Free Long, Lonely Nights by Marla Monroe Page B

nodded, putting the sandwich away. We’ll both eat as soon as he leaves.” She set the two bags on the credenza behind the desk. When Jenna was upset, she tended to eat. She never gained a pound, though. On the other hand, Tina lost her appetite and lost weight. She had just gained all her weight back from last year.
    “I’ll go tell the receptionist to send him back as soon as he gets here.” Jenna ran out of the office towards the front.
    Tina rubbed her knee and sat down in her chair. She wasn’t going to be able to do anything for the rest of the day. Jenna returned and dragged the guest chair over to sit next to her.
    “You’ve got the best security system there is. If you’re scared, come stay at my place for a while,” Jenna said.
    “I’ll be fine. I know he can’t get in my house. I just have to be careful when I go places. That’s all.”
    There was a knock at the door. Detective McKinney stood in the doorway. He and Jenna were just about the same height. He had a small paunch and thinning reddish hair. His blue eyes missed nothing, however. There was a much taller man next to him who looked to be in his mid thirties. He had short blond hair and a light colored mustache. His hazel eyes narrowed when they focused on her.
    “Come in.” Tina got up and held out her hand. “Thank you so much for coming.”
    He nodded and shook her hand. He indicated the man standing next to him.
    “This is my partner, Detective Jones.”
    The other man held out his hand and said, “Ma’am.”
    Detective McKinney pulled out a plastic bag and pointed to the flower card. “Is that it?”
    “Yes. I touched it when I opened it, and Jenna touched it as well. I don’t think anyone else has though.”
    Tina watched as he used a pen and pushed the card into the plastic bag he held off the side of the desk. He sealed the bag then read the card through the bag. He looked at her with serious eyes.
    “Same thing he said to you before, right?”
    “Yes.”
    He handed the bag to his partner and produced another bag, which he repeated the process to scoop up the envelope it came in. Then he looked over the flowers and the vase.
    “We’ll take the cards in for fingerprints, but you know there probably won’t be any,” he said. “We will also check with the florist where they came from and see if he came in or used the phone.”
    “If you will check, I’ve filed a report recently that someone had been watching me. There were footprints outside my bedroom balcony, and a ladder was used to climb up, but he didn’t try to come in,” Tina told him.
    “I’ll look into the report. Is this the first time you’ve had this trouble?” he asked.
    “Someone left a yellow rose on my doorstep the week before that. It came from my neighbor’s yard.”
    “You’re neighbor said they didn’t do it?”
    “No, he said he hadn’t.”
    “We’ll do what we can, but you know that there isn’t a lot of chance we will get anything from the card. If you receive anything else you’re not sure of, don’t touch it. Call me first.” He pulled out a business card and handed it to her.
    “Okay, I will.” Tina swallowed and nodded her head.
    In other words, she thought to herself, there isn’t anything they can do to help me until he does something to me.
    He’ll kill me before they find him .
    “Thanks for coming over,” she said.
    “I know it seems like we aren’t doing anything, but until we have something to go on, our hands are tied.” Detective McKinney sighed, then turned and left with his partner right behind him.
    “That’s all they are going to do? Just take the cards?” Jenna asked.
    “Like he said, there isn’t anything they can do when they don’t have anything to go on,” Tina explained.
    She picked up the flowers and headed to the bathroom. She planned to empty the water out and throw the roses in the garbage. Jenna followed behind her. She didn’t meet anyone in the hall, but when she threw the flowers in