The Rented Husband (Southern Nights Series)

Chapter 2

**Edited by Adelina Clonts aka Seawriter****

“The Rented Husband”

2011 © All Rights Reserved

Chapter 2

            Olivia had been working nonstop all morning since Marcey had left her office.  She surfaced through a total of five files, contacted two important witnesses for interviewing and even managed setting up a hair appointment for the next day’s afternoon.  She had been busy to say the least.

            Olivia was rubbing at her temples in an effort to ward off an impending headache, when the sound of her cell phone started to go off in her purse.  Frowning, she looked down at the drawer and wondered who would be calling so late in the day.  Everyone knew to call her office just in case she was held up in court.

            Opening the drawer she carefully reached into her purse and pulled out the ringing phone.  Looking down at the number, her glowering demeanor deepened.  It was an unknown number.  Since she was physically in her office, she figured, ‘what the hell, It was probably a wrong number.’  Effortlessly, she answered the phone.

            “Hello?”

        She was greeted with a gasping silence.

                  “Hello?” she repeated, expressing a little irritation in her tone.

            Heavy breathing ensued on the other end.  Olivia was getting ready to hang up, assuming it was some jacked off kids playing around making prank calls, when a scratchy voice spoke.

            “Olivia, your time is running out” the voice said, and then the call was disconnected.  She was left lingering with nothing but a chilling silence.  Pulling the phone from her ear, she stared at it momentarily not able to fully comprehend what had just happened. 

            “What the hell was that supposed to mean?” she muttered to herself.  ‘My time is running out, running out for what?’ she wondered.  Whoever it was knew her name and that tidbit of information didn’t sit well with her either.  

            Sitting there at her desk, still slightly shaken, Olivia was startled when her office phone rang.  She stared at it dumbly at first, before shaking off the last bit of jitters and chiding herself for being so silly.  It had to have been some dumb prank, nothing more.  Probably one of her brother’s old college buddies again trying to tease her or something, anything to get Cane’s baby sister riled up. Exhaling slowly to regain composure, she reached for the receiver on her desk phone and brought it to her ear.

            “Olivia Murray,” she quipped.

            “Liv, how’s it going?” her always overly chipper sister blurted out.

            “Fine, Ashley.  How are you?” she answered back.  Ashley, thirty five years old, was the second oldest of the Murray siblings and was the first of them to get married.  She was head over heels in love with a very handsome Seth Wells, a former navy seal, now security expert.  No need to point out how happy their dad was with this particular match up, considering his navy seal background.  

            “I’m fine, thanks for asking,” she replied as she intently listened to the sound of children’s laughter in the background.  Ashley and Seth had a set of three year old twin girls and they were Olivia’s little bundles of sunshine.  She loved her nieces more than anything in the world.