Guarding Raine Part 9

" " Think about those envelopes," he urged, his turquoise gaze intent.

" Where did they come from?

" Misunderstanding his meaning, Raine frowned in annoyance. " I

already told you, I don't know who' He shook his head and

interrupted-her. " No, I don't mean who sent them.What city did they come from?What did the pos~t-marks read?" Comprehension came swiftly. And then, as she tried to remember, foreboding followed. " I think," she said Jlowly, " I'm almost certainthat some of them had L.

A.

postmarks.

" " Some of them?

" he questioned sharply. She shrugged helplessly. " I don't recall

whether I noticed the postmark on every single letter.

:' Inexorably, he questioned, "Don't recall what the postmark was stamped, or don't recall whether every one had a postmark?"

"Well, of course they had postmarks,"

she a.s.serted.

Under that unrelenting gaze, she moistened her lips.

Darn it all, the man had a way of making her feel like she was a

sandwich shy of a pie~nic.

"I mean, I a.s.sume they all had one."

At this disclosure, his eyes closed briefly, as if in pain.

"Do me a favor, will you?"

he asked through gritted teeth.

"Quit a.s.sureing things. You are in danger here, and some of it is because you a.s.sume too d.a.m.n much ."

Her jeweled eyes were wide, Watching him guardedly.

He didn't give a d.a.m.n.

This piece of information put a whole new light on the case, and he didn't like the possibilities.

He didn't like them at all.

Mac struggled to rein in his temper.

"let me get this straight. All the letters were found in your

mailbox."

At her short nod, he went on.

"You know this, of course, because you bring your own mail in daily."

His voice sounded slightly hopeful.

Raine opened her mouth to answer, then, at his knowing gaze, snapped it

shut again.

He gave a humorless smile.

"Somehow I thought not. So all the letters were found among your mail,

which is brought in the house by..."

His voice' tapered off, an invitation for her to continue.

She felt like giving him a swift kick instead.

She was finding she liked his sarcasm even less than that

expressionless mask he adopted most of the time.

His thoughts right now were all too apparent.

"I usually bring in my own mail,"

she informed him tartly.

"But on occasion it's brought in by Andre, Greg or Sarah."

"Or one of the endless stream of art students who wander in and out of

here at will?"

"No?"

Raine glared at him.

She knew what he was insinuating, and the fact that hindsight had

proven there was some truth to his concerns didn't make her feel any more kindly toward him.

She defended herself.

"Look, I don't spend a great deal of time downstairs during the day.

I'm usually in my studio. I have two more works to get done for myupcoming show. I'm involved in endless meetings with Andr~ and Gregand you can't believe how many other people."

"You've been careless,"

he stated ex;enly.

"And whether you like to admit it or not, the possible lack of

postmarks on some of the letters changes everything."

His eyes were icier than usual.

He had a mental vision of his vacation sprouting wings and flying

away.

"It means that this jerk may have already been closer to you than you

want to admit. Close enough to have placed a letter in your mailbox,anyway."She swallowed hard."We don't know that.""But it's a possibility, and we'll have to act on it. I'd strongly advise you to invest in a fence across the front of your property, one with motorized gates."

She rubbed her hands over arms that were suddenly chilled.

"A fence?"

she repeated dumbly.

He nodded, watching her reaction closely."I'll bring in some catalogs, and you can pick out a style you like.The doors and windows will take only a week or so to install. Thefence will be a bigger project. I may have to order some of thematerials, but that shouldn't be a problem."

She wasn't concentrating on his words.

It took all her strength to keep from screaming her opposition.

Memories flooded her, reminding her of the time she'd moved with her

family to Burbank as a teenager.

The house had come equipped with all the latest electronic features, to keep them safe, her father had a.s.sured her.

As if it had happened yesterday she remembered the first day she'd

stood inside the drive.

The gates had closed behind her with a gentle, irrevocable snick.

It hadn't been a feeling of safety they'd generated in her that day.

Instead she'd felt like a prisoner.