Glass Houses Read Online Free PDF Page A

police.”
    “No! Oh, no, Olivia. If you call the police, we’re finished. I’ve been threatened. If there’s any police interest, they’ve said they’ll … Olivia, they’ll kill me.”
    “You’ve got to talk to me,” Olivia said, falling over her words, driving a fist into her stomach. “Please. I’ve got to know what’s going on. Someone already tried to kill me, tried to push me under a train.” She wouldn’t take time to explain how she’d pieced the evidence together.
    “Oh, my God,” Penny whispered. “And they’re trying to blackmail me. It’s mad. Pack up and leave. Do it. Don’t wait, Olivia. For my sake, don’t wait.”
    Olivia bowed her head until her forehead rested on the desk and whispered, “Okay, I’ll do it.”
    Instantly the line was dead. She’d have to go ahead and take Sam up on his offer of a safe haven.
    She’d barely hung up when the phone blared again. This time she snatched it up. She wouldn’t gain a thing by sounding terrified. “Hello. Who do you want to speak to?”
    “ Hello, darling. Daddy and I were just talking, and we’ve decided th is would be a good weekend for you to come. We—”
    “Mummy.” Of all the rotten luck. Mummy calling from Eton now, of all times. “Mummy, why do you and Daddy insist on getting up with the worms. Could I please—”
    “ Olivia! What can you be thinking of, interrupting me like that? Why, I’m quite bemused by you. That’s another thing Daddy and I were talking about. You’ve changed. And it’s up with the birds, not the worms. How unpleasant that sounds. Worms. ”
    A muted chime on Olivia’s computer announced an incoming message from Sam, and her already thumping heart positively pounded. She opened the post.
    “Olivia: Use this new address from now on. Hackers have gotten to the old one and it’s not secure . Get a cash advance so you don’ t have to use your card to buy the ticke t. Just let me know when you’ll be getting in to JFK Airport and I’ll meet you. Sam. ”
    The address was MustangMan @ Dakota.org . How odd. “Olivia, darling, what’s the matter? Is something wrong? Talk to me at once.”
    “I’m fine, Mummy. A bit tired. It’s already been a long day.” And this new day had scarcely begun.
    Another e-mail arrived.
    “ Olivia: Don't open anything else from this address. Contact me at MustangMan with your flight information. I’ ll be waiting to hear from you. ”
    Dakota was a state, wasn’t it?
    She heard her mother talking, but to Olivia’s father and with a hand partially over the mouthpiece. “She’s behaving very strangely, I tell you, Conrad.”
    “Give it to me, Millicent,” Daddy roared. Then he roared at Olivia, “What the dickens is going on? The P.M.’s on the telly, so hurry up, young lady.”
    “Nothing’s wrong, Daddy.” Except that a criminal might arrive at her front door shortly, and to escape another man, a would-be murderer, she was about to book a flight to New York, where she would be met by a man she had never so much as spoken to, but in whose hands she intended to place her life. Well, her safety, anyway.
    Her mother’s voice quavered down the line again. “Daddy says you’re all right, Olivia. He says I’m making something out of nothing. I’ll be the judge of that this weekend.”
    There was another message from Sam.
    Olivia moved her mouse and highlighted the line. The subject was: “ You 're too quiet. ”
    “Catch the train up, darling,” Mummy said. “I worry so when you drive that terrible old Mini. It ought to be condemned.”
    “Yes, Mummy. I’ll call you later.” She slammed the receiver into its base and prayed the thing wouldn’t ring again.
    Now what would Sam have to say?
    She turned cold and pulled her hand back. He'd told her not to answer any more posts from the old address, which meant this one wasn’t from him.
    It could be. No, he wouldn’t be so careless.
    The highlighted line gleamed, and Olivia felt sick looking at