Chapter 33

“Hi, I have a delivery for a Viv?” a person in a brown uniform said as they stepped up to the desk, holding a box from a local florist.

“I’ll take it,” Viv said. Maybe Mac had sent her something, she thought with a smile. He had been away a lot lately with work. He promised he had someone who would cover any of his open cases from December twenty-first through December twenty-sixth. They were planning on being in Netherworld from the twenty-first to the twenty-fourth. Christmas Day would be spent at their house, just the four of them.

Carefully opening the box, she saw a bunch of white lilies, which she thought was a little weird. They were popular at Easter and funerals. Picking up the note, she started to read. Dropping the note, she called for the delivery driver to wait.

“Sir! Wait please. Did you see who wrote the note or sent the delivery?” she asked, heart pounding.

“No, sorry. I just deliver. The front desk might remember though. You can call and see,” the man said before leaving.

Viv sighed and picked up the phone to call Liam again. Poor guy was going to hate seeing her number. She needed to get him and Gina something for Christmas as a thank-you. Maybe Mac would have some ideas.

“Liam here,” his deep voice answered.

“It’s Viv. I am so sorry to bother you again. There was a flower delivery today and another note. Delivery driver said he didn’t know who sent it, but maybe the front desk would.”

“Can you take a picture of it, including the store information on the box and send it to me? We’ll stop by the store and question the cashier and see if they have any video footage. After that we’ll stop by and grab the flowers and note. Don’t let anyone else touch it.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry to be causing you so much extra work,” Viv apologized.

“Not your fault,” Liam reassured her. “It’s people being assholes that are making us have extra work. It seems to ramp up near the holidays. We’re going to be in the area looking into something else anyway. I’d stick to the library grounds from now on though. This is the second delivery in as many days, so he might be ramping up. At least in the library you’re safe.”

“I will,” Viv promised. She took several pictures of the box, the flowers, and the note and sent them off to Liam. She sent them to Mac as well, letting him know that she had talked to Liam about it. Mac was convinced it was related to one of his open cases and was working hard trying to hunt the person down. He had made her promise to keep him in the loop.

‘Do you think you can stand against me? You’re just human.’The note hadn’t been signed but was clearly written by a nonhuman. That paired with the funeral flowers, made her think it was more of a death threat.

Viv was determined to finish out her shift. The library was protected. Plus, she didn’t want to take more time off work. Her boss had been very understanding when she had been abducted and then had time off for recovery. He hadn’t raised a fuss over her taking time off to see out-of-town family for Christmas either.

“Deep breaths, Viv,” a voice instructed. She hadn’t even realized she was hyperventilating. She hadn’t had a panic attack in so long, she thought sadly. She dropped her head low, concentrating on her breathing, slow inhale, slow exhale, counting to ten, then to twenty. She felt her pulse slow down to normal, her breathing coming a little steadier.

“Are you okay?” Beth, the part-time shelver, asked.

“Yeah, just a tiny panic attack. Thanks for stepping in,” Viv said. Everyone at the library knew she had been abducted and injured. In the beginning they had all made a point to check in with her several times a day, but it had slowed as she adjusted back to work. It had been nice of them. She was just grateful that Beth had been there to pull her out of it today. She hadn’t even realized she was sliding into a panic attack.

“Is everything okay?”

Viv nodded. “Just something with the case,” she fibbed. She couldn’t very well tell her that another nonhuman might be targeting her because of her boyfriend’s work.

“Are those funeral flowers?” Beth asked, eyeing the box. When Viv nodded, she got an angry look on her face. “Someone sent those to you?”

“Just a few minutes ago,” Viv said.

“Do I need to call the cops? I can call Ted if you need to leave?” Beth offered.

“No, I’m fine here. Being home alone would just be worse,” Viv admitted. “I did call the police officer taking care of the case. He’s on his way to get the flowers and talk to the floral shop.”

“Okay. Call if you need anything. I’m here until three o’clock,” Beth said.

“Thank you,” Viv replied, touched. She had a good group of people here.

Viv vigorously rubbed her face, shaking out her arms. She sent a quick text message to her therapist, asking if she could get an appointment soon. She had been only going two or three times a month lately, but thought she probably needed to talk to her more frequently with all this going on. Especially if the panic attacks were coming back.

