Safe in His Sight Read Free

creaked as he landed in it. The man was built like a boxer, stocky and solid, yet light on his feet with an energy that frequently outlasted his younger employees. “How did you hear about Alexander, Miss Cooper?”
    “A woman I work out with had a problem a few months ago. You helped her.”
    “I’m glad to hear it.” Grant maintained a friendly but cautious reserve. With his salt-and-pepper hair and kind brown eyes, he had a way of putting people as ease. “What sort of trouble are you having?” he queried, his voice full of that patience Mitch admired.
    Julia reached into her purse and swiped her cell phone screen before handing it to Grant. “A man sent me threatening text messages during my lunch break and the situation quickly escalated. He followed me back to the law firm where I work. Those pictures arrived in my personal email account shortly after I got back to my desk.”
    “Quick worker. I’d guess you’re probably not his first.” Grant looked up, his gaze sharp on the potential client. “You’re a lawyer?”
    She nodded. “Everything related to my problem is in that file.”
    A lawyer with an impatient stalker , thought Mitch. An impatient stalker seemed like an oxymoron, but he wasn’t the expert.
    “You just noticed him today?” Grant peered intently at her phone, swiping through whatever information she’d gathered.
    “Yes.” She paused while a quiver twitched across her shoulders. “The pictures were taken over the past few days. That’s why I’m here.”
    “I see.” Grant continued his study. “Have you spoken to the police?”
    “I don’t think the police can help me in time. They’d have to catch him stalking me and I have a feeling that won’t be easy. Average height, average build, no stand-out features.” She sighed. “And it could take months—if ever—for the FBI to figure out who hacked my credit card and bank account,” she said. “On top of that, based on the timing and the wording of those texts, I have to assume he’s fixated on me because of a criminal case I’m working. He could jeopardize my participation in the case, not to mention my career.”
    Grant’s mouth flexed into a frown. “The car-theft ring?”
    “Yes.”
    Mitch stifled an admiring whistle. It was the biggest case in the local news. Every branch of law enforcement had been trying to bust the operation, but witnesses and informants regularly wound up dead. The FBI had snatched one of the key players and managed to keep him alive—so far—and he’d lawyered up with the best defense firm in the area.
    Grant scowled at her, his eyes narrowed. “You’re with Marburg?”
    “Yes.” She glanced over her shoulder at Mitch before addressing Grant again. “Will that be a problem?”
    “No.”
    The answer made Grant a better man than Mitch. In his boss’s shoes, he wouldn’t want to help anyone associated with Marburg. Their legal team had represented the bastard who’d shot and wounded Grant, ending his career with the Philly police department.
    “Mitch will help you out,” Grant said. “He’ll be a buffer between you and the stalker until we can make an ID. He can investigate who might want to target you.”
    The announcement startled Mitch. Stalkers and investigations sounded like a problem better suited to one of the cops moonlighting at the Escape.
    “Buffer? Is that code for bodyguard?” Julia asked. “The partners will know something’s up if he’s tagging along behind me at the office.”
    “Tell them he’s your boyfriend,” Grant suggested.
    “That would be worse. No offense,” she clarified, eyeing Mitch. “A new associate with a personal life is frowned upon.”
    Mitch shrugged a shoulder, holding his ground and taking her measure as she took his. She didn’t strike him as the type to scare easy. Not with the deep red hair and sheer defiance in her stormy sea green eyes. He couldn’t wait to see what the stalker had done to drive her here. Not that it mattered