"Alright," Captain Chavez said, opening the bag with her own gloved hands. "Let's take a look at this."
Carefully, she pried the glued flap of the envelope open.
The card, another generic drug store card, had a watercolor picture of a flower filled meadow with a giant gaudy butterfly on it. The inside didn't have any of the usual computer generated wording. This one was filled with a rambling rant about Elisa's "boyfriend" and how he had the nerve to "manhandle" her like that. Again, making references on how much better he would treat her.
"Manhandle me?" Elisa repeated angrily. "I don't know what the hell this guy is talking about. Between the last delivery and this one, the only guy I've been around has been...Matt."
Elisa swung around to look at Matt. "Where all have we been tonight?"
Matt grabbed a notebook out of his shirt pocket and began writing down the locations. "Going backwards, we have been to Central Park, that Florist shop on 106th, then we were at Manhattan General, talking to those accident victims. There was vandalism at the YMCA, and the massive hit and run with major damage which was the first one we responded to."
"So," Maria said thoughtfully, "Not really narrowing things down."
"Unfortunately not," Matt said.
"Do any of those places coincide with anything you came up with retracing your steps over the last week?" Maria asked.
"The hospital, YMCA, Central Park," Elisa said. "I took Liam out to play in Central Park on my day off, I met with Jason at the hospital for lunch, and then we went to the Y to play basketball with a group of kids."
"So, it could still be anyone." Matt concluded.
"There is still no overt threats happening here," Maria pointed out. "So we need to be smart, but we still don't have anything concrete to actually make a case for."
"I know," Elisa said. "He's smart."
"He's also sounding like he's unraveling a little," Maria pointed out. "When you're here, you have Matt and the protection of the other officers. What are your plans for before work, after work and daytimes?"
"We haven't gotten that far yet," Elisa admitted. "I was still hoping that this would disappear on its own, so the topic hadn't even come up until tonight."
"Well, now's the time to start making plans," Maria said. "You two are desk bound for the rest of the night until you come up with something we can do."
"On it," Matt assured the Captain.
Matt and Elisa were putting their heads together when Hawkins came over and pulled up a chair. He didn't speak right away, but nodded or shook his head with the ideas they were coming up with. One by one, officers of every age, every gender started gathering around the desks to find out what was going on or add their two cents.
"Why do I feel like I'm going to be basically on house arrest?" Elisa complained.
"Get used to it," Hawkins said. "At least until we find this ass."
"So, I go nowhere during the day," Elisa agreed. "That's not hard, since I have to sleep and I have Skyler to go out if I need anything."
"To and from work we can handle," Matt said. "I can meet you in your lobby, and ride to and from with you."
"That's ridiculous," Elisa said. "It's a good 45 minute drive for you. In traffic. In the opposite direction of work."
"Then we'll have someone in an unmarked follow you to and from," Hawkins said.
Elisa watched as everyone around the room were nodding in agreement.
Elisa rubbed both hands over her face in agitation, knowing that this was how things were going to go until the suspect was caught. "Alright, I'll call the station if I need an escort."
"Fair enough," Hawkins nodded. "And we'll all pass the word along between us all, so we're prepared if you do call."
"Thanks guys," Elisa said.
"Is your husband out of town on business again? What does he think of all this?" Hawkins asked.
"He's not pleased," Elisa admitted. "Especially when we were tossing the idea of having another officer pose as my boyfriend." Elisa caught Matt's look, "Okay, okay. We were both uncomfortable with that one."
"It might come down to that," Matt pointed out.
"I know," Elisa said. "But I'm going to hold off on that for as long as possible." Elisa looked pointedly at her watch. "Speaking of my husband, I guess I'd better give him a call, and let him know what's happened tonight."
Elisa got up and further into the building as if she was looking for some privacy to make a phone call. It was still two hours before sunrise, so Elisa was taking a chance, and walked upstairs, and into what remained of the original station house. The stone steps were still there, behind a long neglected wooden door, but where it had once led up into the clock tower it now was just an access door to the now bare flat roof.
Elisa took a chance, and went up there now. She pushed the door open, and shut it quietly behind her. Turning, she only saw the massive dark forms of the air conditioning and heating units, but that didn't mean that she was alone there.
"Hey, guys?" Elisa called. Three shadows peeled off from the dark and took familiar shapes.
"Hey Elisa," Broadway said.
"We saw the flowers get delivered." Angela admitted.
"Yes," Goliath said softly. "It does not seem to have stopped."
"No," Elisa admitted, and told them of the newest card.
"So you may have seen this guy again tonight?" Broadway asked.
"That's the theory that we're working on," Elisa said. "But I've been to some very public places tonight. We can't narrow things down from there. Evidently," Elisa added, "Whoever this is thinks that Matt is the guy I'm 'dating'."
Goliath growled.
"I know, Goliath. This has gotten out of hand," Elisa said softly.
"What are you going to do, Elisa?" Angela asked anxiously.
"We are going to try to get an undercover guy to come in, and make some appearances, and hopefully it will either flush this guy out or it'll stop."
"Who?" Goliath asked roughly.
"I don't know yet," Elisa admitted. "But we need to get the focus off of Matt, so he can still do his job and help keep an eye out. If Matt is not considered a threat to whoever is doing this, then he's back under the radar. In the meantime, we have a plan for the times you guys can't be there."
