Chapter Four

 

 

The mail was delivered about two hours after Joe left her office. Bellamy shuffled through the envelopes Laura had brought to her, and stopped cold on one without a return address. It was the same type of envelope in which the notes from Keaton’s stalker had arrived.

Carefully handling it by the edges, though she figured any number of people had already handled it since it was delivered via the U.S. Postal Service, she set it to one side and took out her phone. She snapped a couple of pictures of it, then dialed Joe. When he answered, she said, “I just received what I think is a note from Keaton’s stalker.”

“Addressed to you?” he asked, his deep voice concerned. At her affirmative, he instructed, “Handle it as little as possible.”

“Yeah, I have. I just took a couple of pictures of it, but I need to open it.”

“You need to have the detective on the case there before you do.” His voice cut out for a second, then he said, “Hang on, I was on my way to Tyler Dare’s office, but I’m turning around. I’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”

I was hard to admit how much better that made her feel. She was a professional who knew what she was doing. She didn’t need a man to take care of things. But knowing Joe was on his way somehow made her breathe a little easier. She ended the call and eyeballed the envelope. Against her instincts, she dialed Detective Rivera and told him about the envelope. As Joe had figured, Rivera said he, too, would be there in about fifteen minutes.

“Laura,” she called out. Fifteen seconds later her assistant was at her door. “Would you go down to the lunch room and grab a gallon-size baggie?” Bellamy asked. “Make that two.”

“Sure thing.” Her wide-eyed gaze drifted to the envelope. “You think that’s meant for you?”

“It’s addressed to me, so, yeah.”

Laura blew out a breath. “Yikes,” she whispered, her gaze glued to the envelope. Then she shook her head and looked at Bellamy. “I’ll be right back.”

By the time she got back, with Ian Dare on her heels, both Joe and Detective Rivera had arrived.

“I ran into Ian, literally, on my way back from the lunchroom,” Laura told her. “On our way down the hall, I filled him in on what’s going on.”

Ian turned his dark blue gaze Bellamy’s way. “You okay?”

She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, Ian. Not yet, anyway. I do need to talk to you, though, about Paul. Later.”

He nodded.

Laura set a box of baggies on the desk. At Bellamy’s raised brows, she said, “It was quicker than trying to pull a couple out.”

When Rivera saw the baggies, he gave a nod and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. He picked up the envelope. “Can I use your letter opener?”

Without a word Bellamy grabbed it from her middle desk drawer and handed it over.

“Smart,” the detective murmured as he took it.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Keeping the opener in the drawer instead of on top of the desk where someone could grab it and use it as a weapon.”

Bellamy looked at Joe and heaved a sigh. “Oh, that’s just great. Like I didn’t have enough to worry about.”

They all crowded around to watch Rivera carefully slide the blade of the letter opener under the flap of the envelope. Before slicing it open, though, he stopped and, without looking up, said “I need you all to back away.”

“Why?” Laura asked.

“Because I don’t know what else might be in this envelope,” he muttered. “There could be anthrax powder or, God forbid, ricin. Purified ricin powder the size of a few grains of table salt is usually fatal if inhaled.”

Dear fluffy lord. Bellamy hadn’t even thought about the stalker doctoring the letter with a biological substance like ricin or anthrax. “Shouldn’t you have a mask on then?” she asked as she took a few steps back.

He carefully set the envelope and opener on her desk and pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket. He grimaced and said, as he tied it around his head, covering his nose and mouth, “My mother told me a gentleman always carries a clean handkerchief with him.” He cast his gaze toward the ceiling. “Muchas gracias, mamá.” He looked at Bellamy. “This has already gone through screening at the postal facility. They have electronic sniffers that can detect the smallest trace of a substance. So the chances of my inhaling anything from this are fairly low, at least according to the CDC. But better to be safe than sorry, no?”

“Absolutely.” Bellamy couldn’t help herself and backed up a few more steps to stand between Joe and Ian while Rivera sliced open the envelope.

“Would someone hold open a baggie for me?” the detective asked.

Before Bellamy could move, Joe walked forward and did as requested. Rivera carefully placed the letter into the plastic bag. “Another one, please,” he muttered.

The envelope went into that baggie. He looked up at Laura. “Do you have antiseptic wipes, something with bleach in them? You should wipe down the desk before anything is touched.”

“Right.” Laura gave big eyes to Bellamy then went into her office. She came back with a container of disinfecting wipes. While the detective moved to a small conference table in the corner of the office, Laura got to work wiping down the surface of Bellamy’s desk.

“Let’s take a look, shall we?” Rivera asked as he laid the baggies onto the table and smoothed them out with his palm.

“Go ahead,” Laura said with a glance at Bellamy. “I got this.”

“Thanks.” Bellamy joined the three men at the small table and looked down at the note, which read I see the way you look at him. I know you hang around him because you want him. But he’s mine. Mine! If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from him.

It was “signed” with a skull and crossbones.

“Nice.” Bellamy looked at Joe and then Ian. “Who is this? How would she know I’ve been with Keaton, watching over him? And just how unbalanced is she, that she thinks by me doing my job I’m somehow romantically involved with him?”

