“You can’t say stuff like that to me, let alone do this to me right before work. I’ll be wet and aching for you all day,” I admit. Slade places my palm on the bulge in his slacks. I grab a hold of him, being bolder, while his fingers slowly trace the lace of my panties.
“I’ll be rock hard all day while I’m working too, especially knowing what you’re wearing underneath these clothes,” he groans, sweeping his finger underneath my panties, finding my clit. He barely grazes it, before pulling away then helping me down off the counter.
“I don’t care what we eat, as long as it’s not full of nothing but carbs.” His face has a smile.
“So that’s a no to chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and corn?” I smart off.
“You cook it, I’ll eat it, but maybe add something in the green vegetable family?” I was kidding when I said I’d make nothing but food with carbs. Instead, I maneuver around him, open the freezer, and find the Mahi we picked up this weekend. It would be counterproductive to eat like crap after working out.
“I’ll see what I can do.” I place it in the fridge to thaw, then we head out the door.
Eleven
Slade
I walk into the office of Nighthawk with Bridger and Drake hot on my heels. “We stopped by Taylor’s house on our way in this morning, and you’re not going to like what we have to show you,” Drake says with a serious tone.
“Yeah, seems like the stalker is hitting harder than ever now,” Bridger pipes in.
“Any prints?” I look at Drake. I know he’s got his eye on someone in the lab.
“Nada, I will say this guy seems to be escalating. I’m not sure I’d say one word to Taylor about the content of this letter. It’s completely and entirely fucked up six ways to Sunday,” Drake says seriously.
“I guess it’s time for me to read it.” I fist my hair in my hand, knowing this is going to be a Monday I fucking loathe.
“Yep, you may want to pour yourself a shot of whiskey too,” Bridger says as we walk into my office.
“Fuck,” I groan. If things get worse, I’ll have to put a call into Travis. There are certain things I can keep from him, but something like this, there’s no way I’d do that to him.
Bridger makes me a cup of coffee, then puts a healthy splash of whiskey in it before handing it to me. There’s no fucking way I’d ever drink this at eight o’clock in the morning. I wave the drink away. Drake hands me the letter Taylor’s would-be-stalker left sometime during the night, leading me to realize I fucked up. “We need to put someone on her place around the clock now. This is too much. Last time, I’m pretty sure the dick put it in her bag when he knocked into her. The times before that, they were mailed. Where was this one?” I carefully handle the letter that’s in a plastic bag from the lab.
“Taped on her front door, so he or she is definitely escalating,” Bridger responds.
“What the fuck,” I breathe out as I read the letter
Dearest Taylor,
I know where you are. I know who you’re with. I’ve been watching you, and I’ll be seeing you, soon.
Always yours
The letter is in a messy handwriting, with hard slashes, but the whole thing is fucked up. I have no other words besides that. “If this continues to escalate, I’m sending him a message.”
“No shit, man.” Drake is shaking his head in disgust. The pit of my stomach has sunk down to my feet.
“No one will you blame you.” Bridger’s tone has been taken down a notch, not the jokester he normally is.
“Is there anything in the office that needs my attention?” I ask.
“Nothing we can’t handle. Go watch your girl.” I do a double take. I never mentioned Taylor was mine, but Drake being Drake, he sees everything beyond the surface.
“Thanks. I’ll be at the courthouse if you need me.” I never even powered my computer on, so I grab my keys and cell phone then dart down the hall, waving goodbye to our new secretary, Kellie. She’s quiet as a mouse, but she’s more than capable for the job and probably overqualified.
“Have a good day, Mr. Chavez.” She waves hesitantly with a smile. I see the look on Bridger’s face; he’s trying to decipher what her story is.
“Leave it alone, Bridger,” I say under my breath.
“I’m good.” His hands go up in a hands-off manner.
“Watch out for him, Drake. You know how he gets. Any mystery for him is something he wants to rip apart at the seams until he knows every single detail.” Drake nods in acknowledgment.
As soon as I’m on my way to the courthouse where Taylor works, I look at the time and decide to send her a text. Maybe I can persuade her to have lunch with me, and let her know about the latest development. Part of me wants to shield her from it, while the other part wants her to know more than ever what’s going on so she’ll be aware of her surroundings.
It doesn’t take me long to get to where she works. It works well for our office to be centrally located in Lodgeview, Virginia. The downside is my place is a good twenty minutes away, sometimes longer if traffic is a nightmare. I pull into a parking spot, park my vehicle, and slide out of the truck. I’m hoping she’s not in court today but rather in the office her company keeps on site.
I walk in through the security checkpoint, having left my gun in the car because I knew I’d have to go through the metal detectors. Once I’ve gone through, I see that Eric is here, another guy I’d love to have come to work with me, but he’s reluctant for some reason.
“Hey, Slade.” Eric holds his hand out for me to shake.
“What’s up, Eric?” I shake his hand, then we take a step back.
“Not much, getting older every day. What about you?”
“I’m here to see if Taylor is in her office or court today. Do you know where she’d be?” I ask him.
“I don’t, but I can lead you in the right direction.” He turns, starts to walk, and I fall in step beside him as we make our way to the reception desk, something I could have done without him.
“Magdalene, do you know where Miss Daniels happens to be?” Eric asks. I guess he figures I don’t need to talk for myself. I watch him evaluating everything around him. He’d be a major asset to my team. I’ll have to see in the coming weeks if he’d be interested in transitioning over, but in the meantime, I could see if he wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on Taylor when she’s here and I’m not in the area.
“She’s in her office. Want me to call her and let her know someone is here for her?” she responds to Eric.
“That’s okay, I’ll walk him on up.”
“Thank you, Magdalene,” I tell her, seeing how Eric didn’t bother.
The two of us walk up the flight of stairs, shooting the shit, me asking if he’d keep an eye out for anything more suspicious that could possibly happen in a courthouse. He doesn’t bat an eye when I ask; in fact, his eyes light up, like he knows exactly why I want him to. Little does he know that she has a stalker getting progressively worse.