Elisa gave them a rundown of the plans to get to and from work.
"On the clock I will always have someone with me." She concluded.
"I do not like this," Goliath growled.
"I don't either," Elisa said. "I am not comfortable pretending to care for someone else, but it's the best we can think of right now."
The three Gargoyles nodded slowly.
"Daylight is coming guys," Elisa pointed out. "You'd better get back."
After they took to the air, Elisa stayed on the roof for a few extra minutes. She'd been undercover many times. She had to shove the discomfort away, and think of this as a job.
It was just the job.
-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-
Once home for the day, she called the castle and spoke to Fox.
"Wow," she said slowly. "You really attract some interesting situations."
"Tell me about it," Elisa said with a sigh. "I hate to ask, but…"
"You want Skyler and Liam to stay at the castle," Fox said.
"You know," Elisa said with a frown, "It's creepy how you do that sometimes."
"I had my share of stalker fans when we were doing the Pack show," Fox admitted. "It was different then, when it was just me. If that had happened now, with my husband and kids, the first thing I'd do is get them to safety before hunting the guy down and kicking some ass." She said it so fiercely that Elisa had no doubts. "So, yes, they are more than welcome to stay here for as long as needed."
"Thank you," Elisa said.
"I will send Owen with a car to pick them up." Fox said. "Just let me know when they're ready."
An hour later, both Skyler and Liam were packed up with everything they could possibly need.
Elisa sat on the sofa playing with Liam, marveling at his collection of toy cars that he insisted on dragging out of the toy box in the corner to show her, as if she hadn't seen them a hundred times. He had a fascination with cars, and Elisa had the feeling that he was going to work with NASCAR in the future.
The buzzer sounded from the desk up front. Elisa moved to the panel and answered.
"Mrs. Maza," came the no nonsense voice of Monroe, another security officer from downstairs. "Your driver is here, and you have a package downstairs."
"Thanks Monroe," Elisa responded.
"Okay buddy," Elisa said, picking up the small boy from the massive pile of toys. "Time to go."
He whimpered, throwing his arms around her neck.
Elisa rubbed a hand in circles on his back. "Hey," she said softly. "I'll be there to see you soon," she promised. "But for today, you get to go hang out with Alexander and Christopher. I think they might have a new racing game for you to play."
"'Kay," he said.
She held him on the ride downstairs, but transferred him to Skyler before the doors opened. It was for his protection, just in case the stalker was watching in the lobby. He didn't mention her son, so it was possible that he didn't know about Liam.
She wanted to keep it that way as long as she could.
Ironically, if this guy ever actually investigated her, he would have found multiple news articles about her and Liam from when she'd found him and then adopted him.
Luckily, it seemed that he hadn't gotten that far.
Yet.
She had given Skyler instructions to take Liam quickly to the car, and act as if she didn't know Elisa. If anyone were watching, Elisa was hoping that it would look as if they were strangers, sharing the elevator by chance, not design.
As planned, Skyler hustled through the lobby, talking only to Liam to keep him occupied, and didn't acknowledge Elisa.
It broke her heart, watching her son taken away, even knowing that this was the best option.
Elisa turned from them and walked to the security desk.
"Hey," Elisa greeted the older man. He was big, broad shouldered and even with his salt and pepper hair, he looked like a retired wrestler. He was a nice guy, Elisa knew. A retired officer, after spending 15 years on the force himself, he was a complete family man, having a house full of kids and his wife was the love of his life.
"Hey," Monroe greeted with a concerned look. "I got the rundown from the notes in the log, but are you ok?"
"It's just another day in my crazy life," Elisa said.
"Are you expecting any deliveries?" He asked.
"No," Elisa said.
"Want me to open this here?" Monroe offered, bringing up a medium sized box. "No return address, so it seemed a little sketchy to me."
"Thanks," Elisa said. "I'll take you up on that."
Monroe produced a long, lethal looking silver letter opener. He slit the packing tape and eased the flap open.
"Elisa," he said slowly. "Are you sure you didn't order this?"
Elisa frowned and peeked inside.
Inside was a brown teddy bear with a big blue now around its neck and a card.
Elisa drew back. "No. Do you have any gloves on you?"
"I'll grab some from the maintenance guys." He said quickly, using a big black walkie talkie to call them. One of the efficient workers appeared in less than two minutes, a pair of blue disposable gloves in hand.
Elisa put them on, removed the teddy bear and set it on the counter. It was a good sized bear, overstuffed so that it sat on the counter, not like the softer cuddly kind that most kids prefer. Gingerly, handling it by only the corners to preserve any prints, Elisa withdrew the card from where it had laid hidden by the bear.
Unlike the others, this one had a very childlike design on the front with teddy bears at a picnic. Uneasily, Elisa opened it.
'I just heard about your son,' it read. 'I knew after watching you with the other kids, that you would be an amazing mother. I will be a great dad, and I hope to meet him soon. Congratulations. J.'
Elisa fought the urge to tear it up, opting instead to drop it back in the box. She shoved the bear back in the box and slammed the flaps shut.
So he knew.
Elisa let out a deep breath. She'd gotten Liam out just in time.