“She’s obviously mentally…infirm,” Ian responded. “You could probably shake his hand and she’d see that as flirtatious.”

“He’s right.” Rivera gestured to the letter. “Do you want to snap a picture before I take this to the station?”

“Yes. Thanks.” Bellamy went to her desk and grabbed her phone, then went back to the table and snapped a couple of pictures. “That should do it.”

Rivera gathered the two items and carefully folded them, then placed them in the inner pocket of his suitcoat. “I’ll let you know if we find any fingerprints, though we probably won’t.”

“Yeah, we haven’t on any of the others,” she agreed. She walked with him to the outer office before returning to her office where Ian and Joe waited, seated at the conference table.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Ian was saying to Joe. “I know Bellamy can handle this, but now that the stalker’s turned her attention Belle’s way, I’d feel better if someone a little removed from all this can keep an eye on things.”

Since she and Joe were intimately involved, she wasn’t sure exactly how removed he was, but she had faith in his abilities nonetheless.

Ian turned his attention to her. “Now, tell me about Anderson.”

Welp, she’d guessed it would come out sooner or later. She’d have preferred later, but… She blew out a breath. “Um, Joe and I…I mean Maddox and I, um…” She shot Joe a glance. How did one go about telling one’s boss that she’d hooked up with the security consultant they’d brought on board?

Ian laughed. He twisted sideways in his seat, leaning one shoulder against the back of the chair, and stretched his long legs out. Crossing his ankles, he said, “Tyler had it pegged, all right.” When she and Joe looked at him, he chortled. “He said the way you two looked at each other, he was gonna give it forty-eight hours before you hit it. He was only off on the timing, it looks like.”

Bellamy’s cheeks flamed hot. She wasn’t ashamed of how she felt about Joe, but she was embarrassed to be talking about the situation with her boss. “Yeah, well, um, there’s that. And I guess Paul saw us at the restaurant and put two and two together and pretty much called me a slut this morning.”

“He what?” Ian exclaimed, straightening abruptly.

Joe stiffened and turned a darkening gaze toward her. “You didn’t tell me that.”

“No time. Remember? Stalkery letter with maybe a biohazard in it?” she reminded him.

A muscle twitched in his jaw. He probably didn’t appreciate her sarcasm, but that was her go-to defense when she was scared. And right now, she was just a tiny bit scared.

She looked at her boss. “I sent him home, told him to think about whether he wants to still work here. That if he does, the insubordination stops now.” She leaned back in the chair and crossed her arms. “He wasn’t happy, to say the least.”

“I had no idea he’d gotten so bad,” Ian said. He didn’t look happy, either. Great. She was swinging for the fences today, making at least three men in her life peeved at her. “I’ll support you, whatever you decide,” her boss told her. “He’s been given almost a year to get with the program. If he can’t, that’s not on you. I’ve heard from both Yancy and Laura that you are a more than fair boss and a joy to work with. So I know this is all Paul. I also know he’s probably been here as long as he has because you were honoring my request to try to bring him around. I appreciate your efforts. But I won’t have him slandering you, on or off the job.” He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. He scowled. “Keep me posted,” he said and prowled out of her office.

Joe stood and began pacing her office. She watched him, loving the play of emotions over his face, the play of his muscles beneath his shirt. Finally he stopped and looked at her. “At least until this stalker is caught, you need to start parking your car in the garage.”

“The opener doesn’t work. The door’s stuck in the down position.”

~ * ~

Maddox stared at her. “You don’t store your car in the garage because you can’t get the door open? How long has it been broken?”

She rolled her lips in. “Um, a year,” she said, making it sound more like a question than a statement of fact. “Maybe more. I just haven’t gotten around to calling anyone,” she rushed to add. “My work here has always been demanding. I just didn’t have time.”

He walked over to her, bent, and gave her a hard kiss on those courtesan lips. “Lady,” he said softly. “You need a keeper.”

“Do not,” she said against his mouth.

“Yes, you do.” He straightened. “I’m going to head over to Double Down Security and talk to Tyler, update him on this. Can I come over this evening?”

“Sure.” She smiled up at him. “I’ll fix us something for dinner.”

He stared at her a moment, then came to a decision he had a feeling she wasn’t going to like. “I’m moving in with you until we neutralize this stalker.”

She shot to her feet. “Now, listen here, Joe—”

He stepped forward and pulled her gently into his arms. “No, you listen to me, Bellamy. This is personal now. I know you can handle yourself. But what if the stalker comes to your house and you’re asleep? Do you know what to look for to figure out if your car’s been boobytrapped? Two sets of eyes and ears are better than one. That’s all I’m saying. I’ll sleep on the couch, if it makes you feel any better.”

“No, you won’t.” She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. “Fine,” she muttered. “Bring your stuff.”

He knew it was hard for her to admit how much ease his words gave her. With him there, she could relax a little, not have to be so on guard, because he’d be there watching her back.

What happened after they took care of the stalker, well, they’d cross that bridge when they got to it.