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Pulling out the stack of mail, I drop everything on a nearby table. Half of it will be tossed into a recycling box hidden underneath. My heart jumps when beneath an invitation to an academic conference next year in London is a glossy coloring book—featuring unicorns. My favorite animal.
I’m surprised that Etienne would leave something like this in my office mailbox, where anyone can see it, but my heart fills at the sweet gesture. A folded piece of paper is taped to the front, and I eagerly flip it open to see what Daddy wrote.
Something special for tonight. xoxo
My heart freezes, and then it pounds as my blood runs cold. I turn toward Sally, who is tapping away on her keyboard.
“Did you see who left this?” I demand.
“No, why?” she asks, looking up. “What is it?”
The note’s untidy scroll is not in Daddy’s perfect—sexy—script.
Chapter 10
Etienne
The sound of frantic footsteps echoing in the hallway has me looking away from my computer screen and toward the partially open office door. Within seconds, Violet is pushing her way in, clutching something to her chest and looking frightened.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, pushing back my chair and standing.
“I thought he’d given up, but I found this in my department mailbox,” she mutters, dropping a cheap-looking coloring book with an attached folded piece of paper onto my desk. “He knows where I work!”
“Sit down, baby,” I say softly, moving around my desk and guiding her into a chair. I quickly close and lock my office door, giving us some much-needed privacy. “I’ll call Marcus.”
“Daddy.” Her voice wobbles slightly.
“I’m right here,” I tell her.
Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I snag the chair next to hers and sit as close to her as possible. One-handed, I dial the number while firmly holding my little professor’s shaking hand with the other.
“Detective Berger.”
“It’s Etienne. I have you on speakerphone with Violet. Her stalker has moved from text messages to sending gifts.”
“What happened?”
“Someone left a coloring book in her department mailbox.”
“Violet, you haven’t received any other messages you haven’t told us about, right?” Marcus asks in a stern tone.
“No!” she exclaims, squirming in her seat, no doubt remembering the spanking I gave her the last and, hopefully, only time she neglected to tell me she’d been contacted.
It has been a week and a half since her stalker made any contact, and I had hoped they’d lost interest.
“Since they made no threats, I had hoped it was a prank.” Marcus sighs, then in a firm but calm voice, says, “Violet, walk me through what happened.”
“I went to the main office to collect my mail, and when I sorted through it, I found the unicorn coloring book. At first, I thought it was from Etienne, but he’d never leave something like that for me where anyone could find it,” Violet tells him in a stronger voice than I expected. “I asked the secretary, and she didn’t see who left it.”
“And Sally’s observant.” I chuckle.
“She is," Violet mutters almost ominously.
“Are there security cameras in the room?”
“No.” Violet snorts. “Last year, there were student protests about privacy, so they removed many of the cameras. I believe the only ones left are outside the building on the doors, in the stairwells, and in the gallery downstairs in the lobby.”
“There are no cameras in the hallways?” I ask, surprised.
