There’s something about it being November and seventy degrees. I knew deep down there was a reason that I loved living in L.A. This is it. Being able to walk down Rodeo Drive in short sleeves and a skirt has its advantages. Since I met Susan, I am taking full advantage of everything.

Oh boy, am I.

From waking up with her arms around me in the mornings to the three-hour lunch we took today, it’s really nice to have someone who is semi-regular in my life. I glance down at my watch as I make my way to LaPerla.

Shopping has never really been big on my list of things to do, but occasionally when the mood strikes me, I like to get out and spend a little of my hard-earned money. Okay, I admit it, occasionally I like to get out and spend a lot of my hard-earned money.

Glancing around the shop, I realize I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be attractive to someone. Now, I remember and I love every minute of it.

Three hundred dollars for a nightgown that I’m going to be on for all of an hour? Oh yeah, I’m losing it, but what the hell? It looks good and I know I’ll feel good in it. I’ll feel even better out of it.

As I make my way back to the Mercedes (Rodeo Drive being the only place I feel comfortable leaving my baby parked on the street with the top down), something in the window of Bernini Sport catches my eye.

A long sleeve black silk shirt that would look great on Harper.

I do, after all, owe her a shirt for the library thing. Hell, I owe her two shirts. I do remember biting off the buttons, not that I’ll never admit that little fact to her.

And Christmas is coming soon.

I sigh as I enter the shop.

Okay, one black silk shirt, one blue silk shirt and one copper silk shirt later, I don’t feel guilty anymore. She’s gonna look great in the copper one. What in the hell am I thinking? Get a fucking grip, Kels.

I rearrange my packages and make my way to the car. Placing them in the trunk, I go around to drop my purse in the passenger’s seat when I find the black foil florist box.

My hand is shaking a bit as I retrieve the card from the box. I know what it’s gonna say before I even read it. This has gone too far. I look around trying to figure out who might have put it there as I pull the card from the box. "We belong together. Can’t you see that?"

Oh Christ! I wasn’t expecting that.

My hands are really shaking now as I take the lid from the box. One dozen red roses. More precisely one dozen dead red roses, now nearly black in color.

I don’t know whether to be scared or sick to my stomach as I put the lid back on the box and get in my car.

I sit there for a moment taking deep breaths. I hold the steering wheel in both hands like the car will somehow protect me if I do. I glance over at the box as I turn the key in the ignition.

My cell phone rings, nearly startling me out of my skin and I reach for my purse. Taking the phone, I flip it open and try to sound remotely normal.

"Stanton."

"Kels, it’s Harper," she tells me unnecessarily, as if I wouldn’t recognize her voice.

"Yeah…." I manage to croak out as I look at the box again.

"I need you to come back to the studio for about an hour."

"Uh…okay…I’ll…I’ll be there in twenty minutes," I manage to stammer as I try to get my breathing under control.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." I finally get some air into my lungs and lie to her. "I’m fine. I’ll see you in twenty minutes."


* * *

Making sure to put the top up and lock the Mercedes, I leave it in my regular parking spot in the garage, grateful now for the security camera that sweeps it every thirty seconds or so. I take the offensive black box, intent on getting rid of it as soon as possible.

When the elevator opens, I head for it without really looking and run straight into a human wall. Giving a little yelp as I jump back, still not quite focused, I feel a hand close around each of my arms.

"Kels, are you okay?"

Suddenly I realize the wall is my partner and her hands are there to steady me from the backward tumble I was about to take.

"Huh?" I blink at her trying to focus and recall her question.

"Are you okay?"

"I’m not sure anymore, Harper." I look up her. I need to trust someone and we trusted each other once.

I offer her the black box.


* * *

I take the long box from her hands with a raised eyebrow. "Not from the kiddie doc, eh?" I ask sarcastically. I’m still not wild about this Susan chick. But something in the green eyes watching me tell me not to joke about this.

"No. She’s not into black."

I open the box, hearing the elevator doors slide closed behind me. Holy shit.

"Or dead flowers," Kelsey continues. She’s trembling. "Read the card."

