Heart of the Woolf (Woolf Series) Read Free

see, if you look closely at this one, it’s not really black, but a
very, very dark red.”
    “Don’t touch it!” Marcy’s shout came a little too late. “Put
it down! What if it’s poisonous or something?”
    “Marcy, stop being so dramatic. Someone thought I would
appreciate such a rare flower and sent me this. He -- or she -- is
right. See what a long-stemmed beauty this is. Be a dear and find me a
vase --”
    “Boss.” Tielan said, her voice fraught with tension and
something else ... fear? “You might want to look at the top of the box.”
    Adrienne looked up, taking in the other women’s white faces.
Tielan’s gaze was glued to something on the top portion of the package.
Adrienne glanced down and saw the missing card tucked into the top right corner
on the inside of the carton. It had come into view when she had taken the rose,
together with the tissue, out of the box. Why would someone place it in that
particular spot? And upside-down, too?
    Adrienne turned the package around, and the neat typewritten
sentences slipped into focus. The message made her blood freeze.
    Don’t think you can get away with it. I’m coming after
you.
     
     
     

Chapter Two
     
    Marcy went hysterical. She jumped up from her seat and wrung
her hands. “We’ve got to tell somebody. The police! The SWAT team!”
    Goose pimples broke out on Adrienne’s arms. Still, she tried
for the voice of rationality. “I think it’s just someone’s idea of a sick
joke --”
    “Girl, your sense of self-preservation stinks!” Marcy leaned
across the desk and shouted in Adrienne’s face. “That’s no joke! It says he’s
coming to get you. If that’s not a direct threat, I don’t know what is!”
    Adrienne didn’t want to get the police involved. Once this
was reported to them, they would dig and dig and dig ... and then all hell
would break loose. She would have to run again. She was so tired of running.
    Tielan offered in a small voice, “It’s certainly not
romantic.”
    Marcy burst out laughing, but the laugh was totally lacking
in mirth. “That’s the understatement of the century.”
    Her own fear and Marcy’s panic threatened to overwhelm
Adrienne, but she forced herself to concentrate on her breathing. After all,
the note could really be harmless, one more prank played on her by -- she
threw out a wild suggestion. “If you will just look at the note from a
different light, it doesn’t have to be ominous-sounding, you know.”
    “Oh yeah?” Marcy challenged, a little calmer, although her
breathing was still too fast.
    “Yeah. I may have something of his that this person who sent
the note just wants to get back.” Adrienne managed a rueful smile. “At the
moment, though, I can’t think of what it could be. I’m not exactly the type to
bring home what’s not mine.”
    “I don’t buy it, Adri.” Marcy’s mutinous look was reminiscent
of a dog stubbornly hanging on to its favorite bone. “I still think we need to
tell someone. All right, if you don’t want to talk to the police, let’s tell
Jake. Then he can do something to beef up security in the office.”
    “I don’t think it’s enough to warrant --”
    “Take your pick, Adri. Tell the police or tell Jake.”
    “Tell me what?” Jake entered the room, his tall, athletic
body clothed in a dark blue long-sleeved polo shirt and black trousers. A
bright yellow tie served as a direct contrast to his shirt. His overpowering
presence filled the room, which suddenly seemed smaller. His enigmatic
gray-brown-eyed gaze met Adrienne’s, before moving on to Marcy and Tielan.
    Adrienne’s icy mask slipped into place. “Nothing.” She
assumed a pose of brisk efficiency, shoving the box into the wastebasket at her
feet, and then shuffling the papers on her desk into one organized pile.
    “Adri ...” Marcy’s voice held an agonized note.
    “There’s nothing to tell,” Adrienne repeated. “Tielan, you
may go back to work. Thank you for bringing the