The phone at her desk started ringing. “That’s total crap, Dani, and you know it, but I’m going to let it go for now. I’ll be back. This isn’t over.” She stood up and glared at me before turning and huffing out of my office.
Before I could even turn my computer on, my cell phone rang from inside my purse. My heart raced fast as I stared down at the blocked number.
He wouldn’t have the balls to call me, would he?
“Hello?” I said softly.
“Hi, Ms. Douglas? This is Detective Larson.”
I exhaled loudly, relief washing over me. “Hi, Detective Larson.”
“I hope this isn’t a bad time. I just wanted to touch base with you and see how you’re doing, make sure nothing else happened over the weekend.”
“I’m okay. Ready to get to the bottom of this and put it behind me.”
“I bet you are. Let me fill you in on where we’re at. I’m actually going to be heading that way today to pick up the surveillance tape from the security office and go over that closely. I also wanted to come up if that’s okay, and grab those messages that he’s sent to you. Mr. Shaw said you had them there at your office.”
“Yep, I have them all in my desk.”
“All right, I’ll see you in a bit.”
As I clicked the button and tucked my phone in my desk drawer, there was another knock on my office door. I rolled my eyes, and for a split second, regretted not staying home after all. “Come in!” I shouted.
As the door opened quietly, Andy’s tall frame filled the doorway. As badly as I wanted to be alone for just five minutes, seeing him standing there with that infectious smile on his face calmed me more than anything else. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself,” I smiled, waving him in.
He gently pushed the door shut and sat down in the chair across from me. Dark circles hung underneath his eyes, and he looked like he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks.
“I was actually surprised to see you here today.”
“Why?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.
“You’ve been through a lot, obviously. I figured you might take a day or two off. I wouldn’t have minded, ya know? I’m worried about you.” His eyes were intense, and they stared into mine in a way that made me want to give all of my problems over to him to fix. Andy was kind. He was gentle, and he cared about me. He was also sexy as hell and a little overprotective, which only made him more appealing, but I’d worked too hard building a name for myself to give it all up.
“I thought about it, actually.” I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms over my chest. “But I figured you’d probably end up on my doorstep, so I just came in.”
His lips parted and he grinned, letting out a small laugh. “You’re exactly right. I don’t like this, Dani. I don’t like this at all, and until we figure out exactly who this is and he’s arrested, I’m going to be watching you like a hawk.”
I swallowed a small lump that had sprouted in my throat.
He pulled his eyebrows in tight as he looked down at my desk for just a second and then back up at me, something definitely on his mind. “And as for what happened before we found your car Friday night, I don’t regret that. Not one bit. I understand what you’re saying about your career, so I won’t push this, but I will never forget how it felt when you kissed me on that bench. It was fierce. Definitely not something that started that night, and it sure as hell didn’t end there, no matter what you say.”
He stood and quietly walked out of my office, and I struggled to swallow that same lump again, only this time it was a damn boulder.
CHAPTER 23
Andy
It had been two weeks since Danicka’s birthday.
Two weeks since we’d first kissed and left the bar together.
Two weeks since her car was vandalized and she closed up.
Two weeks since she decided to strong-arm me and keep me away.
In those same two weeks, she’d done a lot of pulling back . . . from everyone. Not only had she been spending most of her time in her office with the door shut, she also started packing a lunch at home and eating by herself behind that same closed door. Even when she would attend clients’ practices or scout out a college athlete, she didn’t talk much to anyone. I knew because I’d hired someone to follow her and make sure she was safe when she wasn’t in the office. I’d also hired someone to tail that asshole Cole Woods and keep me abreast of all of his activity, no matter how insignificant it seemed.
Unfortunately the surveillance tape from the parking garage hadn’t turned up anything but a video of a guy dressed in all black, wearing a black baseball cap, pounding the hell out of her car. Detective Larson also took the messages and analyzed them, but the faxes were sent from untraceable places and the messages that came via FedEx were paid for with cash. The psychopath was covering his tracks good, but I was praying for a slipup. Just one slipup. One chance to nail his sick ass to the wall for turning Dani’s life, and my entire office, upside down. Poor Ellie hadn’t cracked a genuine smile in days, since Dani had started giving her the cold shoulder, too.