The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters #6) - Lucinda Riley Page 0,263

spent an interesting half an hour researching possible sources.

‘It would be amazing if you could actually go over there and meet the women who are making these fabrics,’ commented Mariam.

‘Maybe one day I will. My ancestors came from Kenya.’

‘Did they? Is that what your grandmother told you?’

‘Yes, and I’ll hear more about everything this afternoon. Can you book me a car to take me over to Brooklyn for three?’

‘Of course I can.’

‘Great, I’m going to head out for a run now.’

Yet again, Tommy wasn’t at his post as I jogged across the street. It was weird that someone could play a part in your daily life, yet you had no idea where they lived or how to get in contact with them if they suddenly disappeared.

Lost in my own thoughts, I didn’t see the two men until they were on me, one holding me in a headlock from behind, as the other tore my Rolex from my wrist, and ripped the tiny diamond and its chain from my throat.

Before I could even shout out or begin to struggle, they were gone, leaving me numb with shock. I bent over, feeling the world spin for a moment. Then I heard a voice beside me.

‘You okay, ma’am? So sorry I couldn’t help, but they had a knife.’

I looked up to see an old grey-haired man, who was bent almost as double as I was, but from natural causes.

‘There’s a bench over there, let me help you to it,’ he offered.

I felt his arm go around my lower back; it was remarkably firm and comforting as he guided me to the bench.

‘There we go, you rest for a while,’ he said as he helped me to sit down.

‘S-sorry, it’s the shock. I’ll be okay in a minute,’ I panted.

‘Here, have some water. It’s a fresh bottle – I haven’t opened it yet.’

‘Thanks.’

‘You shouldn’t be running alone in the park. These guys are professionals – they’ll have seen you and your jewellery before and planned exactly where to wait for you.’

‘Yeah, it’s my own stupid fault,’ I agreed. ‘I normally take my watch off, but—’

‘That’s why I bring Poppet with me; she might look small, but she’s gotta real fetish for ankles,’ the old man chuckled.

I looked down and saw a tiny terrier, complete with a bow on top of its head, sitting by its master’s feet and gazing up at me. The sight made me smile.

‘You live round here, don’t you?’ the man continued.

‘Yeah, right across the street on Central Park West.’ I waved an arm in the direction of my apartment.

‘Then we’re neighbours,’ he said. ‘I live right there on Fifth.’ He pointed to an apartment building. ‘Have done for eighty odd years – I was born there.’

‘My grandmother lived on Fifth for a while, in the pretty house with the curved front.’

‘No! You don’t mean number 925? The house owned by the Huntley-Morgans way back when?’

‘I think so, yeah,’ I said, because my head was still fuzzy from shock.

‘Well, well, could I tell you some stories about them. That Dorothea – what a bitter, cranky old witch she was,’ the man chuckled. ‘After her husband died, she lived alone there for years. I was only a kid, but she used to terrify me, sitting at the window, all dressed in black staring out like the mother in Psycho. I never saw no one come to visit her, not once.’

I felt too dazed to reply.

There was a pause before he added, ‘I know who you are – I’ve seen you on the billboards. I’m surprised you don’t have a bodyguard running with you. If you don’t want stuff like that to happen again, you should think about getting one.’

‘Yeah, I know, but I enjoy the space, and . . .’ I was about to say I could take care of myself, but given the circumstances, it obviously wasn’t true. I touched the back of my neck, which was sore from where the necklace had been wrenched away from it. I’d bought it for myself with one of my first big pay checks and hardly ever took it off. I felt oddly naked without it. I saw my fingertips were smeared with blood.

‘You better get that cut looked at. Want me to call someone to come get you?’

‘No, I’ll be okay, it’s only a short walk back home,’ I said as I tentatively stood up.

‘I’ll walk with you.’

So my new guardian angel, his tiny terrier and I made our way slowly to my