Page 48 of Rayne

I accidentally spit out my coffee, hissing as hot liquid hits my fingers. I grab a tissue, dabbing my hand, then the table to clean up the mess.

What the fuck?

My eyes immediately read the email address and name. It's very basic, only a mixture of letters and numbers. But it's fairly obvious who it's from.

I contemplate ignoring it or marking it as spam, but before I do, another email pops into my inbox from the same sender.

Shaking slightly from adrenaline, I click the mouse, opening the new message.

Don't be frightened, little one. We told you we'd be watching you close.

By the way… that color looks stunning on you today.

Glancing down, my mouth falls open at the pale sky-blue blouse. I shift nervously in my chair, crossing my legs while adjusting my pencil skirt.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a response," I mutter to myself, hastily deleting the emails. "I'm a professional. I have work to do."

I get back to the tasks at hand, ignoring the knotting feeling in my stomach. It could be just another mind game—after all, they never did specify what color it was. They could just be trying to get a reaction out of me. Besides, shouldn't they be working too?

As the afternoon passes by, people start to brave the rain one by one. Eventually, everyone leaves except for Elijah and myself.

I check the radar and find the rain should be easing within the hour, so I pull up a few extra tasks to get ahead of them. The time ticks by as the rain plays music on my windows, and eventually Elijah pokes his head through my office door, grimacing as he finds me with my head in my hands, grumbling to myself.

"Not any better, is it?" he says slyly.

I look up, shaking my head. "It's torrential out there. Knowing my luck I'll get stuck in it. I'm just hoping that when I am ready to brave it out, the traffic will have lightened. I hate driving through the pouring rain with no visibility."

"It's a pain in the ass," he agrees, holding up a drink. "Thirsty?"

In his hand is a small glass tumbler from the staff room. And judging by the amber colored liquid inside, it's alcohol.

"Parched," I answer, taking the glass from him as he hands it over.

Elijah sits down in the chair across from me, leaning back with a deep breath. "Present from an old client," he tells me, swishing the drink around. "Not bad."

"You won the case, I take it?"

He gives me a boyish grin. "Of course. Client in his late forties. Hit by a drunk driver while crossing the road."

"That's horrible," I gasp.

Elijah nods. "Don't worry. The drunk driver was only going seventeen miles an hour. He couldn't find the gas so the car was practically rolling."

"Still…" I murmur. "I wouldn't want to be hit by a car, no matter how fast they were going."

"Broken femur and a nasty scrape on his elbow. But lived to tell the tale."

I take a sip, trying not to pull a face at the burning taste. "Seems like an easy case to win. Why the present?"

He stills, raising an eyebrow at me. "It was the mayor's son. Got a little messy…"

"Oh," I mouth. "Yep, that will do it."

Elijah relaxes into the chair, crossing his ankles. "It was one of my favorite wins."

I put my elbow on my desk, resting my head on the palm of my hand. "What's your favorite to date?"

He thinks for a moment, a smile breaking across his face. "That's easy. Had a prenup tossed out. The husband was a deadbeat—abusive to his wife and kid. But of course, she had given up her career to support him. Basically, he cheated on her but they were in a no-fault state so it didn't matter. Prenup gave her minimal alimony, very little child support payments and no assets to start over."

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