Chapter 21

AJ sat there thinking back on everything she had said to him or talked with Adele and Francesca about while he had been in the coma. He could confirm that people in that state could hear and understand what was being said around them, or at least he had been able to. He remembered every word and wondered if Sarah did as well. After creating a free email account on hotmail so she would have no way of knowing who it was from, AJ composed the carefully worded email and sent it to her office address.

He knew she always checked her mail first thing in the morning and could almost picture the puzzled, yet intrigued, look he was sure this would cause. Hitting the 'send' button, he did a search for the next item on his mental list of ways to show Sarah Mackenzie just how special she was to him. This gift would be delivered to the office just after lunch by special messenger.

The weather of the day seemed to reflect Mac's mood perfectly. It was dark, gloomy, and pouring down rain. She stopped in her office just long enough to deposit her briefcase and hang up her rain coat before heading to the break room to make coffee. She tried not to think of AJ as she did so, but just the act of trying brought him to mind. Sighing, she returned to her office sipping from her mug as she walked.

Flicking on her computer and waiting for it to boot up, she mentally reviewed her caseload. Clicking into the email program, she found three new messages. Two were about a current case and she jotted down notes from them. The third however, was a mystery. She didn't recognize the sender and the subject line read: A Very Special Lady.

The message itself said: You are a very special and wonderful lady. Your intelligence is only one of the many amazing qualities I admire about you. Because of that, I am sure that in time you will figure out who I am, but until such a time comes to pass, I am going to do my utmost to make you see yourself as I see you. Please know that I am serious and that this is not a joke. And it was signed, Your Secret Admirer.

Mac read the message three times then the senders address again, but that didn't give her any more clue to who it was from than the ambiguously signed message did! No matter what the last line said, she felt this had to be a joke and a very juvenile one at that! Who played Secret Admirer games in this day and age? She could only think of two men that might pull something like this, Mic, whom she hadn't heard from in years, and her old buddy Harm.

She did manage to get some work done as she waited for Harm to arrive for work that day. As if just to make her mad, it was one of the days when he was running late. In the time it took him to cross the bullpen from the elevator she was up, around her desk, and waiting at the door to his office with a print out of the email in her hand. She let him enter the office, staying away from his dripping wet form. Entering behind him she closed the door firmly.

Harm gave her an odd look as he put down his briefcase and took off his soggy coat. He'd seen that look on her face enough to know she was hopping mad about something. Since she was in his office, he figured it had something to do with him, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of anything he'd done to make her this mad.

Before he could even attempt to discover what was bothering her, Mac started waving the piece of paper in her hand in front of his face. She demanded, "Just what kind of joke are you trying to pull here Harm?!"

"Mac, I don't have any idea what you're talking about!"

"Don't deny it! You sent me this stupid email and I want to know what you hope to gain by it!"

"Mac, I really don't know what you're going on about! I haven't sent you an email in over a month. Why would I when I see you every day!?"

To be continued….