Death on a Deadline

about dinner and a walk along the river?” I guess my regular confrontations with John were making me pushy. But I’d missed Alex and if we were going to do this, why sit in a darkened theater beside each other when we could spend that same time talking and getting to know each other again?
    “Sounds even better. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”
    I hung up the phone, glad to have the apology off my chest and even gladder to have a real honest-to-goodness date with Alex.
    Bob came in three hours late, as he’d done every day since he got home last Friday. I only knew he was there because I saw him running on the treadmill when I walked by. Must be trying to lose the ten pounds he’d gained on the cruise. Whatever the reason, he didn’t grace the office with his presence. We were going to have to have it out. But right now I had my hands full with life-or-death questions. I couldn’t worry about silly little future-deciding questions.
    I got off at four and didn’t even try to find Bob. Instead I flipped open my phone and called Carly. “Well, I called Alex and apologized for running off to talk to Marge on Sunday.”
    “I’m proud of you. Was he nice about it?” I nodded my head and realized she couldn’t see me. “Well, he did act a little odd about my messages. I can’t figure out why he ignored them.”
    I pushed the Unlock button on my key fob, then slid into the driver’s seat. A white envelope flapped against the windshield. “Hang on, Carly. There’s something under my windshield wiper.”
    “Okay.”
    I clambered back out of the car and snatched the offending item. “I don’t know who advertisers think they’re going to impress. I know I’m dying to get out of my car after I’m already settled in.”
    “Who left it?”
    Warm and comfortable again, I examined my find. “No idea. It’s not an ad, though. Has my name on it.” I ripped the envelope open and stared at the white card. “Carly,” I whispered. “You won’t believe this.”
    “What?”
    I hit the Lock button on the door. Letters, all different shapes and sizes, had been cut out of a magazine and pasted onto a plain white card. Butt Out before You Get Hurt. I started the car and glanced around the deserted parking lot. Several vehicles, but not a person in sight.
    I quickly conveyed the message to Carly.
    “Are you sure it’s for you?”
    My hand trembled as I retrieved the envelope from the passenger seat. “It says Jenna right here on the envelope.”
    “Oh.”
    “Come on. I need a little sisterly reassurance.” I tried to laugh as I put the car in gear. “You can do better than that.”
    “Are you by yourself in the parking lot?”
    “Oh, see? That’s so much better. Yes. But I’m getting out of here as quickly as I can.” The motor revved as I pulled onto the road.
    “Where are you going?”
    “Home. I let Neuro stay home with Mr. Persi today. They’re both inside. I don’t think I have a choice.”
    “Maybe it’s a good thing you have a dog now.” Carly had teased me mercilessly about Miss Never Commit ending up with two pets. “Aren’t you afraid someone might be waiting there for you?”
    “I wasn’t.” I slowed down.
    “Oh, sorry. Want me to meet you there?”
    “Oh yeah, I can see the headline now. Stafford Sisters Single-Handedly Subdue Suspect .”
    “Very funny. Seriously, though. I’ll come on over right now.”
    “Thanks, but I’ll swing by John’s office and show him the note. Give him the thrill of having not just one, but two visits from me in a day.”
    “Then what?”
    “Then I’ll go home.”
    “Alone?” She didn’t know when to quit, did she? Maybe I should name her Mrs. Persistence.
    “I’ll call you when I leave the station, and you can meet me at the house.” I slowed down at the city-limit sign. The last thing I needed was a police escort to the station.
    “Good. I might get Zac or Dad to come with me.”
    “And mess up our headline with its perfect alliteration? We’re the Stafford sisters. We can handle it.”
    Ten minutes later, I walked into John’s office, my shoulders back, and my head high. I had a legitimate reason to be here. Let him try to throw me out this time.
    “What are you doing here?”
    I slapped the paper down on his desk and smoothed it out with my hand, then stood back.
    John studied it for a second, then his dark eyes flashed to my face. “Where’d you get this?”
    “My windshield. At the health club.” I produced