by S. E. Lund
I leaned forward and shook my head. "I like Debussy, so that makes me an even older codger," I managed to say in his ear.
It was too hard to hear each other talk so for the rest of the set, we just listened, enjoying the music and atmosphere and watching Drake and the guys perform.
When the set was over, we clapped with the rest of the audience and I turned to my parents, who seemed to really enjoy the music.
"How did you like it?" I asked Elaine. "You've never heard them before."
"They're darn good," she said, her eyebrows raised. "I had no idea what to expect. Drake has such a nice voice."
"He really does," I said.
"All the women in the crowd are probably wishing they were you," she added. "He looks like a rock star on the stage with those leather pants and that white shirt.
"They can't have him," I said with a laugh. "He's mine."
During the break, Drake came out and kissed me warmly. "So, how did we do?" he asked, glancing at my dad and Elaine. "Brit enough for you? I snuck in some Stones just for you, Ethan."
"First rate," my dad said. "You could have been a musician if you'd wanted, but it's a damn good thing you weren't, for your patients' sakes."
Drake knelt between my father and me, his arms around each of us. "I don't have any at the moment," he said with a heavy sigh. "Maybe next year once all this blows over."
My father frowned. "It shouldn't be like that. You should be judged on your skills and competence, not your private life. If you go to Southampton, you'll have lots of pediatric patients. Have you two decided yet?"
Drake turned to me, a sheepish expression on his face.
"You talked to both Lara and dad before me?" I asked, feeling a bit hurt.
"I wanted to feel him out before I brought it up with you."
"And what did you say, Daddy?" I glanced at him, watching his face.
"I told him it sounded like a perfect position for him, given his expertise in robotic surgery and given he wants to work in pediatric neurosurgery."
"But Drake's saying no," I said and shook my head. "It's too soon. We just got back and we decided that focusing on family is more important right now. Liam's here. You're here..."
"You two are most important right now," my dad said. "If your relationship doesn't come first, everything else falls apart. Think about it."
I frowned, but didn't say anything. Drake squeezed my shoulder.
"We decided to wait for another opportunity. One closer to home. This way, I'll get to negotiate with Maureen about spending time with Liam."
"You two have to do what's right for you," my father said.
And that was that.
I turned to look at Drake and he seemed perfectly fine with it. Drake nodded. "We have." He turned to me. "How are you enjoying the set?"
"I really liked the first song, personally," I said and smiled, glad that he seemed truly fine about not accepting the Southampton offer.
"Good. I better go and get ready. Thanks for coming tonight." He gave my dad's shoulder a squeeze and then leaned over and kissed Elaine on the cheek.
Then he leaned over to kiss me once more. "See you later." He gave me an intense look that said so much.
"See you," I replied, my stomach doing a little flip, wondering what he had in mind, but feeling a little sick to my stomach about the whole Southampton issue.
"Drake really loves you to turn down a plum position at the Southampton Children's Hospital, Kate."
I forced a smile I didn't feel all of a sudden. "He does."
The three of us chatted for a few more minutes and then my dad glanced at his watch. "Well, I guess it's time for this old codger to go home."
"It was nice to have you both come out for dinner and the set. We should do it more often."
"We should," my father said. He wheeled his way out of the bar, with Elaine and me in tow. I walked them to the coat check and then to the car, which was waiting at the door.
"Goodnight," I said and leaned down to kiss my dad once more and then gave Elaine a hug and kiss. "We'll talk soon about Nassau."
"Sounds good."
They drove off just as a few faint drops of rain fell. It was cold enough that it could almost have been snow, but thankfully, wasn't. I wrapped my arms around myself and glanced up at the sky, which was overcast, the lights of the city reflecting off them. A few cars down the curb, I saw a door open and John stepped out of the vehicle. He stood beside the car and watched me and I remembered that I had security following me everywhere I went.
I waved at him and then went back inside, sad that it had come to this.
* * *
The tables were all crowded by the time I got back and so I sat at the bar and faced the stage, eager to see the second set and learn my fate once the night was finished. Before the guys could get on stage, my cell vibrated. I removed it to find a text from Drake.
DRAKE: Don't get frightened, but I just received a threat from Lisa's brother. I called John and then I spoke with the police and gave them the number. They'll do a trace on it to see if they can identify the caller, but I recognize the voice. They're going to Monroe's house and will report back once they speak with him. If it was him, it'll be a contravention of his bail and the restraining order and he could go to jail without a chance for bail until the trial. I'm going to come out immediately so we can get Sophie and take her to the hotel.
KATE: Oh, Drake... I'm scared. What did he say?
DRAKE: Don't be scared -- we'll be fine. His message was: "I'm coming to get you, you sick bastard. You're going to pay for what you did to my sister." I thought it might be some random troll trying to screw around with me, but it sounded like him. We should be on the safe side and leave. The band's going to continue playing but without me.
KATE: Okay. I'm at the bar.
I glanced up at the stage to see Drake emerging from the back room. He scanned the crowd and found me. Our eyes met and I nodded and held my cell up.