I look around the garage, not liking this setting. "Let’s get inside, okay?" I wrap an arm around her shoulder and punch the elevator button with the hand holding the box of shriveled roses. My protective instincts are coming out full force and I conveniently forget all of our cold-shouldered discussions of the last several weeks.

Gail is hovering outside Kelsey’s office, demanding her boss’s attention, so I chase her away with an evil glare. Kelsey spent the elevator ride in silence, averting her gaze from the gift. Now, she ducks from under my arm and takes the seat behind her desk. I close the door behind us.

"Read the card," she whispers again.

The words I read give me a shiver of fear before I just get pissed off. "Is this the first one like this?" I snap.

Kelsey refuses to meet my eyes. "Yes. The others have been kinda cutesy, admiring from afar things."

"Do you have them all?" My voice is still harsh. I’m letting my emotions get the best of me and she’s taking the brunt of it.

"No."

"What?"

"No. I threw the first ones away."

I growl with frustration. "What the fuck were you thinking? It’s evidence."

She takes a deep breath and finally looks up. "Please don’t yell at me," she whispers. "I didn’t tell anyone. I thought it was some harmless crush. I wasn’t interested in responding, there weren’t signatures or anything on the cards, so I threw them out. I didn’t want Susan to find them and think I was involved with someone else. Harper, I wouldn’t have come to you except ..." Her voice trails off.

I shake my head, angry at my outburst. She’s ready to trust me again, let me help her with something that frightens her, and I bite her head off. "I’m sorry. I’m only worried about you," I say gently. "We need to contact the police."

"Do you think so? Maybe it’s a prank. I don’t want to blow this out of proportion."

I take the seat facing her desk, turning the chair to straddle it backwards and rest my elbows on the back. "Let me at least talk to some friends of mine on the force and get their feel for it. They may want to ask you some questions."

She’s quiet for a long time, tracing her finger along an invisible line on her desk blotter. "I’m sure it’s nothing, Harper."

"Little Roo, your words and your actions don’t match. This person really has you shaken up. Let’s do something about it."

"Okay." She nods.

"Have you noticed anyone watching you or following you? Maybe at the gym or a new staff member at your building?"

"No."

"Any phone calls?"

Kelsey is way too quiet after that question.

"Jesus Christ, Kels," I blurt out before remembering my resolve to calm down. "How many times?"

"I dunno," she shrugs. "No one speaks on the other end. Usually they hang up, sometimes they just stay quiet and I hang up."

"Do you have Caller ID?"

"No."

I roll my eyes with exasperation. "Did you try that dial-back thing for missed calls?"

She wrinkles her nose and is undeniably cute with the action. "They charge for that. What a rip off."

"Kels, this is serious. This person knows where you live. You’re getting gifts at home, too?

"Yeah."

"Erik’s still gone, so you’re by yourself?"

"Well, there’s Susan," she provides helpfully, making my stomach flip.

I hate talking about Susan. Why does she keep coming up? "Oh big help. She uses a tongue depressor for a living."

Kelsey meets my eyes and is almost smiling at the banter. "You carry a camera for a living."

"Sure," I allow. "But it’ll hurt a lot more when I swing it at that bastard. A tongue depressor is fucking worthless."

"I wouldn’t say worthless," she replies with a leer.

I do not want to know. But at least she’s joking around now. I hope she’s joking, anyway. Tongue depressor?

"You think it’s a guy?" she asks instead, when she realizes I’m not rising to her bait.

We talked about this after the first flowers arrived, I remember vaguely. "I feel like it is," I admit. "I don’t know why."

She nods slowly but doesn’t comment.

"What other gifts have you received? Anything else like this?"

"No." She stands up and stretches her arms above her head. I try hard not to focus on how that accentuates her assets. "Flowers. Stuffed animals. Box of chocolates."

"Did you eat them?"

She pauses a long time to lay a killer look on me. "I’m not a fucking moron, Harper."

Right. "Where is the rest of the stuff?"

"I think I still have one of the bears. It’s at the condo. Everything else is gone."

We watch each other for a long moment. She seems calmer; she’s not shaking anymore at any rate. "Tell ya what, I’ll come get the bear tonight and go chat with my friends." I needed a night at The Rio anyway. When I’m out, I spend less time picturing Kelsey and my clone in a naked embrace.