Walking over to the water fountain for a cooling drink, she tried to be calm. She realized that it might have been Burt, but it was hard to be sure. There were other men in the office whom she had rebuffed and snubbed and his rage could have found an outlet in this sort of twisted and perverted joke. She pinched her arms to keep from shaking.

She looked at the note again when she sat back down at her desk. It had been typed on plain white paper, so there was nothing that gave it away. Moreover, it had contained some threat, some promise whose full horror had not, been revealed yet. She had wait, in this agony of suspense, to find out exactly what this terrible person wanted to do to her.

She was afraid to tell Blair, for she knew him to be very fond of his wife. He might cheat on her behind her back, but her would never, never leave her, nor their two kids, to whom he was very devoted. No, Valerie knew that if this thing ever leaked out, it would cost her this job. Blair would be very sorry, she knew, but his wife's wishes would come first. She could only wait until the vile person revealed himself and his vile plans.

Then, a new thought struck her. Perhaps it wasn't a man at all! Perhaps the foul thing was by the hand of some woman! Valerie knew that there were many women in the office who had crushes on Blair Eldridge, women who had been there longer than she had and who might resent the fact that she, so young and new, had snapped up this prize right from under their greedy faces.

It could have been Suzanna, the very fiery-tempered woman whose sharp, stinging had tired to insult Valerie many times. Or it could have been Jane, who seemed so quiet on the surface, but who was really a vixen underneath her cool exterior.

All of this awful speculation had made Valerie's head throb and pound all over again and she wished she could sneak out for another drink. Instead, she fumbled through her purse, in search of aspirin.