Even the Score(45)

“She sounds like a real gem,” I said drily, hoping she’d keep talking.

“And you know, Andy’s a great guy. He never screamed back at her the way she screamed at him.” A small smile broke out across her mouth. “There were a couple times he escorted her to the elevator sternly and told her to get the hell out, but he never yelled.”

“I kinda wish he would have.”

“You and me both.” She looked down at her phone and gasped. “Holy crap! We’re so late.”

We cleaned up our table and hustled back to the office. As we walked quickly, my gaze swept the street, eerily aware of my surroundings and all the people walking around me. I looked down at the ground, letting my hair fall in front of my face as much as possible as I followed Ellie across the street and into our office building. Once we were in the elevator, my heart rate slowed, and I pulled my hair back into a ponytail.

“I’m glad we had salads instead of tacos.” Ellie giggled as the door opened. “I need to get in shape if I’m going to keep seeing Kevin.”

“Please don’t.” I rested my hand against my stomach and grimaced. “No more wild sex stories. I’m too full.”

“What?” Ethan popped his head out from the hallway. “Tacos and wild sex stories? I’m in.”

Ellie and I groaned at the same time, each heading to our respective desks. About fifteen minutes later, I saw Ellie get up from her desk and head toward the copy room. Within seconds, she yelled out, “Oh my God! Danicka!”

Chills covered my whole body.

Oh no, not again.





CHAPTER 17

Andy

I came back from lunch, whistling happily as I stepped out of the elevator. Ellie was standing in the doorway of Dani’s office, talking quietly. I made the right turn toward my office until I heard my name.

“Andy, can you come over here, please?” Ellie called out.

“Ellie, stop!” Dani snapped at her in a tone more aggressive than I’d ever heard from her. “I told you it was fine. It’s not a big deal.”

“What’s fine and what’s not a big deal?” I asked curiously, walking up behind Ellie.

She turned halfway toward me in the doorway but kept her eyes focused on Dani, who was sitting at her desk. “Do you want to tell him or should I?”

Dani narrowed her eyes and glared at Ellie, clearly wanting whatever was going on to be kept a secret. “How about neither of us tell him and we drop it like I said we should?”

“How about someone tells him before he gets pissed because he really hates speaking in the third person?” I propped one arm up on the door frame above Ellie’s head and leaned farther into the room. “Someone? Anyone?”

Dani lifted her chin in defiance and crossed her arms, still scowling at Ellie.

“Fine. You can be mad at me if you want, but I love you and this is important,” Ellie said to Dani before looking at me. “This was faxed here today,” she said as she handed me a piece of paper. I stared down at the black-and-white photocopied picture of Dani. She was walking down the street, looking to her left as the wind blew her hair just a bit. She clearly had no idea that anyone was taking a picture of her. Next to the photograph was the word BITCH handwritten in thick marker.

My head snapped up, and my eyes focused on Dani. “What the hell is this?”

She licked her lips and shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? What is this?” My heart started to race. Nothing creepy like that had ever come through my office before, and the fact that it was directed at Dani pissed me off even more.

“I. Don’t. Know,” she repeated sharply, staring right at me.

“We don’t know who sent this?” I studied the sheet of paper and looked back up at Ellie. “Do we know why?”

“I went to the fax machine because I was expecting something, and instead, that was sitting there. I brought it to her immediately, and she asked me to give it to her and not tell you. It scared me so I called you in here.” Ellie looked down at the ground sadly.

I switched my gaze over to Dani. “Why aren’t you as worked up as we are? Has this happened before?”

Dani swallowed but didn’t answer.

“When?” I roared.

“A couple times, I don’t remember exact dates. It’s not a big deal. Calm the hell down and stop screaming at everyone,” she bit back.

“I’m calling the police.” I spun on my heel and started marching toward my office.

I wasn’t ten steps from Dani’s door, and she had sprinted in front of me and whipped around, digging her heels in as she planted her hands on her hips. “You are not calling the police.”