terrified voice cut through the heaviness. “Kat, oh God, Kat!”

Sitting bolt upright, Katherine was fully awake. “Molly, what’s wrong? What’s going on?”

Sobbing into the phone, Molly struggled to speak.

“Are you okay? What’s happening? Molly, talk to me!”

“Oh God, Kat. Can you come over? I am just freaking.”

“Try to calm down and talk to me. Of course I’ll come, but tell me what’s wrong?”

“Uh, gross . . . just . . . gross . . .” Molly sputtered.

“What’s gross? Please tell me first that you are all right!” Katherine demanded.

“Sorry, I’m okay . . . but . . . it’s the phone calls . . . cranked up a fuckin’ notch . . . it’s gotta be . . .” Molly replied, slowly regaining some composure. “Okay . . . first of all, I’ve had calls every day this week. All different times, all different numbers. I actually did turn my phone off a couple of nights because I couldn’t take it and I needed to try and sleep.”

“And you never told me—”

“No, I know, but anyway . . .” She sniffed and blew her nose loudly. “Sorry . . . fuck . . . !”

“What the hell is going on?”

“I just got home, right? There was a florist’s box in front of my apartment door. A nice white box with a gorgeous bow. When I opened it . . .” Molly coughed and gagged before continuing. “It was full of dead flowers and . . . a dead rat, like a rotting dead rat . . .” She gagged again on the last few words.

“Oh Molly,” Katherine gasped, her mouth suddenly dry. “How awful.”

Molly cleared her throat loudly. “Honestly, maggots and everything . . . I almost threw up right then and there . . .” A loud choking noise forced Kat to pull the phone away from her ear.

“Molly?”

“Sorry . . . I’m okay. Shit! I put it all straight down the garbage chute. I’m sitting here on the couch shaking . . .”

“I’ll be right over,” Katherine assured her, scrunching her face in disgust.

“Kat, I’m sorry.” Molly sniffed. “I’m really losing it.”

“Don’t worry. We can keep talking while I drive over. I’ll put you on speaker while I throw some clothes on.”

“No, wait . . . wait . . .” Molly said after blowing her nose. “Just talking to you is helping. Really, I don’t want you to come at this hour. I shouldn’t have asked you to do that.”

“No problem.”

“Seriously, I’m feeling better having you at the end of the line.”

“Good Lord,” Katherine whispered. “Who is doing this to you? This is beyond awful.”

“I called the super right away. He was freaked that I was so freaked, and then he was freaked when I described it. I’m sure he didn’t appreciate being wakened, but he went all around the lobby and outside and couldn’t see anything. He offered to call the police, but . . .”

“But the security video camera in the lobby must have picked up something,” Katherine suggested.

“Ha! Remember, I’m not exactly in a luxury building. We don’t have one.”

“I think you have to talk to the police. I really do.”

They spoke for a few minutes more and Molly became calmer. “I don’t want to stay here. I’m just too spooked. Can I come to your place?”

“I don’t want you to go out by yourself. Call a cab. What about the one you use to come home from the Note?”

“Yup. I’ll call Fred. Shit, he just brought me home! He’ll come right to the lobby door.”

“You buzz him right up to your apartment door. I don’t want you taking any chances!” Katherine warned.

“Good idea,” Molly’s voice broke and faded to a whisper. “This is surreal. I can’t frickin’ believe it!”

Katherine shook her head at the other end of the phone. “Me either . . . it’s like a Stephen King story. I’ll be watching out the window for you. Call me when you’re in the cab—and don’t open your door for anyone else.”

A half hour later, they were sitting at Katherine’s kitchen table, each having a scotch and water, a rare event.

“Christ! I needed this,” Molly said, taking a deep swig. The ice rattled in her glass as her hand trembled uncontrollably.

“Ditto,” Katherine agreed, reaching over to guide Molly’s glass to the table. “What a night.”

They sighed and gave each other a major eye roll. “You need to call the police tomorrow. This is serious.”

“That’s what the super said too.”

“First thing in the morning. Now let’s try to get some sleep—and make sure your phone is off.”