There was a surge around three o’clock when several schools got out. She walked around making sure there weren’t any kids trying to do things behind the back rows, helped a few find references for homework, and directed the tutoring kids to the conference rooms. Of course, that’s when Liam came in. She tried to finish with the kids as quickly as possible, while still helping them find what they needed.

“Hey Liam. Sorry for making you wait. It’s always busy after school.”

“No problem. I think it’s great that they have someplace to go, especially if they can get help with homework and stuff. Did anything else happen today?” he asked.

“No, it was just the flowers and the note. Here,” Viv said, handing it over.

She watched as Liam took a subtle sniff.

“Anything?” she asked.

Liam shook his head. “Too many scents here to tell. I’ll dust this one for prints too, see if he left any behind this time. The other note was clean. The cameras were a bust, he either evaded them, or had his head positioned perfectly not to be seen. The only thing we did get was that he is tall, probably about six foot. We’re trying to see if the footage is any better near the florist, but my hunch is that he’s too smart to let his face be caught on camera.

“Mac reached out and let me know about his case. I’ve heard about it. This guy’s been active for years, but he always metes it out far enough between that no one put the cases together. For some reason, maybe just because he thought he could, it ratcheted up this year. He’s already had four kills this year alone. He’s rumored to have hundreds under his belt. You need to stay alert and if you go out, keep Mac or D with you. Otherwise stick to your warded areas. I know Mac will catch him and I’ll help in any way. Call me or Gina if anything seems off, okay?”

Viv nodded. “Thanks, Liam.”

As she got off work, she called Thomas. “Hey, I was feeling like pizza tonight. Are you and D going to be home?”

“Yeah, and pizza sounds great. I’ll place the order so you can get home faster. When you get home you can tell me what happened. And don’t tell me nothing. I can hear it in your voice and pizza is one of your comfort foods.”

“Stupid best friend instincts,” Viv muttered under her breath.

“I heard that,” Thomas said.

“I know. Fine. I’ll tell you when I get home. Get the wine ready.”

“Where’s Mac then?” Thomas demanded. “That’s twice this psycho has targeted you because of him and he’s not even here.”

“That’s not fair, Thomas. He’s trying to hunt down leads. He’s working with Liam and Bert too. He comes home, it’s just at weird hours. Sometimes he comes to the library and sleeps in the shadows to stay near me when he can. It’s not his fault this guy is targeting me.”

“It’s because Mac is hunting him,” Thomas pointed out.

“Because he’s killing people. Do you want him to just be allowed to kill whoever he wants?” Viv asked, getting angry now.

Thomas just huffed. D was smartly staying out of it, washing dishes in the kitchen. By hand. One at a time.

“Did you blame D when we were kidnapped? When we were tortured and I was almost raped? Because of his work. Did you blame him? Huh?” Viv snapped, regretting the harsh words almost instantly, but she was tired of Thomas placing the blame on Mac. They had already been arguing about this for several minutes.

Thomas looked at her, his face stricken. He slowly shook his head.

“And neither did I. Mac and D help protect everyone. That’s their job. Even if Mac dropped the case and gave it to someone else, who’s to say that the guy would leave me alone? I could gain a stalker from someone coming into the library, who’s to say that a killer hasn’t come in before? Is it my fault then because I did my job? No. Just like it wasn’t D’s fault, and this isn’t Mac’s fault. It’s the assholes who cause the problems, it’s their fault,” Viv said, running out of steam.

She stood up, taking her wine glass into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, D. I was mad, but I never thought it was your fault,” she said softly, standing next to him.

“I know. Part of my job is being able to tell lies. We’re okay, I promise. I think maybe it might be how he needed to hear it. You and I know it’s not Mac’s fault, and I think Thomas does too, but Mac is an easier target to blame than some mystery person,” D said, wrapping her up in a hug. “Do you need me to call Mac?”

Viv shook her head. She knew he was on the other side of the country right now, looking through the physical evidence of some of the earlier cold cases left in this guy’s wake. “I’m okay. I’m just going to go to bed,” she said, hugging him back. “I love ya, big guy. You’re the best.”

Viv walked past Thomas, still mad at him but not wanting to argue anymore. “Love ya, T. Night.”