Claiming Her - Tory Baker Page 0,15
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,