Love like Yours Series (Box Set #1-4)

by Nicole S. Goodin

  I stared at the picture. Had Lawson sent it to me?

  My dad was still explaining the logistics of the company I would be working with, but I wasn’t taking a word of it in.

  Something bothered me about this picture. Who took it? Where did Lawson get it?

  I interrupted my dad. “I’m really sorry, but something urgent has come up, can I call you back in about an hour?”

  “Is everything okay? You sound worried.”

  “It’s fine. I just have to see to this and then I’ll call you back.”

  “No problem, sweetheart, there’s no hurry.”

  “Great, bye, Dad.”

  I hung up the phone and stared at the photo in front of me. “West!” I yelled.

  “Yeah, El?” he called back.

  “Can you come in here?”

  He appeared in the doorway. “What’s wrong? You look weird.”

  I laughed lightly at my assistant’s lack of filter for his words. It was one of my favorite things about him.

  “This was in the mail. In an unmarked envelope.” I held out the photo for him to look at.

  Weston took it from me and stared at it. “Hot damn, you two make a sexy couple.”

  I rolled my eyes. “West, focus. I don’t know who took it, who sent it, where it came from or why I have it. Don’t you find that a little odd?”

  “I guess so, but it’s probably just your lover boy sending you a sexy pic.”

  “Where did he get it? He didn’t take it.”

  Weston shrugged. “Security feed?”

  I thought about it... it was possible, but it didn’t seem likely, the photo was high quality. Not what you’d expect from an office security camera. But it was possible.

  West shrugged. “Why don’t you just ask him, El?”

  “I will. He’s having lunch with me, so I’ll ask him then.” I took the photo back from Weston and shoved it in my top drawer.

  Weston sat himself down in one of the armchairs. “Well since I’m here...”

  I smiled and wasted an hour of my workday filling him in on the details of my amazing weekend.

  ***

  Lunchtime approached and I had forgotten all about the photo – I had been flat out catching up on some of the work I’d missed yesterday. The day off had left me with a hectic list of things to work through for the rest of the week.

  I was absorbed in my laptop when I had a knock on my door. “Come in,” I called out.

  “Hey, pretty girl.” Lawson’s deep voice pulled my eyes from the screen and I felt myself relax at the sight of him.

  “Hey back.” I smiled.

  “Sorry to barge in.” He gestured behind himself. “Weston must have gone to lunch.”

  “He has. Don’t be silly. You don’t even need to knock.”

  He went and sat in his usual spot, and I took mine. I smiled at the familiarity of the scene. He passed me my chicken wrap and I thanked him.

  I took a bite of my food and looked at him – he seemed tense, more distant maybe. My stomach dropped. Maybe he was already pulling away from me. Hundreds of scenarios raced through my mind, and I had to mentally scream at myself to shut the hell up.

  “Are you okay? You seem like you’re not really here.”

  He didn’t answer at first, and I’d just about decided to ask him again when he spoke. “I’m fine. Just something weird happened today and I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

  “Shit that reminds me.” I jumped up from my seat and pulled the photo from my drawer. “Did you send me this?”

  Lawson stared at the photo for a long time. “Where did you get this?” His shoulders had tensed and his voice became harsh.

  “My mail,” I answered quietly. “You didn’t send it?”

  He shook his head. “No. I didn’t” He jumped up suddenly and I flinched. “Was there a note?”

  “No, nothing. Just the photo in an unmarked envelope.”

  “Show me.”

  “What?”

  “The envelope,” he growled.

  I was getting more worried by the minute. Obviously Lawson hadn’t sent this to me.

  So then who had?

  I rummaged through my bin and found the light yellow envelope in there. “It was just in this. There’s nothing written on it. I checked.”

  I handed it to him but he made no move to take it. “Just put it down on the desk.”

  “Okay.” I placed it on my desk. “Lawson what the hell is going on? You’re scaring me.”

  Hearing me so scared seemed to break Lawson out of his angry haze. “Shit, I’m sorry, Ells. Come here.”

  I flew over to him, and he gripped me in a tight embrace.

  “I’m sorry I scared you.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “I don’t know, honey.” He released me and we sat back down. “I got a similar envelope this morning too. Only, mine didn’t have a photo. Just a note.”

  I gasped. This was not good. “What’d it say, Lawson?”

  “Not yours to take.”

  I shook my head in confusion. “I don’t understand. That was all it said?”

  “I don’t either, Ells. Although now, putting it together with that photo of the two of us, I think someone is warning us, maybe even threatening us.”

  I let out a nervous giggle. “That can’t be right. No one here even knows me. And why would anyone want to threaten you?”

  He sat silently for a few moments. I could see he was deep in thought, trying to figure it out. “What about Baxter? You were his. Maybe he wants you back?”

  I laughed loudly at the absurdity of it. There was no way it was Baxter. He was a spineless prick of a man. He didn’t have the balls.

  “No. No way. He wouldn’t do that. Even if he did still want me – which he doesn’t, he wouldn’t do this.”

  “I’m not ruling anything out.”

