Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110278 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 551(@200wpm)___ 441(@250wpm)___ 368(@300wpm)
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.
“I’ll see you around,” I tell Eric when we get to her door.
“Later, I’ll let you know if I see anything.”
“I appreciate that.” I shake his hand one last time before stepping into her office. She doesn’t notice me with her head bent down staring at the notes she has on her desk.
I clear my throat, then Taylor looks up and realizes I’m standing in her office. Her smile brightens. “Hey, what are you doing here so early?”
“I was in the area.”
She rolls her eyes at that, Taylor knows better. The ticking in my jaw probably set her on high alert. “What happened now?”