Drake turned to Ken and they spoke and Ken laid a hand on Drake's shoulder. It looked like he was reassuring Drake that it was okay for him to leave.
After they shook hands, Drake picked up his guitar, slid it into its case, and slung it over his shoulder. Then, he came over to me, threading his way through the tables.
"Are we going home?" I asked when he got to me, his hands on my arms. "Do the police want you to make a statement or anything?"
"I spoke with them already over the phone but they will want me to come down and make a formal statement," he said. "They'll want to see my cell and they should be able to tell if it's Monroe."
My heart sped up. "You think it was, right?"
"Yes, I'm afraid I do."
"Oh, God." I hugged him, my eyes filling with tears.
Drake broke the embrace and took my hand. "Let's go."
I retrieved my coat from coat check and we went out the back to where John and another of the bodyguards were standing. John had his hand on his hip, where I knew he had a sidearm.
They took the threat seriously.
"Dr. Morgan, Mrs. Morgan," John said, his voice all business. "Please get in the vehicle now. We'll stop off at the police station so you can give a statement and then we'll pick up Sophie and take you to the hotel."
We did, sliding into the back seat and fastening our seat belts while John got in the front.
"I just spoke with Detective Gates at the NYPD that they received a call from one of Monroe's family members that he was armed and had been talking about finding you and making you pay for his sister's incarceration. The family member tried to stop him, but was unable and so they called 9-1-1 immediately. The operator called NYPD with the threat information and they contacted me as the head of your security detail so now we know he was the one who send you that message."
"What should we do about Sophia?" Drake asked, his voice concerned. "Is it safe for her at home? Sophie's there with a babysitter."
"I sent a security detail to watch your ho
use, front and back. If Monroe tries to get into your building, we'll take him down. He must know your home address and phone, both of which are publicly accessible. You might want to reconsider that."
"I'm a surgeon. I need to have my name and business number out there." He turned to me. "Not that I have any patients..."
"For the time being, until the publicity around the trial dies down, I'd change your number to unlisted and take down your home address where it's publicly available. Monroe probably got your address from your testimony at Ms. Monroe's trial."
"I will." Drake took out his cell and called Karen. In a moment, she answered. "Hey, Karen," he said, his voice soft. "How's it going?"
He listened for a moment and then nodded. "Unfortunately, the police say there's been a credible threat to me from Lisa Monroe's brother. Has anyone called you tonight?"
Drake frowned at that. "Okay, when did he call?"
Drake covered his cell and looked at John in the rear view mirror. "Some guy called the house about eight wanting to speak with me. Karen said I was out for the evening. She didn't tell the man where when he asked, and when she asked who was calling, he hung up."
"Sounds like our boy trying to see if you were home."
"We should go and pick up Sophie first, before we go to the precinct. Can I go by myself later? I'd rather get everyone settled in the hotel, then you and I could drive over."
"Probably a good idea," John said. "Just to be safe."
Drake spoke to Karen, telling her we were coming home early because of the threat. We decided to pick up Sophie and take her with us to the hotel.
"Sorry about this," Drake said to her. "We'll be there soon." He ended the call and put his cell away.
"What happens now?" he asked.
"The police will pick him up for uttering a threat, take him in," John said. "Until we know he's in custody, you should stay away from the apartment."
"Can they charge him for making a threat?" I asked.
John caught my eye in the rear-view mirror. "They can," he said. "They can detain him and get a psychiatric assessment done. If he's delusional, or they feel he's a threat to himself or anyone else, they could temporarily admit him."
"Oh, God," I said, a knot of fear in my gut. "He's gone off the deep end."
"That he has," John said. "From what the Detective said, Lisa and her half-brother were rather close. Maybe too close."
I glanced at Drake. "Unhealthily close maybe?"
Drake nodded. "All kinds of boundaries crossed probably. She may be manipulating him from jail."
We drove to the 8th Avenue apartment and John passed the curb in front of our building.
"I don't want to go in the front," he said. "It's too hard to control the scene with pedestrians and vehicular traffic. It's impossible to know if Monroe is hiding in wait."
He drove down the street to the back alley and parked beside the back entrance. Before we got out, John surveyed the alley and finally, got out and spoke on his cell to someone.
"I have a man standing by at both ends of the alley. We should be okay. Be quick."
Drake and I got out and went into the building from the rear door. We took the stairs up with John in the lead. The fact that his hand was still on his sidearm made me nervous. There was no way Monroe could have gotten into the building but I supposed he wanted to be safe.
We unlocked the door and went inside to find a frightened looking Karen standing in the hallway.
"Drake!" Karen came over to us, her face concerned. "What on Earth is going on?"
"Like I said, Lisa Monroe's brother made a threat against me. He's probably the man who called you earlier."
"Oh, God," she said, her hand to her mouth. "I thought it was strange that he asked where you were. He said he was a friend but I didn't want to tell him anything because we hadn't talked about how to deal with calls. When I asked him for his name, he just hung up. I thought maybe he was a colleague or something."
"It's good you didn't tell him where we were."
