Shit.He glanced at David again.But Audrey had asked him not to bother David with this.It was still just another note, not a real escalation.And with everything that had just come to light about Zeus, David had even more on his plate.
He would handle this for him, and David wouldn’t have to worry about it at all.
Mason: I’ll be right there.
ChapterTwenty-Three
Audrey
Although she was tempted to text Mason back that he didn’t have to rush, feeling bad about interrupting his day, Audrey was too relieved that he was hurrying over to actually send a message telling him not to because she was kind of freaking out.
She glanced down at the paper in her hand again.
Bitches.
Very original.
Drawing a deep, unsteady breath, she put her hand over her heart, as if pressure on her chest could help slow its racing pace.
Audrey had no idea what to think about it.
It was hard to write off a second note as a mistake.Even harder to think that this was kids messing around, especially since the location of the note had moved.Someone had slipped it on the back door this morning after she and the other women had arrived.
Kids would be in school at that time.
Most people were at work.
There had been a small rush right after she opened—people coming in to grab something for breakfast before going to the office—but it had slowed pretty quickly.Audrey had already made a note about that for when she figured out what her permanent hours were going to be.
Right now, she was grateful for the lack of customers since it meant she didn’t have to try to pretend everything was fine in front of an audience.
When a large shape appeared on the other side of the front door, she felt her chest seize up before she realized it was Mason.Her breath rushed out with relief as he opened the door, and she felt the tension she’d been holding inside her release.
He came in like an avenging angel, darkly handsome, with a serious expression.The long grey coat he was wearing only added to the effect as the bottom flared out with his movements.Their gazes met immediately, and she felt a blush creeping onto her cheeks as usual; that was just the effect he had on her.Smoothing her hands over her apron, she just barely managed to keep herself from reaching up to check her hair.That’s not what he was here for.
“Hey.I’m sorry for calling you over like this, I’m just… freaking out a bit.”Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out the paper, holding it by the very edge so as not to get her fingerprints on it too much.It already had Alexis’.“Since this is the second note and all.”
“Can you put it on the counter?”Mason nodded at the open spot in front of her, and she put it down where he’d indicated as he came forward.Just his presence made her feel safer, she realized.
While she was competent at a lot of things, dealing with semi-threatening notes was not one of them.
Mason leaned over and read it, a thunderous scowl darkening his expression as he saw what it said.Dammit.That shouldn’t be so hot.But it was.
“Original,” he muttered.
“That’s what I said.”She tried to smile, but she knew it was forced.
“Did you check the camera footage already?”
“I did.”She made a face.“They were wearing a hoodie and something over their face.I think it’s a man, but I can’t be entirely sure.It could just be a really tall woman with broad shoulders.I’m hoping you might be able to get more from it than I could.”
“I’ll take a look.”
“I’m sorry for dragging you out here.I know there’s not a whole lot.It’s probably not even that big a deal, I just… panicked.”
The look he gave her cut off her babbling immediately, and she gripped the edges of her apron, dropping her gaze.
“You absolutely did the right thing,” he said, his voice gentle but firm.“I want to know immediately when anything happens.And if I can’t come running myself, I’ll send someone else on the team.Even if it’s just someone playing a prank, you deserve to be here without worry or fear.”
