Ancient Inheritance by Rita Vetere

Author:Rita Vetere
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Published: 2008-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 24

New York City

It was late afternoon by the time the yellow Taxi pulled up in front of Cat’s apartment. As the driver retrieved her luggage from the trunk, Cat opened the door to get out.

“Are you coming up?” she asked Matthew.

“Uh, no, I thought I’d go back to my place to rest for a while. I’m not feeling very well. I’ll come over later on, all right?” he replied without looking at her.

“Sure, okay.” Cat tried hard to not let her disappointment show. He’d been so distant all the way home. She had hoped the time together would bring them closer, not tear them apart.

“See you later then.” She waved brightly and headed toward the building. At the last moment, she turned around before entering. Matthew sat in the back seat of the cab, staring straight ahead as if in a trance as the car drove off.

It was a mistake bringing him with me to Granddad’s funeral. He’s seen a side of me he doesn’t like. Maybe he doesn’t want to be engaged any more. Having just lost Grandad, the idea of losing Matthew, too, felt unbearable.

On the ride up in the elevator, loneliness washed over her again. She still could not believe Granddad was gone from her life. Get used to it. This is the way it’s going to be from now on.

Her dismay was all the greater when the elevator doors opened, and she stepped into the wreckage of what a few short days ago had been her sanctuary.

With a gasp, she dropped her luggage, grabbed her cellphone from her purse, and retreated quickly back inside the elevator. She pounded on the down button and didn’t take an easy breath until the doors closed, and she began the slow descent down.

Once in the lobby, she ran to Jimmy. “My apartment’s been broken into. Everything’s torn apart. I’m calling the police now, but could you check the place for me? In case someone’s still up there?” Her voice shook so badly she wondered how the doorman even made sense of what she was saying. He seemed to understand the gist of it, and ran to the elevator.

“How could they have gotten by us? Bill or me are always in the lobby.”

“I don’t know, Jimmy, but my place is completely trashed.” With shaking hands, she dialed 911.

“Hello? Yes, I need to report a break-in.”

Jimmy was shouting into his walkie-talkie as the elevator door closed on him. Cat finished giving the details to the operator. She paced, heart pounding, until Jimmy’s return.

“Did you—” she began.

Jimmy shook his head in reply and then told her he’d found no one up there, although her apartment had indeed been thoroughly trashed.

With a sigh of relief that no one was still lurking in the apartment, she thanked him and went back up to survey the damage and wait for the police to arrive.

As she walked through her home, hot anger consumed her. Every inch of the place had been vandalized. Broken glass from the coffee table crunched under her feet.

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