either of us knows. The son of a bitch took my checkbook, my mail, He knows where my parents live, for God’s sakes. Maybe they got a copy just today.”
“Jake,” she said in weak protest, and then had no choice but to walk to the couch and sink down, her legs felt so useless. “Don’t say that. I haven’t even met them yet. Oh God, what if you’re right? That would be the worst thing on earth.”
“No,” he disagreed and came over to sit next to her. His arms slid around her shoulders and his mouth comfortingly pressed her temple. “It would be embarrassing, but not the worst thing. The worst thing would be to let him win this…this thing, whatever it is, whatever his sick agenda. Come on, let’s call the police.”
How could she?
How couldn’t she?
Jana said dully, “All right.”
* * * *
Watcher
85
He hoped he’d done the right thing, hoped they knew what they were doing.
God, he certainly prayed that was true.
The detective took a mercifully brief glance at the beginning of the DVD, and with two uniformed officers went upstairs. They didn’t find the camera, but did find traces of adhesive on the back of the headboard of the bed itself, as if something had been taped there recently and removed.
Detective Larkin, young, blond, diffident, was the same one who had come to his apartment after the break in, and he seemed both sympathetic and grimly concerned. “I’m not surprised the camera is gone. Why lose a valuable piece of electronics? He must have known you’d search for it the minute you knew you’d been taped.”
Jana still sat on the couch in the elegant living room, looking shell-shocked but slightly more composed. “How did he get in?
I’m diligent about using the alarm system. If anyone opens a window or door, it’s supposed to go off plus directly contact the police department.”
“I’d say you need to have someone out to check it and make sure it’s all in working order. In my experience, these systems are a deterrent, but a really determined intruder can sometimes get around them. Especially if he knows what he’s doing.” Larkin paused for a moment and then said unemotionally, “He wants you to know he’s out there, that’s clear enough. He wants you to know he was in your house, that he knows where you work, and even what you do in the privacy of your bedroom, Dr. Johnson. Stalkers usually are pretty possessive of their victims and it looks like maybe when you started seeing Mr. Quinn, it set him off. What he told you on the phone, plus what he typed on the computer, indicates that his interest in you makes him resentful that you are having a sexual relationship with someone else.”
86
Kate Watterson
“I kind of got that impression myself,” Jake said dryly. “The question is, what’s he going to do next?”
Larkin shrugged. “Who knows, that’s the problem. Guys like this don’t think like we do. The only thing I can come up to do right now is to tell all your neighbors to be aware of any strangers and to have a police officer cruise by now and then. It might scare him off.”
“Surely he expects something like that,” Jake muttered. “Isn’t there a list of registered sex offenders now? Can you check the ones nearby and see if any of them are in some line of work that includes electronics? I mean the camera had to be small for us not to see it, and he has gotten past her house and car alarm.”
“I can take a look,” Larkin said as he glanced at his watch.
There was a weary set to his mouth. “I’ll call you tomorrow if I find anything interesting.”
After they left, Jana still sat there, and Jake sat back down next to her and tentatively took her hand. Her fingers felt delicate and fragile in his grasp. “Maybe we should go to a motel until the alarm system can be checked tomorrow.”
“What if he follows us?”
Being male, he had only an inkling of what she was feeling. He was more pissed off than anything, but he could feel
“Jake,” she said in weak protest, and then had no choice but to walk to the couch and sink down, her legs felt so useless. “Don’t say that. I haven’t even met them yet. Oh God, what if you’re right? That would be the worst thing on earth.”
“No,” he disagreed and came over to sit next to her. His arms slid around her shoulders and his mouth comfortingly pressed her temple. “It would be embarrassing, but not the worst thing. The worst thing would be to let him win this…this thing, whatever it is, whatever his sick agenda. Come on, let’s call the police.”
How could she?
How couldn’t she?
Jana said dully, “All right.”
* * * *
Watcher
85
He hoped he’d done the right thing, hoped they knew what they were doing.
God, he certainly prayed that was true.
The detective took a mercifully brief glance at the beginning of the DVD, and with two uniformed officers went upstairs. They didn’t find the camera, but did find traces of adhesive on the back of the headboard of the bed itself, as if something had been taped there recently and removed.
Detective Larkin, young, blond, diffident, was the same one who had come to his apartment after the break in, and he seemed both sympathetic and grimly concerned. “I’m not surprised the camera is gone. Why lose a valuable piece of electronics? He must have known you’d search for it the minute you knew you’d been taped.”
Jana still sat on the couch in the elegant living room, looking shell-shocked but slightly more composed. “How did he get in?
I’m diligent about using the alarm system. If anyone opens a window or door, it’s supposed to go off plus directly contact the police department.”
“I’d say you need to have someone out to check it and make sure it’s all in working order. In my experience, these systems are a deterrent, but a really determined intruder can sometimes get around them. Especially if he knows what he’s doing.” Larkin paused for a moment and then said unemotionally, “He wants you to know he’s out there, that’s clear enough. He wants you to know he was in your house, that he knows where you work, and even what you do in the privacy of your bedroom, Dr. Johnson. Stalkers usually are pretty possessive of their victims and it looks like maybe when you started seeing Mr. Quinn, it set him off. What he told you on the phone, plus what he typed on the computer, indicates that his interest in you makes him resentful that you are having a sexual relationship with someone else.”
86
Kate Watterson
“I kind of got that impression myself,” Jake said dryly. “The question is, what’s he going to do next?”
Larkin shrugged. “Who knows, that’s the problem. Guys like this don’t think like we do. The only thing I can come up to do right now is to tell all your neighbors to be aware of any strangers and to have a police officer cruise by now and then. It might scare him off.”
“Surely he expects something like that,” Jake muttered. “Isn’t there a list of registered sex offenders now? Can you check the ones nearby and see if any of them are in some line of work that includes electronics? I mean the camera had to be small for us not to see it, and he has gotten past her house and car alarm.”
“I can take a look,” Larkin said as he glanced at his watch.
There was a weary set to his mouth. “I’ll call you tomorrow if I find anything interesting.”
After they left, Jana still sat there, and Jake sat back down next to her and tentatively took her hand. Her fingers felt delicate and fragile in his grasp. “Maybe we should go to a motel until the alarm system can be checked tomorrow.”
“What if he follows us?”
Being male, he had only an inkling of what she was feeling. He was more pissed off than anything, but he could feel
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