"That's where you're wrong. Now get back to the subject. What do you suggest?"
Shifting his eyes back to the letters, he hunched his bulky shoulders restlessly. "I would like to think that the person is just spewing venom and that's it."
"But you don't think so."
"No." Angelo glanced over at his friend. "I'll put some plainclothes guys to work patrolling the place. You have a very sophisticated system here, one that's not easy to get under."
"We all know that no system is foolproof," Samuel reminded him grimly.
"We're thinking of getting a puppy," Eliza spoke up, avoiding her husband's stare.
"We're in the discussion stage. Darling, we cannot introduce a dog at this period of our lives. It will take work. I thought we agreed that we would circle back to it when the children were older."
"And a puppy would not work. If you're thinking protection, you'd have to go hardcore. Like a Rottweiler."
"No, thanks," Eliza said with a delicate shudder.
"In that case, let's go with my suggestion. I will look into these. The perp is smart. These are all handwritten, so no computer. Either she is bent on not leaving evidence, or she does not know how to use a computer."
"Or she wants to make it more personal."
Both men turned to stare at her as she made the comment.
"That's a thought," Angelo said slowly. "Which will make it more difficult to trace her." He rose, putting his empty cup aside and wishing he could stay for another cup of the excellent brew. But duty called, and if he knew his friend, and he certainly did, Samuel was expecting him to get right on it. "My men will follow you at a distance whenever you leave the house."
"I don't think they should go anywhere."
"I'm not staying a prisoner in my own home because some lunatic thinks I don't deserve my children." She folded her hands over her chest and gave her husband a stubborn glare.
"I agree with you. We need to draw the person out." Angelo held up both hands when Samuel swung his lethal gaze toward him.
"I will not have my wife and children out there as bait. Find the asshole who's making these threats, and make it fast."
"At your service." Angelo saluted smartly before crossing over to plant a kiss on Eliza's lips. Ignoring his friend's snarl, he hooked an arm around her waist and smiled into her eyes. "You're still the most beautiful woman I know. I cannot believe you carried four babies inside you. Darling, you look terrific!"
"Thank you." Eliza grinned at him. "Now unhand me before my husband shoots you with your own gun."
"Ah, he's a softie," Angelo murmured but wisely released her. "I'll be in touch. I will stop on my way to the precinct and talk to your agent." His expression turned sober. "I will nail this thing down, that I can promise you."
Eliza stepped into her husband's arms and snuggled, breathing in his scent. "I feel marginally better now."
His arms came around her. "I meant what I said before," he told her softly. "I won't have you being bait."
Lifting her head, she touched his cheek lightly. "And I meant what I said as well. I refuse to become a prisoner in my home. I want this over and done with, darling. The sooner the better."
Chapter 14
"I don't like this," Eliza muttered, turning aside to smile for the cameras. After two weeks of futile effort to try and find the person sending the nasty letters, she and her husband had reluctantly agreed to preen in front of the cameras, with the babies. It was something that she violently objected to at first, something else that vile person was going to have to pay for. But her letters had started coming at regular intervals.
It was as if the woman, or whoever it was, had decided to post one letter a day, and they had gotten even more graphic in detail: what she was going to do to Eliza, and how she was determined to take those precious babies from someone so unworthy.
'I used to revere you, but the Lord has shown me that you're not fit to raise those children. It's my duty to bring them up in a nice Christian home. As for that man you married, that unfaithful lecher who has been with so many women, he should not be in the same house as those babies. You should be ashamed of yourselves.'
That last bit had so angered Samuel, he had walked out of the room and left the house. When he came back later, it was to abruptly declare that it was time to get drastic.
So, here they were strolling along the busy Midway Avenue in the cold of winter with the nannies trailing behind them carryingtwo of the babies. Samuel had their daughter tucked in a sling across his chest and she had Jeremy.
"We don't have to like it." Samuel had a tough time keeping the smile on his face. It infuriated him to parade his children in front of the press, but Angelo had agreed that seeing them splashed across the celebrity rags would give the person the incentive to make a move and reveal who they were.