  I waved my hand at him. “You do what you’ve gotta do, but I’m telling you, it’s not him.”

  “I’ve got a friend who’s a detective. I’m calling him.”

  I sighed. “Do we have to? It’s not like we’ve been threatened, it’s just a photo and a note, Lawson.”

  He slammed his hand down on the table in frustration and looked deep into my eyes. “I am not taking any risks with your safety, El, whoever sent this has obviously been watching us. They were within walking distance of you. I’m not taking any risks.”

  It was a bit creepy, I’d give him that. “I can handle myself, Lawson, I’ve—”

  He interrupted me, “I’m not listening. I need to know you’re safe.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration.

  “Fine. Call him then.” I decided I’d give him this round. I could see how stressed he was about my safety, and if calling this detective calmed him down, then so be it. Besides, seeing him go all protective alpha male was actually kind of hot.

  Lawson made the call and informed me that Detective Mark Johnson would be with us within the hour. Maybe it was for the best after all, I had a few theories of my own to share with the detective.

  42. Lawson

  He’s late.

  I’d paced the length of El's office until she’d snapped and made me sit down. Even amongst all this bullshit, I couldn’t help but notice how damn sexy she was when she was all pissed off.

  She’d immediately rejected the idea of her ex-husband doing this to us, but I wasn’t ready to throw the idea out just yet. The guy was clearly a complete fucking dickhead, and if he was willing to throw away a life with someone as amazing as El, then I wouldn’t put anything past him.

  “I have a Detective Johnson here for you,” Weston’s voice came through the intercom.

  El stood and replied, “Thanks, let him through, Weston.”

  Mark came in and shut the door behind him. “Thanks for coming on such short notice, Mark.” I stood and shook his hand. “This is Ellerslie Rush. Ellerslie, Mark Johnson.”

  El shook his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, would yo
u like a drink of anything, Detective?”

  Mark held up his hands. “Call me Mark, and no, I’m fine thank you, Ellerslie.”

  She gestured for him to take a seat. He picked the armchair I’d sat in earlier, and I pulled El in next to me on the couch.

  “Why don’t you give me some more details on what’s going on, Lawson?”

  I’d met Mark years ago when I’d wanted to be kept informed on Piper whilst she was in custody. He was a good man – older, maybe mid-forties, and had a wife and two children at home. But most importantly, he was one hell of a detective. I’d trust him with my life. Shit, I might even trust him with Ellerslie’s.

  I explained to him about the note and photo arriving with the mail today in unmarked envelopes. He pulled on a pair of rubber gloves and asked to see the items. “I’m the only one who has touched the note, but my assistant and probably the front desk staff would have handled the envelope too.”

  I looked over at El. “Me and my assistant have touched both the envelope and the photo.” She looked at me. “And Lawson has touched the photo too.”

  “Can I take these?” Mark looked between the both of us. “I want to run them for prints.”

  I nodded at him. “Yeah, that would be great. I’ll just take a picture of them both with my phone.” Mark held the note and photo out for me to photograph.

  “Excuse me, Mark.” Ellerslie fidgeted next to me. “I was wondering how these envelopes would have got here, seeing as they don’t even have our names on them?”

  “That’s a good question. I’ll speak with your front desk before I leave here, but I would imagine that whoever is doing this has either taken them to the reception themselves, which I doubt, since you have security cameras – or they had somebody else take them in for them with verbal instructions for delivery. It’s something I’ll have to look into. It wouldn’t be too hard, or very unusual for that to happen. I’m assuming all the mail is sorted downstairs and then delivered to each floor?”

  “That’s right,” I told him.

  “Well then, we can review the footage from Friday, yesterday and today and go from there. It’s possible somebody inside the building is responsible.”

  “If you could not explain the reason to any of the staff, I’d appreciate it. I want whoever is behind this to feel like they are getting away with it.”

  “No problem, Lawson, this will just stay between whomever you choose.”

  I nodded my head at him.

  “This appears to have come from someone that is known to one or maybe even both of you. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “I do.” I spoke quickly. “Ellerslie has recently finalized her divorce. I think her ex-husband is the most likely to be behind this.”

  “I don’t agree,” El butted in. “He doesn’t have the balls, Detective. It’s not him.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. I didn’t like how quick she was to dismiss him from this.

  “Who do you think it is, Ellerslie?”

  “I’m not sure what you know of Lawson’s past, but he’s had some trouble with a con artist.”

  “Piper,” Mark prompted her.

  “Yes. Her. I wonder if maybe it’s her doing.”

  Mark nodded his head in contemplation. “I was just wondering the same thing actually.”

  El gave me a smug look that said ‘I told you so.’

  “I checked in on her whereabouts before I got here, that’s why I was running late. She’s still in jail. So unless she’s hired someone to do her dirty work, it’s not her.”

  Ellerslie’s face fell but she didn’t give up. “She could have hired someone, Lawson.”

  I sighed. “Yeah, I guess she could have. I just don’t know why she would. She’s never made contact before. So why start now?”

