Mac rolled her eyes. "You actually thought they were from him?" she said, closing the door and then taking the chair next to the one Peyton occupied. "According to Luke, Blade never gives women flowers," she added.
Sam decided not to say anything about the fact that he had given her a beautiful arrangement last night. Instead she opened the small envelope and pulled out the card and read it.
I"ve been sending you flowers to enjoy while you can, because starting today your days are numbered. An old friend.
Sam reread the card, certain that what she"d read was meant to be a joke. But she couldn"t stop the uneasy feeling that was running through her mind and the sweaty palms of her hands. She dropped the card on her desk and glanced over at Peyton and Mac in shock.
"Sam, are you all right?" Peyton asked, getting out of her chair. "What did the card say?"
Sam opened her mouth to speak but couldn"t. Instead she shoved it toward them. Mac picked up the card. Mac and Peyton read it together and she could hear the expletives coming from Peyton"s mouth.
"What the f-is going on? Who the h.e.l.l is making a threat like this? Is this some kind of sick joke?"
"Peyton, calm down," Mac said, as her eyes remained glued to Sam. "Sam, do you have any idea who could have been sending you these flowers?"
Sam, still unable to speak, only shook her head. She didn"t have a clue. She watched as Mac then picked up the phone on her desk and began dialing. "Yes, Detective Adams, this is Mackenzie Standfield Madaris, and you"re needed over to my office immediately."
Luke handed the bottles of beer to Reese and Blade. "Thanks, guys, you deserve these. I didn"t know Mac had so much stuff to move from the attic."
The phone rang and Luke reached over, checked the caller ID, smiled and picked it up. "h.e.l.lo, sweetheart."
Blade and Reese watched as the smile on his face turned to anger. "When?" Then moments later he asked, "Did you call the police?"
Luke pulled in a deep breath as he stood up, already grabbing his car keys from his jeans pocket. "That"s fine, I"m on my way." He hung up the phone.
"What"s going on, Luke?" Reese asked, with concern in his voice.
"That was Mac. The person who"s been sending Sam flowers for the past six weeks finally sent a card with them today, with a death threat."
"What!" Blade was out of the chair, almost knocking it over. "Are these the same flowers Sam thought I was sending her?"
Luke raised a brow as he grabbed his Stetson off the hat rack. "I wasn"t aware she thought you you were the one sending those flowers." were the one sending those flowers."
"She mentioned it last night and I a.s.sured her they weren"t from me," Blade said, hot on Luke"s heels as he headed for the door. Reese quickly followed Blade.
"Well, according to Mac, the card Sam got with the delivery today wasn"t pretty, and said something about her days being numbered," Luke said over his shoulder as he headed for the truck. "And the two of you don"t have to go with me. Hopefully, I won"t be long."
"I"m going," Reese said, already opening the door and climbing inside the backseat of Luke"s truck.
"And don"t think for one minute I"m not going, too," Blade all but snarled, feeling more protective of a woman than he"d ever felt before. The same woman he"d convinced himself just last night that he didn"t want to cross paths with ever again. "If it involves Sam, then I"m going."
Luke glanced over at him and nodded. "Fine."
Blade took in a deep breath as he opened the door and got in the front seat. Why he felt the need to see for himself that Sam was okay, he wasn"t sure. He would figure out the reason why later.
Chapter 14.
During the last thirty minutes, Sam"s att.i.tude had gone from shock to anger and then fury, evident from her use of some of Peyton"s colorful expletives, which at one point had begun flowing from her mouth as if they were an everyday part of her vocabulary.
Now she had calmed down-somewhat. She had managed to prove that her temper at its best would put even her father to shame. How dare someone send her flowers for six weeks, only to inform her that now her days were numbered? The man had to be a lowlife, a scoundrel, an a.s.shole.
"And you"re sure you have no idea who could have sent you these flowers or why they want to threaten your life, Ms. Di Meglio?"
Sam glanced across the room. For a while she"d forgotten the detective had been sitting in the extra chair Priscilla had brought into her office. She"d also forgotten that Mac and Peyton were still in her office, as well. Everyone was sitting there and staring at her.
