Running From Fate (40 page)

“Mira,” James cautioned.
He pushed the
coffee table away with his foot
and stood in front of her.
When she still refused to look at him, he leaned forward and put his hands on the back of the
sofa, effectively caging her.
“Tell me.”

She
cautiously
looked up
.
  His
face was so close that she could
see the rings around his irises
.
She
stared into those dark eyes and froze
.  They
burned with a bright blue flame.
It wasn’t
the
blaze
of passion or
the heat
of
anger, but something
much more primitive
.  She
felt hunted.
It was obvious that he wasn’t going to leave until she told him something. 
“Alright,” she finally conceded.
“I got a couple of threatening notes.”

“When
did this happen
?”
  He straightened up and flopped onto the sofa next to her as he felt his legs weaken.  They had dated.  He had been in her house many times.  How is it that he hadn’t known?

“
It was r
i
ght after we started going out and I didn’t tell you,” she said, correctly interpreting his frown, “because until now it was just one silly note
and a verbal threat
and
I
’m
pretty sure
your ex-girlfriend is behind
all of it
.
”

“
First of all, w
hy would you think that?”
James asked
with a little less heat
.
When she opened her mouth to answer, he held up a hand.
“I’m not say
ing
that I don’t think she has it in her to be vindictive,” h
e
elaborated as
he lifted his arm and casually draped it
over the back of the sofa.
“But I know that our relationship wasn’t exclusive and I seriously doubt that she had the capacity to care about anything but my money.
What kind of motive would she have? 
It seems more likely that it was someone from your old job.
You stepped on a lot of toes.”
  He scooted closer and curved his arm, beginning to enjoy the feeling of closeness
.  He
had missed it.

“
While I agree with your assessment, I happen to know that she ha
s reasons to resent me.
”
She pulled his arm away and huddled against the sofa’s arm, putting as much space between them as possible
.
“
Besides,
I’m not the kind of person to jump to conclusions without examining the facts first.
Kim personally threatened me on the night of that party that you dragged me to and both of the letters that I received specifically mentioned your name.
In addition,” she held up a hand to stop him from speaking.
“I’ve seen
her
driving past my house
on a regular basis when she has no reason to be there.”

“
Hmm,”
he
mumbled noncommittally
.
“Did you receive anything else besides a couple of letters?
”

“
Yes,” she admitted.
“The last letter came with a dead mouse.
It was a little disgusting, but not exactly scary.
”
With a little sigh, she
leaned back and hugged herself.
“
There was one other thing.
I don’t know if it’s related, but I think that I heard someone following me yesterday
when I came out of work
.”

“That’s it!”
James stood up
and crossed to the door
.
It
was time to do something about this.

“Where are you going?” Mira asked.
She was
a little
disappointed that he was just leaving after what she had told him.

“I’ll talk to you later. 
I have a call to make.”
  With anger riding him, James stalked from the room and headed toward his office.  When the
door
was safely
closed behind him,
he
sat at his desk and picked up the phone.
It had been a while since he had talked to his friend Devon, but
he still remembered the number.  With barely controlled impatience, he pushed the correct buttons and waited for someone to answer on the other end.
After five rings, it was picked up.

“Raleigh Police Department.
You’ve
reached
Detective Devon Moore,”
was
the muffled response.

“Spit that damn pastry out or swallow it already!
Didn’t you’re mother teach you better than to talk with your mouth full?”
Unlike some cops who spent as many hours at a desk as they did on the street, Detective Moore had never developed a belly.  He kept his muscular physique through regular trips to the gym and weekends spen
t
hiking and rafting.
He did, however, have a penchant for chocolate éclairs, which the besotted women at the department brought him on a regular basis.

The sound of chewing, followed by swallowing came over the line before the detective came back on.
“If it isn’t James Kelly,” he said.
“Long time, no see.
What have you been up to?”

“Listen,” James interrupted.
“I didn’t call to catch up.
I need to talk to you about a problem.
”

“Something that requires the police?”
h
e asked.
All traces of emotion disappeared from his voice as he switched to professional mode.
“Look James if you’re in some kind of trouble, you need to call a lawyer not the police.”

“I haven’t done anything recently that I need a lawyer for.”
He leaned back against his chair and tried to relax his tense shoulder
s
.
“I have a friend who
I think might be in trouble.”

“I assume
from your tone that
you’re talking about a female friend.
I know you broke up with that
blond
viper, so is it the new girlfrie
nd who has an issue?
What is it
, a nasty ex-boyfriend?”

“Not exactly,” he replied
,
not bothering to correct the girlfriend assumption.
 
“Someone sent
her a few threatening notes, one of them came with
a dead mouse.
Plus, she thinks she’s been followed.”

“Why hasn’t she reported the
se
incidents to the police?” Devon asked curiously.
“This could be serious.”

“Apparently
she doesn’t think so.
Mira believes
that it’s something she can handle by herself
.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“She thinks
the culprit is
Kim.”
Nothing came over the line
but a strange choked sound.
“For God’s sake!” James shouted
over the phone
.
“Stop laughing.
I don’t see anything funny about the situation.”

“Oh man,” Devon wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.
“
This is priceless.
I always said that Kim was a
n ice queen, but I guess she had some feelings after all.
What happened?”
H
e snorted.
“Was she so devastated by the loss of your manly self that she’s lost the few wits she had.”
The thought obviously amused him greatly because he went off in another round of hilarity.

When the sound of laughter had ceased, James put the receiver back against his ear.
“If you could behave like an adult long enough to
do your job
,”
h
e
said
with sarcasm dripping from his voice.
“I would appreciate it.”

“Sure, sure,” Devon replied in
a weakened voice.
“I’ll
come in sometime this afternoon and ask your girlfriend some questions.
I’m warning you now, though, that if she doesn’t want police help, there’s not much I can do.”

“Look, just ask your questions and I’ll handle Mira.”

The door to James’ office opened and Detective Moore strolled out.

Mira followed
him and tried to ignore
James
as he
straightened away from the wall.
It was apparent from the
mussed
state of his hair, his unbuttoned jacket, and the look in his eyes that he had not waited patiently.  That
was just fine with her.  After
the way that he had interfered when she h
ad specifically told him not to
,
she was
n’t
too happy with him either.
It was not, however, the detective’s fault so she wouldn’t take it out on him.
After all, he was only doing his job.

“Detective Moore,” she said as she shook his hand.
“I appreciate
your diligence in coming
in to talk to me.
”
She turned her head slightly a
nd shot a veiled glare at James.
“
Despite
the
fac
t that I didn’t contact you
.
I’m
quite
sure that
as soo
n as Ms.
Roberts realizes James and I
are no longer seeing each other
the problems should stop.
However, it was still nice to meet you.
Now, if you gentlemen don’t mind, I have
work
to do.”
She sniffed loudly, brushed past James and
strolled
down the hall
.