Sunday morning Molly called the police nonemergency number. She was assured an officer would be over to her apartment in the afternoon between 2:00 and 5:00 p.m.

“Okay,” Katherine suggested, “let’s go for a long walk after breakfast and then I’ll drive you home and spend the afternoon with you. Oh, but first, let me show you the home exchange inquiry I received yesterday! You won’t believe it!”

They spent a good while at the computer as they looked up details about the area, and Molly shared Katherine’s excitement.

“I can’t believe you’re going on your own, Kat! Are you sure about that?”

Katherine nodded her head with so much assurance Molly had to laugh. “Fuckin’-A! I’m convinced! Good on you, girl! I mean it!”

“Well, I just made the decision last evening, so let’s see how I feel as time goes by.”

After finishing their breakfast of hot oatmeal and blueberries—part of Katherine’s new morning regimen—they walked through the nearby park along the Humber River.

The rogue snow shower from the day before was forgotten as Sunday
brought sunshine. Cyclists, dog walkers, and joggers joined the strollers,
happy to feel that spring might be coming after all.

The river was running quickly, with the usual warning signs posted to keep children back from its banks.

Molly said she didn’t want to talk about the delivery incident until they got back to her place.

“Really, I just want to enjoy the walk and the fresh air. Let’s talk some more about your exchange and what you’re going to do in
la belle France
. I’m so jealous!”

Katherine was only too happy to oblige.

It was close to one o’clock when they were driving back to Molly’s place, just a five-minute drive from Katherine’s house.

“Let’s stop and pick up some Swiss Chalet chicken for lunch,” Molly suggested. “As usual, there’s not much in my fridge.”

As they waited for their takeout order, Molly turned to the next person in line and handed him a coupon for a free Swiss Chalet dinner.

The stranger looked at her in puzzlement as she explained. “This coupon is for you. Seriously! The next time you get a coupon in the mail, save it and give it to someone else. Just for the heck of it. It’s my good deed for the day.”

The man smiled then, getting the message. “You gotta be kidding! Thanks! Very nice of you, and I will pay it forward,” he ended with a wink.

Molly grinned back. “Right on!”

“What was that all about?” Katherine asked as they walked out to the car.

“I’ve been doing this for a few years now and it gives me such a buzz,” replied Molly. “It’s my random-act-of-kindness thingy.”

“Huh?”

“A few years ago I read something online about a woman in Pittsburgh
who spent a year doing anonymous little acts of kindness for strangers.
She gave them a note asking them to do the same thing for someone else,
and the whole thing took off on the Internet. Now people are doing it
all over the world, including me. But I’m not organized enough to have
a little note, so I just pass the message on verbally.”

“Moll, that’s so cool. So thoughtful. I want to do it too.”

“Then you will,” Molly assured her. “It’s what we all should be doing.”

Kat grinned. “You never cease to surprise me.”

Once they were settled in Molly’s apartment, Katherine felt it was time to press her on what was going on. “Okay, let’s talk. Something is obviously going on in your life, and you don’t seem to want to discuss it.”

“Kat, I have no idea what this is all about. I swear!”

Feeling Molly’s answer was a bit too quick and her expression not convincing, Katherine pushed her a bit more. “You know you can tell me anything and it won’t go any further. You know that . . .”

Molly quickly stood on the pretext of going to the kitchen to get some plates for their chicken sandwiches. At the same time there was a knock on her door.

Startled, she looked at Kat with panic in her eyes. “Fuck! That scared me! Kat, will you see who it is? Nobody can just get in here, but maybe they walked in when someone else was coming in. Oh, man!”

“I got it. Don’t worry.”

The building superintendent was at the door, holding a large green garbage bag.

“Is Ms. Malone here?” he asked, peering in.

“Oh, hi, Mr. B. Yeah, I’m here. Sorry about waking you last night and being so freaked out,” Molly apologized.

“No problem. That was some kind of weird, though. I went through the garbage after I left you last night and I managed to pick most of the stuff out.”

“Omigawd, even the . . . ?”