She drew in a deep breath and returned the detective"s intense gaze. She had met him a year and a half ago, when he had been investigating the trouble involving Mac. "No, Detective Adams, I have no idea who"s behind those flowers and-"
At that moment her office door flew open and Sam saw Blade standing in front of her, bigger than life. Over his shoulder, she could see Luke and Reese standing behind him. The look on Blade"s face was fierce, almost lethal. Detective Adams had been quick, and was already on his feet with his gun drawn.
"Wait!" three female voices said at once, although Sam"s was the loudest.
It was only when Luke pushed pa.s.sed Blade that Detective Adams recognized him and put his gun back in his holster and straightened his jacket. "I would suggest you knock the next time," Adams said, offering Luke his hand.
Luke grinned as he shook hands with the man. "It wasn"t my idea to burst in like that. That"s my cousin Blade. He"s sort of a hothead at times. And this is my brother Reese."
Sam sat back down in her chair, trying to get her heart rate back to normal, as she stared across the room at Blade. She"d known he was with Luke when Mac had called, because Mac had mentioned it. But considering everything, she hadn"t expected him to come.
Her gaze moved past him to Reese. She"d only seen him a few times since the wedding, and she thought there was no mistaking him and Luke for brothers, since they favored each other quite a bit. Like Luke, Reese was a very handsome man.
But no one, she thought, letting her gaze shift back to Blade, was more handsome than the man staring back at her, even when he was mad. And yes, he was mad, but she couldn"t tell if he was angry at her or the situation that she found herself in.
"I was just asking Ms. Di Meglio a few questions so I can decide how to proceed, since she prefers that I not alert the police yet. So for now, I"m working this case privately."
"Why don"t you want the police involved?" Blade asked her, as if he had every right to know.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him it was none of his business what she did, but for some reason she couldn"t do that. "I prefer that my parents not know about this," she said. "And for now, until we find out if there is a legitimate threat, I want as few people to know about it as possible."
He nodded and then leaned against a wall. There was a knock on the door and Priscilla brought in more chairs and left, closing the door behind her.
Everyone sat except for Blade. It seemed he preferred standing, bracing himself against the wall, directly in her line of vision. She tried focusing her eyes on Detective Adams instead of on him.
"Now then, we can continue," Detective Adams said. "And before we do I need to make sure you"re comfortable with everyone here."
She drew in a deep breath. Although Blade was probably the last person she should have felt comfortable with, considering their history, she said, "Yes, I"m fine."
"All right then. I was asking if you have any idea who could have sent you those flowers with the card."
She shook her head. "I have no idea."
"And just how long have you been getting the flowers?" he then asked.
"About six weeks. They were delivered once a week, every Wednesday."
"Uh, they arrived a day early this week," Detective Adams said, as if making an observation.
Sam glanced over at Blade. The card had been pa.s.sed around and now he was reading it. She could feel the anger raging in him. It was hard to believe his rage was directed toward her a.s.sailant and not her.
"So why didn"t you contact the police when the flowers started coming?"
She shifted her gaze from Blade back to Detective Adams, who was watching her closely. "I saw no reason to."
"And why not?"
She frowned. The man was asking a lot of questions and she had to remind herself that he was merely doing his job. She met his inquisitive gaze. "Because I thought I knew who was sending them."
"And who did you think was sending them?"
"Really, Detective Adams," she said, giving him an exasperated look. "Do you need to know all that?"
"If you want me to help you stay alive."
"Yes, but-"
"I"m the one she thought was sending her the flowers," Blade said, in a voice that was deep and controlled.
Sam glanced over at him, as did everyone else in the room, including Detective Adams. He studied Blade and it was easy to tell he was sizing him up, seeing him in a whole new light. Now as a possible suspect.
"But you didn"t send them?" the detective asked, his penetrating stare trained directly on Blade.
Blade stared right back. His eyes were just as unwavering. "No, I didn"t send them."
"And you have no idea who did?"
"No," he stated firmly.
Detective Adams nodded before glancing back at Sam. "Do you have any reason not to believe him?"