I went to Sophie's bedroom and stuffed a few clothes for her and some diapers into her diaper bag. Drake came in behind me and picked her up, putting her jacket and hat on. She was very sleepy and kept her eyes closed in the dark, sucking hard on her pacifier. I was surprised she didn't wake, but she was very tired.
Drake put her in her car seat and after I grabbed some clothes and my laptop and stuffed them into an overnight bag, we all left the apartment.
"Call me and let me know how it all works out," she said when we got to her car, parked a block down the street from our building.
"We will," Drake said. "Thanks for everything, Karen."
"Don't mention it. Take care, you two. I'm so sorry this happened to you."
I waved goodbye and watched her get into her car.
Then we drove off to the Ritz, Sophie asleep in her car seat.
It wasn't the end to the evening I hoped it would be...
Drake
We checked into the Ritz Carlton across from Central Park.
I had planned to take Kate there and tie her up, make her orgasm about three times and then sleep in until noon, have breakfast in bed and a long luxurious bath and another fuck before we left and returned to the real world.
That was my plan and my hope for how the night and next day would play out, but it turned out completely different.
Sophie woke up when we got out of the car at the Ritz, and I took her and Kate up to the Premier Suite, which had a beautiful panoramic view from the top floor of the hotel. We got Sophie out of her carrier and tried to put her to sleep, but she was wide awake.
"Sorry to leave you, but I'll be back soon."
I kissed Kate and then gave Sophie a big smooch on the cheek. John and I took his vehicle and drove to the Midtown South precinct to report the threatening message. I met with Detective Gates, who took my statement and checked my cell, reviewing the message I'd received from Monroe. He'd already contacted Monroe's family, and they confirmed the number belonged to him, so we knew then for a fact Monroe had threatened me.
"We'll find him," Gates said, leaning back in his chair once we were finished and I'd signed the complaint. He handed me his card. "If you get any more messages from him or anyone, give me a call."
"Thank you, Detective."
John and I drove back to the Ritz and I thanked John for his professionalism.
"I'm just doing my job, Dr. Morgan," he said and waved me off.
"Well, I appreciate it all the same."
Then I went inside.
Sophia was still up when I arrived back at the suite. She was awake for another hour and after several books and a fresh bottle, she went down around eleven thirty. By then, Kate and I were tired and only wanted to lie together on the sofa and watch the news, the romance of the evening lost to our fears and worries about Monroe and his threat. He was still not in custody when John messaged me just before midnight, so until he was, we decided we'd stay at the Ritz instead of going back to the 8th Avenue apartment.
We had a suite, which was like a home away from home, if a little opulently furnished for my tastes, but it had a dining room, living room and a large bedroom for us and a second bedroom with a crib for Sophie. The suite had a magnificent view of Central Park, and we enjoyed the view of Manhattan at night while we snuggled together on the sofa.
So instead of the sexy night alone with my love, we spent the rest of the night together worrying about Monroe and whether he'd be picked up soon so we could get back to our lives. The man had been charged with my assault weeks earlier, but had been released on bail on the condition he obey the restraining order issued and so as soon as he was picked up again, he'd be in for good until his trial. And he'd be charged with another felony.
That was the only comfort in the situation.
I'd felt somewhat concerned about him after he was let out on bail, but I honestly never thought he'd really try and harm me again.
He was truly off the deep end.
"You ready for bed?" Kate asked, yawning. She covered her mouth, trying to hide it, but failing. "I'm not really in any kind of mood for sexy times, I'm afraid."
"Being worried about the threat of physical harm from a crazed relative of the woman who tried to kill you destroying your mood, Mrs. Morgan?"
"Something like that," she said, her tone guilty. "I'm sorry. You've been deprived because of the concussion."
I kissed her, smiling to myself. "Don't worry about me. I went almost three months before. I can last another day or so. But no longer," I said with a mock-menacing expression on my face. I touched the tip of her nose and then I broke into a smile. "I expect some very dedicated slave-girl services as soon as we're in the clear."
"Your wish will be my command," she said, unable to keep a grin off her own face.
We snuggled together for a while longer and then went to bed, a bit disoriented because of the change in plans, but at least we had a good meal with the O'Rileys and our family. I got one good set in with the band, and would have another chance to finish a full evening the next weekend.
Life, despite the more recent series of ups and downs, was good.
* * *
The next morning, I woke up and had a quick shower while the suite was still dim and quiet, wanting to check in with John to see if they had found Monroe. After wrapping a towel around my waist, I went into the living room and sat in front of the television, my cell in hand. I checked the news and then my cell for messages, but saw none so I called John.
"Hello, Dr. Morgan," he said when he answered. "How was your night? I hope you both were able to sleep."
"We're fine," I replied. "Just checking in to see if there's any news on Monroe."
"Not yet," he said, "but I'll put a call in to my contact at the precinct and get an update. I'll call you back ASAP. Until then, don't go out of your room or the hotel."
"Got it. Let me know what you learn."
I hung up and switched channels, but there was nothing on the local news except talk about the traffic issues because of a steam pipe explosion earlier in the week.