  El looked up at me with wide eyes. “You said you’ve never shown a genuine interest in a woman until me. Maybe that’s what it is,” she said in a quiet voice.

  Mark cleared his throat. “I doubt Piper is behind it, but I’ll call up her visitor and phone logs from the prison and check for anything out of the ordinary just to be sure. But I do think she has a point here, Lawson. It seems you’ve taken a noticeable interest in Ellerslie, and somebody that knows you would be aware of that.”

  I was getting more furious by the minute. If somebody I worked with was messing with El then they had better look out. I would find out who was responsible and deal with them.

  “Have you had sexual relations with anyone from around the office?” he asked me.

  Ellerslie squirmed uncomfortably in her seat.

  “No. I don’t mix my personal and professional lives. There are a few women who have made their interest known, but I’ve always ignored it.”

  Mark nodded his head in approval. “Good. That makes it easier.”

  “What about anyone that I work with?” El asked in a small voice. “A lot of my employees see you coming in here for lunch every day.”

  I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “No, honey. You’re the only woman I’ve so much as looked at since we met.”

  “Okay.” Mark clapped his hands. “Well I think that for now, we’ll review the tapes, check for prints and just keep our eyes open. You haven’t actually been threatened, so I wouldn’t worry too much. Just don’t go doing anything stupid. And you call me straight away if you get anything more.” He pointed a finger at me as he spoke. He knew I was a hot head and had a tendency to fly off the handle.

  “Thank you for your time, Mark.” El smiled warmly at him.

  He returned her smile. “It’s no problem. Please call me if you need me.” He handed her a card with his number and shook my hand.

  I followed him through the door. “I’ll walk you down.”

  El smiled at me. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? Please try to relax,” she whispered to me as she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  I nodded and followed after Mark. She wouldn’t just talk to me later, she’d be seeing me. I wasn’t letting her out of this building without knowing it was safe.

  We took the elevator down to the front reception. “Who else will you inform about this?” Mark asked.

  I rubbed the back of my neck. “I guess El’s brother, Reeve, definitely my sister, Quinn. I think El will tell her assistant. I’m not sure about her parents.” Mark scribbled the names down in his notebook.

  “I’d try and keep it as small as possible. You never know who this person knows. At this point I’d like to lay low and wait to see what their next move is.”

  “I agree.”

  “How’s your security in this place?”

  “I think it’s pretty good. Someone either has to have a pass key card, or has to get one from the front reception desk. For a visitor, that gets them up to either Ellerslie’s reception or mine, where they have to be buzzed through to the back, or to the correct level via elevator. Obviously staff have access to all areas. The whole place is covered by security cameras, and we have at least one security guard on the premises during business hours.”

  “Okay. The only suggestion I would make is to maybe hire an around-the-clock security guard. I’m sure there have been times that Ellerslie has worked over a weekend, and her being in here alone is certainly not ideal.” My skin prickled at the thought. He was right. Quinn had told me that El was working in the office the day of our first dinner together.

  “I’ll sort it out today. And I think I’ll start having the front reception taking copies of I.D’s before letting anyone up into the building.”

  “What type of security does she have in her home?”

  I hated the thought of El and Quinn being at their place alone – I knew Reeve was only a couple of levels away. But still. I was taking this as a real threat. I had a bad feeling about it.

  “She has an underground parking garage that requires pin code access, that’s shared with everybody else that lives in the building, although there aren’t many apartments. And her key card lets her up to her level, nob
ody else can access her level without a card.”

  He jotted down a few notes in his notebook. “Cameras?”

  I shook my head. “Not that I know of. I’ll track down the landlord.”

  I watched as he scanned the lobby area. I’d seen him do it several times since we’d arrived on the ground floor.

  “You’re treating this as a real threat, aren’t you?”

  He looked at me with a serious expression on his face. “I know at this point it doesn’t seem like a big deal – and I didn’t want to scare Ellerslie up there. But in my experience, Lawson, these types of things usually escalate. And fast. I just want you to be prepared.”

  I clapped him on the shoulder and led him towards the front desk. “I appreciate the heads-up, Mark.”

  ***

  “Mother fucker!” I yelled as I smacked my phone back down on the desk.

  Getting hold of the security footage hadn’t been as easy as I’d anticipated. It seemed we only held footage for three days. I’d had my I.T guy send me through what we did have, and I still wasn’t any closer to knowing where the envelopes had come from. It was possible they were delivered on Friday night, but I couldn’t look that far back. It was more than frustrating.

  The first thing I’d done was get on the phone to the security company I employed and increased the guards to two. One to guard the underground carpark entry, and one to man the lobby. I’d had them contracted to be there twenty-four-seven and I felt much better for it. I’d also upgraded our security system so footage was able to be viewed over a fortnight after it was taken. If this asshole came back, I was going to be ready.

  I picked up my phone and looked at the time. It was nearly time for El and Quinn to head home. I needed to make one more quick call before I left the office. I found Reeve’s details and hit call.

  “Reeve Rush.”

  “Hey, man, it’s Lawson here.”