A little after 11 p.m., Matt and Elisa finally got back to the station. From the moment they'd gotten to work, it had been a steady night, not leaving Elisa much time between calls to even think about the cards still riding around in her pocket.

It couldn't last, however.

Just before the end of shift, there was another delivery.

This floral arrangement was bigger than the one before, a mixture of wildflowers that almost completely hid the delivery girl who was struggling to carry it.

Elisa watched, resigned, as the arrangement hit the desk with a solid thudding sound.

Without a word, she nodded a thanks to the delivery girl and took the envelope from the holder.

Comically, Matt peeked around one side of the arrangement and Travis on the other.

Elisa glared at them, daring them to say anything.

The envelope was bright red, and larger than the floral cards. This one looked like it might have been store bought.

Elisa pried the flap open, and withdrew the card.

Frowning, she examined it. The front was a typical drug store card, decorated with hearts and flowers. The front simply said, "For Someone Special" in a fancy printed calligraphy script across the front. On the inside was a poem, the kind of sickly sweet pre-made dribble that you'd find in a dozen other cards in just as many different stores.

It was the handwritten message that gave her the chills.

'I know that you have been seeing someone. He doesn't deserve you. I will treat you better than they ever could.'

The handwriting was bold, the letters bigger and the pen had been pressed into the card stock hard enough to leave actual indentations of the letters on the back. Despite the cheerfulness of the card, the message was one written in anger.

Once again, it was signed with a J.

Matt was watching her face. "I'm going to make a guess and say that this is not a good thing."

"No, it's not," Elisa said, and handed him the card.

Matt read it over and frowned. "It sounds like they think you're dating someone."

"So they don't know you're married," Travis said. "If it escalated to this, when they think you're only dating someone, what happens when they find out that you're married?"

"That's the question, isn't it?" Elisa asked.

"Have you received more that this?" Matt asked.

"You guys saw the first delivery," Elisa said, her voice calm. "After that, they started showing up at my building. Including this one, there have been eight total."

"All with cards?" Travis asked.

"Yes, but this is the first store bought one." Elisa pulled out the small stack of cards and envelopes from the various florists. "The rest were those small ones that you get for free at florists."

"Have you reported this?" Matt asked.

Elisa shook her head. "I was so sure it was Jason that I didn't bother. I spoke to him today, and he knew nothing about it."

"You're sure it's not him?" Travis asked.

"I'm sure," Elisa said firmly.

"Okay, then," Matt said, handing her back the cards. "How do you want to handle this?"

"I guess I take it to Captain Chavez," Elisa said. "If it were just at my building, that's one thing, but whoever is doing this knows where I work, and I do not need this to carry over here."

"Better here than at your home," Matt pointed out.

"That's another thing," Elisa said. "Whoever is doing this knows my name, and my building address, but not my Condo designation. The deliveries are only addressed to the building itself."

"Someone could have followed you home," Travis said. "Gotten the street address that way."

"That's probably it," Elisa said, spreading the cards out. "But the cards all say things about seeing me. I need to make a timeline of where all I've been and start there."

"Let's do it," Matt said, rolling his desk chair to the side of her desk. "Have a seat, and let's go over it all."

Travis came up to the other side of the desk, and the three of them put their heads together.

Elisa mentally went over the past week, starting five days before the first delivery.

"You know," Matt said slowly, "I never really thought about how the fact that you're pretty much a homebody when you're not at work. This is going to help narrow things down a lot."

Elisa rolled her eyes. "Glad to know that my being a social recluse is going to make your job easier."

"Seriously," Travis frowned at her. "Don't you ever go out for fun?"

Elisa sent him a look that had him snapping his mouth shut. He mimed locking his lips and throwing the key away.

"So," Matt said. "With this information, still want to take it to the captain?"

"Not officially," Elisa said. "But I'm going to let her in on what's going on." She got to her feet, and picked up the obscenely large floral piece. "I'll take her these to butter her up."

"Yeah," Matt chuckled. "Good luck with that."

Matt frowned at Elisa's retreating back. He was going with his gut on this one.

He hurried to open his email once more, then hurried to type out a reply.

To: jmcwheels

From: mbluestone

RE: RE: A mutual friend

Mr Canmore,

Thank you for contacting me regarding our mutual friend. Detective Maza has just apprised me of the situation, and we will be taking every precaution.

As a civilian, I am unable to share information with you that pertains to an open investigation. However if you come across any information that could potentially assist us in this situation, please do not hesitate to reach out to me again.

Thank you,

Matthew Bluestone

NYPD 23rd Precinct

Matt shot off the reply before Elisa could return.

Was it sneaky? Yes.

Did he feel dirty? A little.

But it was for the welfare of his partner. His friend.

-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-

"This started two days ago?" Maria Chavez, police chief and the Maza children's godmother, gazed across her desk at Elisa.

"I think it's technically three days, now," Elisa said looking at the clock.

It was after midnight.

"And you didn't tell someone right away, because…"

"I thought I knew who it was, and could handle it myself," Elisa said. "Turns out, it's not who I thought it was."

Maria leaned back in her desk, and looked the cards over once more. "We can try to get prints off of here, but we'd have to get comparison prints from anyone who has handled these."

"Including the flower shop employees," Elisa nodded. "But the floral shops are also open to the public, so who knows who all has touched these."

"Exactly," Maria said. "I assume that you have already been trying to retrace your steps?"

"Matt and Travis has already helped me run through that," Elisa said.

"So far," Maria said, sadly, "Sending flowers isn't a crime. This one," Maria held up the most recent card, "Could be taken as a threat, but it's so subtle that I doubt we could get a judge to sign off on any warrants."

Elisa nodded. "I agree. I just wanted to let you know what's going on."

"Thanks for letting me in the loop on this one," Maria said. "Let me know if this escalates any further."

"I'm going to start handling things different from here on as well," Elisa said. "Gloves, bags and all that."

Maria nodded. "You call me if you get any more of these," she said firmly. "Even if the cards aren't overtly threatening."

"You'll be the first to hear about it," Elisa promised.

"And make sure that you tell the husband of yours," Maria said.

"He's next on my list," Elisa promised.

"If you have the time, I'd advise talking to him now," Maria said. "He shouldn't be kept out of this any longer, just in case."

"I'm heading that way now." Elisa told her as she shut the office door behind her. She walked over to the guys. "Matt, let's go," she said, grabbing her coat off the back of her chair.

"Uh," He hurried to his feet, "Sure."