“Yeah, even the rodent. It’s all here in the bag and I really think you should call the cops about it.”

Molly explained that they were waiting for the police to arrive.

“Thanks, Mr. B. I’m so grateful for your help. Sorry again for this whole thing.”

“Well, I’m sorry too,” he answered, “but actually it might be a good thing for the building, because I’m hoping the owners will put a security camera in the lobby now. You’ve no idea what a help it will be. All sorts of strange shit . . . oh, excuse me.”

Katherine had to turn her back, pretending to pick something up, so he wouldn’t see her smirk at the idea of someone apologizing to Molly for swearing.

“Anyway,” he continued, “lots of stuff happens around here, and a camera might just make the difference. If the cops want to talk to me, I’ll be around all day. Just give me a shout.”

Molly was not reaching for the bag, so he gingerly placed it on the floor just inside her entrance hall and backed out, waving.

Katherine picked up the bag quickly and put it out on the balcony. “Yuck. No need to have that inside,” she said, scrunching her face.

Looking pale, Molly sat down. “I’ve lost my appetite, but you go ahead and have your sandwich.”

“Um, I think I’ll wait a bit too,” said Katherine. They turned on the television and feigned interest in a home makeover show.

Katherine was trying to think of a way to get Molly to admit she was hiding something and wondering how she could help her.

Molly was trying to figure out who could possibly know her secret.

An hour later, two police officers arrived, a man and a woman. They were thorough and brief. Unfortunately they were also less than helpful. They said it appeared that someone had a grudge against Molly and was taking it to extremes. However, if she had no idea who it might be, there was little they could do, particularly without any video evidence. They suggested she speak to the phone company and keep a list of each number the caller used. It would be tedious, but each of those numbers could be blocked. They understood Molly’s reasons for not changing her number.

The officers looked at the mess in the garbage bag, recoiling slightly at the increasing stench. Although they would give it to their lab, they did not hold out much hope of anything helpful coming of it.

“We’re really sorry, Ms. Malone. You’ve had a terrible experience, and we will send this to our lab right away.”

Handing her some brochures about personal safety, the officer continued, “Be very aware of who is around you and how they are behaving. This must be someone who knows you and has it in for you for some reason. Try and think about every aspect of your life right now and see if you can come up with anything.”

Molly signed the complaint form they had filled out and promised to be vigilant.

Leaving a card with her copy of the form, the female officer said, “Don’t hesitate to call this number if anything else happens. We are here to help.”

Molly thanked the officers for their assistance and waited a moment after closing the door before filling the air with expletives.

Katherine calmly let her blow off steam, while she went to the kitchen and took out the chicken sandwiches and fries that had sat forgotten. Molly followed her.

“I’m going to give these a quick a zap in the microwave. We both need to eat. Then we can talk about this some more if you want to . . .”

The more Molly thought about the whole thing, the angrier she became. As she set the table, she moaned, “Honestly, Kat! There’s no way I deserve this. I mean, no one does, but . . .”

The timer buzzed. Molly took over putting the food on plates while Kat poured them each a glass of wine and they sat down to eat. “I think we can both use a calming drink.”

Katherine decided she was going to put pressure on her friend. “Molly, something is going on that you don’t want anyone to know about. I’ve had inklings of it for a long time, but mostly in these last few months as we’ve spent more time together.”

She held her hand up to silence her friend as Molly tried to disagree. “I can’t put my finger on it, but I see it on your face and hear it in your voice from time to time. I’ve chosen to ignore it, but now I’m worried about it.”

Molly looked down at her hands and was silent. She felt Katherine’s eyes locked on her face.

“I know I’m right.”

Molly bit her lip and said nothing, continuing to look down.

“Think about it, Moll. I only want to help you figure this out.”

Nodding, Molly replied in a quiet voice, “Katski, you are my best friend—my only close friend, really—and we’ve become so much closer these past few months. You’re right. I do have a secret.”

Katherine waited.

“And it has to stay a secret, but I swear it’s not something that is hurting anybody!”

“Are you having an affair with a married man?”