They arrived at the Jade building fifteen minutes later.
The reception area held Tony, four officers and a K-9 who was sniffing around the desk.
"Bomb sniffing dog," Matt murmured to Goliath. "Just in case."
Goliath let out a rumbled growl, odd sounding from his human throat.
Elisa laid a hand briefly on his arm. "They don't know you, Goliath, so stay close."
Goliath nodded, and walked silently behind his wife.
Elisa and Matt held their badges up to identify themselves to the officers.
"Mrs. Maza," Tony greeted.
"Tony," Elisa returned, before turning her attention to the officers. "What did you guys find?"
"Nothing, detective," the K-9 handler reported. "Whatever is in the box isn't explosive, so you're clear to take a look."
Elisa felt her shoulders sag in relief. She quickly extracted a pair of the clear latex gloves and put them on. "OK. Let's get it open."
Tony hurried to offer the letter opener again, and backed away to let the police officers do what needed to be done.
The tape was cut, and the box opened to reveal a similar teddy bear as before. It wasn't identical, but similar enough to make its point.
It had been ripped apart and shoved in the box, stuffing and limbs crowded together.
Elisa took a breath, and gently began removing the intact bits to put on the counter. Even through her gloves, she felt the stiff corners of the envelope though the stuffed animal fluff. Gently, she lifted it out.
It was just a plain, letter-sized envelope this time. Her name was written across the front in big bold letters, the depressions from the letters were so deep that she could feel them as she inspected them. Turning it over, she opened the envelope to discover that it wasn't a card this time, but folded papers.
She opened them and forced herself to read it.
It was two words, written across the page in broad strokes of a red marker.
"Cheating whore."
Elisa handed the paper to Matt with a grimace. "Yeah," Elisa said, huskily. "I'm thinking that it just got a whole lot worse."
Matt's head jerked in a wince as he read the boldly printed words, folding them back up to hide it from Goliath. Human or Gargoyle, Goliath was not going to ignore the threat to Elisa. His willingness to be here, in a human form was evidence of that.
He feared Goliath's reaction to this one.
Matt hurried to slip the paper in an evidence bag and seal it.
"He's definitely mad," Matt said.
"Whatever timeline we thought we had," Elisa said, "Just got drastically shortened."
Matt nodded. "Let's take this back to the station and regroup."
"Thanks guys," Elisa waved at the other officers. "We've got it from here."
The officers left, knowing that there wasn't anything else that they could do.
"Thanks, Tony," Elisa said. "I appreciate you keeping an eye out."
Tony shrugged. "It's not a problem, Mrs. Maza. Glad to help. Let me know if there's anything else I can do."
"I will," She promised.
Tony returned to his post at the desk, and Matt made short work of putting the pieces of bear back in the box for transport to the station.
Elisa's phone rang then. She walked to the other side of the lobby and answered it with a brisk, "Maza."
"Please tell me that you're still at your building," Captain Chavez's voice rang through the phone.
"Yeah," Elisa said, matching Maria's tone. "We're still here."
"Who is 'we'?" Maria demanded.
"Matt, Goliath and I," Elisa said slowly. Maria was really agitated right now, and Elisa needed to find out why.
"You and Goliath stay there," Maria said firmly. "Send Matt back to the station, but you are off the clock. Go up to your place, lock yourself in and stay there for now. I'll call you back as soon as I can."
"Alright," Elisa said, but it was a response to dead air. Maria had already hung up.
Elisa frowned at the phone, before replacing it in her pocket.
"Matt," Elisa called out. "Problem."
Matt approached her with the box of dismembered bear bits in his hands. "What's going on?"
"I don't know," Elisa said, shaking her head. "But I have just been ordered to stay here and not come back to the station. Something's going on, but Captain Chavez didn't tell me what."
"I need to take this back to the station," Matt said grimly. "I'll call you as soon as I get back there and let you know what's going on."
Elisa nodded her gratitude. "Thanks."
Matt turned and made his way to the doors.
Elisa turned to Goliath, "Looks like we're done for the day," She said.
Goliath wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Let us go home," He said, turning her toward the elevators.
-{- -{- -{- -{- -{- -{-
Once they reached the condo, Elisa had a sudden bust or nervous energy.
"I'm hungry," She said in a rush. "Want something to eat?"
"Elisa," Goliath said softly.
Elisa didn't respond. "I think I have some leftover pasta from last night," Elisa said, hurrying in the kitchen.
Goliath followed her, concern for his mate driving him. "Elisa," He said, a little louder.
Elisa, normally a tidy person, was currently shoving items around in her fridge. She retrieved a large Tupperware container of pasta sauce, complete with her homemade meatballs, and a similar one with the leftover Rigatoni noodles.
"Elisa," Goliath said once more, firmly.
Elisa put the containers on the counter with a solid thud. She started to speak, but wouldn't look up.
"Goliath," She said softly, so much so that he almost didn't hear her. "I'm so sorry."
He frowned and moved closer to her side. "What have you to be sorry for?"
Elisa gave a watery laugh. "I've been trying to figure it out, but…" She gave an angry swipe across her eyes, "I just can't figure out what I did. I mean, seriously, did I do anything to give this psycho any ideas that I was interested? Did I do anything to encourage it?"
Goliath rushed forward and wrapped his arms around her, wishing that he had his wings to give them an extra payer of protection between them and the world. "Elisa," He said softly, "MY Elisa," He said again, raising her chin up with a finger, "You have done nothing wrong, of that I am sure."
"But what if…" Elisa started, but Goliath interrupted her.
"It is not like you to deal in the 'What if's," He pointed out.
Elisa took a shaky breath. "Gods," She said on the exhale. "I wouldn't give up you or Liam for anything, but with the two of you…If something happened because of someone I met on the job…"
"We will protect each other," Goliath said firmly. "And together, we protect our family. It is not your job, alone, my love."
Elisa threw her arms around his waist. "Sorry, Big Guy," She said with a sigh. "I guess I just needed a minute. I haven't really had time to process all of this."
Goliath held her close, staying silent and offering what comfort he could. He knew that she needed to think, but the speed at which this had all happened had rocked her from her foundation. She was a good cop, and fast thinking on her feet when needed, but this situation threatened more than just her. It was her family in danger.
Instinctively, he swung her up into his arms and carried her up to their bedroom. Carefully, he laid her on the bed, then laid beside her. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder, and she was tucked neatly against his side.
"Hey, Goliath," Elisa's voice sounded… odd.
"Yes?" He responded, cautiously.
She placed a hand against his sweater-clad vest. "I'm just curious… How long did you say you had this spell?"
