There was nothing in the box but a piece of paper. Steff leaned over as if she was going to take it out, but he stopped her motion. “Don’t touch it.”
“But Angel said there’s nothing to worry about. Why can’t I pick it up?” Steff protested, confusion coloring her voice.
“Want to tell us what’s going on?” Irish grumbled from beside Cass.
Jag checked the contents again to make sure he hadn’t missed anything, but the room was well lit so there were no dark shadows to conceal anything else in the box. “There’s just a piece of paper in it.”
A chorus ofwhat?echoed around the room, and Jag chuckled silently at their reaction—the exact same one as he and Steff had with it.
“Why would someone send a piece of paper in a box?” Hound peered into it himself, as though he didn’t believe what Jag had said.
“Fucked if I know,” Jag responded. “We need to bag it in case there are prints on it that can help us. That’s why I didn’t want you to touch it.”
“Makes sense,” Steff murmured. “I wouldn’t have thought about that at all. I just would’ve grabbed it.”
The mystery of the box deepened.
Who was targeting Steff?
And more importantly, why?
Chapter Fifteen
Steff stood backfrom the table as Ox carefully lifted the note out and placed it into a large, clear plastic bag.
Was there anything written on it?
To her it had looked like a blank piece of paper, but she’d only glanced at it before Dalton shifted it closer to him.
He hadn’t said anything either, and if there was something on it, he would’ve told her.
Ox hadn’t turned the paper over, so maybe it was blank and this whole thing was a big joke. A joke that made no sense to her.
“Now you can look at it.” Ox held out the bag to her, and she took it.
Dalton was beside her, and a second later, the light pressure of his hand on her lower back registered.
She loved these little touches he was giving her. They weren’t intrusive, but comforting. The silent support she needed.
Quickly, she turned the bag over, and there were three words written on them in pink ink, as if that would ease the impact of them.
It’s not over!
“It’s not over,” Dalton said the words aloud for everyone, as she didn’t seem able to speak.
“What’s not over?” Deal asked, stating the obvious, really.
“I don’t know.” She finally found her voice, and was pleased that there was only a hint of a quiver in it.
“Let me take it to my office. I’ve got some fingerprint powder I can run over it to see if whoever wrote this left one behind.” Cass held out her hand and Steff gave it to her.
Irish and Angel followed the other woman out of the room. Steff sat down again, needing the stability of the chair, as she wasn’t sure how much longer her legs were going to keep her upright.
“This makes no sense. Why send it in a big box? Why not an envelope?” Dalton asked the questions that were curling through her mind.
He grabbed the box as if he could find something else in there. By the way he tossed it back on the table, she knew he hadn’t been successful.
“All we can hope for is whoever wrote it to have left a print on it somewhere.” Fox gave Dalton’s shoulder a squeeze, and Steff could see he was doing it to calm Jag, who looked as if he wanted to pummel someone.
