N. Walters - Jackson’s Jewel

Emerald Jewel glanced nervously in her rearview mirror, her hands tightening around the steering wheel as a black pickup pulled out to pass her. He cant find you here. She repeated the mantra over and over but it did no good. She didnt believe it. The truck pulled alongside her and she risked a look. The young man driving the other vehicle gave her a wink and a nod before pulling ahead of her.

Her heart pounding, her breathing shallow, Emerald eased her foot off the gas and pulled her car onto the shoulder of the road. When shed come to a complete stop, she leaned her head against the steering wheel and took a deep breath. Slowly her breathing returned to normal and her heartbeat calmed. Her hands were trembling as she peeled them away from the wheel. Sweat rolled down her back, making her shiver even though it was a hot summer day.

She dragged a nervous hand across her forehead. Her life had gone from wonderful to terrifying in the past two months and she still couldnt quite figure out how it had happened. When the first flower, a beautiful white orchid, had arrived at the offices of Sisters Jewels, the company she owned with her two sisters, shed been charmed. There had been no card to indicate who had sent it and her sisters, Topaz and Sapphire, had teased her endlessly about her secret admirer.

Emerald had been flattered at first and had placed the orchid on the corner of her desk, enjoying its fragrance and beauty as she worked on her designs. Sisters Jewels sold accessories, scarves, journals, stationery, cards and jewelry out of their small New York boutique. Her older sister, Topaz, was the brains behind the business operations while her younger sister, Sapphire, was the creative force behind their unique jewelry creations. Emerald used her artistic background to create designs for cards, stationery, covers for journals and gift bags, and shed recently branched out into designing fabric for the new scarves and purse line they wanted to carry.

A rose had arrived the following week, a lily the week after. Then had come the chocolates and the slim volume of very graphic erotic poetry. At that point, she and her sisters had started to worry. Topaz had wanted to contact the police, but Emerald hadnt seen the point. No crime had been committed. Shed tried to laugh it off, but shed started looking at all the males she knew, wondering if it could be any of them.

Opening her eyes, she leaned her head back against the seat and sighed. Shed racked her brains trying to figure out who could be sending her these things, but shed drawn a blank. Who knew how many men she came in contact within the run of a day? There was the grocery store, the coffee shop, the subway The list went on and on.

There was no way she could imagine her ex-boyfriend, Beau Vater, sending them. After all, shed broken it off with him six months ago when shed caught him cheating on her. Yes, hed made a few overtures about getting back together, but shed been adamant in her refusal. She hadnt dated since theyd split, so there were no new boyfriends to worry about.

Now that her nerves were calm, she put the car in gear and eased back onto the pavement. Ignoring the scenery around her, she continued to think as she drove. The only other men in her life on a regular basis were Fred Kirby, who delivered the mail to Sisters Jewels every day, and Derek Locke, longtime friend and son of their parents former manager.

It cant be either one of them. Her voice sounded desperate even to herself. She licked her dry lips, no longer believing her own words.

The letters had been the next thing to arrive. Computer-generated and printed on plain white paper, they contained graphic suggestions about what the sender wanted to do to her. She swallowed hard, glad she hadnt eaten yet today or she might have lost whatever food had been in her belly. As it was, her stomach churned. The possessiveness in the tone had been frightening and shed finally given in to her sisters pleas and gone to the police.

Shed come away from that experience feeling more alone than ever. Although they were sympathetic, there wasnt much they could do. They took the letters and dusted them for prints. There were none. The postmark was local, but there was no way to trace it to whoever sent it. The paper and envelopes could be bought just about anywhere. Unless she could give them some ideas, the most they could suggest was being careful about going anywhere alone.

The police had suggested that it could be a crazed fan of their parents. Moon and Aloysius Jewel had been well-known folk singers in the late Sixties and early Seventies. They toured worldwide and had been very successful. The onset of disco and her mothers first pregnancy had led them to retire.

Her father might have been a hippie, but hed also found he had a talent for business. Hed parlayed their money into quite a bit more and now her parents lived in upstate New York on a large, private estate. That is, when they werent traveling around the world. The births of all three of the girls had been a huge media event, but over the years, theyd been mostly forgotten about, except by diehard fans. Emerald supposed it could be a fan of her parents, but she really didnt think so.

They were in Europe at the moment and knew nothing about the stalker. Both Topaz and Sapphire had wanted to tell their parents, but Emerald didnt want to worry them. If her father knew, hed have them all locked behind the gates of the family estate with a battalion of security guards positioned around the perimeter. At the moment, that didnt sound like such a bad idea.

The ribbon of road in front of her blurred and she blinked. All of a sudden, she realized that the interior of the car was extremely hot. Flicking the air-conditioning up higher, she let the cool air wash over her heated flesh. She shivered, but at least the blast of air made her more alert.

The final straw had come over the past two weeks. Someone had hacked into her e-mail account and started writing nasty letters to all her friends and business contacts. By the time shed discovered what was going on and had taken steps to stop it, Sisters Jewels had almost lost a very lucrative deal with a large, upscale clothing chain who wanted to carry a line of their products. Emerald had spent days on the phone contacting everyone she knew and explaining that shed been the victim of a hacker. At first, shed believed it was just a random attack, but shed gotten another note from her stalker. He didnt like her working. According to his letter, she should be singing like her parents had, not slaving in a tacky little shop.

Crazed fan suddenly went to the top of her list of possibilities.

At least that had ruled out Derek. She loved him like a brother, but he barely managed to keep his e-mail and appointments straight. The man was a genius at promotion and wheeling and dealing, but his computer skills were just average. In typical Derek fashion, hed learned what he needed to get byno more, no less.

When shed started receiving packages at the apartment she shared with her two sisters, Emerald had moved beyond fear and into terror. This person knew where she lived, had likely been watching her. The final package had arrived just yesterday morning. Large and flat, it had seemed harmless enough, but they werent taking any chances. Theyd called the police.

Her phone rang. Emerald jumped, her heart starting to pound again. Get a grip, she admonished herself as she pulled over onto the shoulder of the road and fished her phone out of her handbag. Shed told her sisters shed keep in touch, but she hadnt talked to them since breakfast this morning and it was now after two in the afternoon.

They had protested her leaving and going off by herself, but shed been adamant. She hoped by leaving that shed draw the threat away from her sisters. A spark of hope flickered inside her. Maybe theyd heard something from the private investigator theyd hired. Hello.