Sam looked at Blade and studied his features, got caught up in the eyes staring back at her. Although he"d come, he was still mad. He hadn"t gotten over the stunt she"d pulled last night. And in a way she probably had hurt him. Probably not emotionally, but for most men their ego was just as real as any living thing. It could easily get bruised. And then there was male pride that could be just as easily wounded. She had pretty much trampled on both. She had tried to play him the way he"d played others. Sooner or later he would try getting back at her, she had no doubt of that. But he wouldn"t try it this way. He wouldn"t stoop that low.
"Ms. Di Meglio?"
She blinked and looked back at Detective Adams. "Yes?"
"I asked if you had any reason not to believe Mr. Madaris." He smiled, remembering there were three of them in the room, and added, "Blade Madaris."
She shook her head. "No, there"s no reason not to believe him." She then chuckled and said, "He might think he wants to wring my neck about now, but he would never intentionally hurt me."
"And you know that for sure?"
She pulled in a deep breath, refusing to acknowledge Blade"s presence, and responded to the detective"s question. "Yes, I know that for certain."
The muscles in Blade"s neck knotted, and it had taken all he had not to hit something after reading the card that had come with the flowers. Who in the h.e.l.l had sent it to her? Evidently it was the same person who"d been sending her the other flowers for six weeks. A secret admirer, so she"d thought. She had been d.a.m.n wrong about that. And she had been wrong in a.s.suming it had been him.
Detective Adams was still asking her some routine questions. She was answering them, but already Blade"s mind was focused on what she wasn"t telling the officer. As far as he was concerned, there were a number of men who could have put her at the top of their s.h.i.t list, if what she"d claimed last night was true. She was a player hater who took pride in seeking revenge. In his book that wasn"t a reason to want to b.u.mp her off, but there were a lot of people walking around who were not playing with a full deck.
Detective Adams stood and closed his writing pad. "I plan to contact the florist. I know you said the flowers were ordered over the Internet. Still, there"s a way for us to track a credit-card payment."
"So what should she do now?" Mac asked.
"Watch her back," the detective replied quickly. "I know you already have a security team set up here and that"s good. You might want them to make sure no one gets through unless they have appointments, and I suggest that you don"t work late for a while. Leave when everyone else leaves, and if you do work late have one of the security guards walk you to your car. And you might want to-"
"Hold up. Time out," Blade interrupted. "There may be a lunatic on the loose, trying to kill her and for now it"s going to be business as usual?"
Detective Adams turned to Blade. "Basically yes, since she refuses to have us make a big deal out of it. We can"t get fingerprints off the card, since practically everyone"s hand has been on it."
Detective Adams then turned to Sam. "Where do you live?"
"Windsor Park."
It was obvious from his expression that he was familiar with the complex and impressed. "That"s a good place to live. It"s a gated community, almost like a fortress. I don"t know the last time anyone from the police department had to respond to a crime there. They have an excellent security system set up. The president would be safe there without the Secret Service, they"re that good."
"Yes, but she isn"t in that gated community twenty-four hours a day," Peyton said. "She will be pretty secure here and at home, but what about the distance in between?"
Detective Adams shrugged his shoulders. "If she doesn"t want police protection, I suggest she hire a bodyguard."
Moments after Detective Adams left, everyone in Sam"s office sat around staring at the vase of flowers on her desk. How could something so beautiful carry such an ugly message?
Still, the flowers were pretty, a mix of fresh roses, sunflowers, lilies, daisy poms and other varieties Sam couldn"t name, and all beautifully arranged inside a green gla.s.s vase. There was nothing about the flowers that would indicate the person who"d sent them was devious rather than thoughtful.
Sam checked her watch and then pushed back from her desk to stand. She didn"t want to look at the flowers any longer. "I"m going out to grab some lunch," she said.
Five pairs of eyes shifted to her and stared. She put her arms across her chest. "Don"t any of you even think it."
"And what do you think we"re thinking?" Luke asked.
She lifted her chin. "That one of you, possibly all of you, intend to be my shadow."
"And you have a problem with that?" Blade asked.
Sam"s gaze slowly moved to him. He was glaring at her and she glared right back. She couldn"t help the cynical smile that touched her lips. "What"s in this for you, Blade? We"re not exactly bosom buddies. In fact, the last time we talked we decided that we don"t even like each other, especially after last night."