Chapter 5
It was a daunting moment for Kai to stare down at the blank page and to realize, in the last six months, she had no idea who she’d come in contact with who could be doing this.
“It could be as nebulous as the bank teller or as close as a business connection,” Ice said.
“Or a past friend who may have contacted you,” Tyson added. “Or somebody from the military who liked you a little too much. He could be out now. Decided to come back and see if you’re interested.”
“It can also be somebody who you don’t know,” Ice said gently. “It could be somebody who just, in their mind, said you’re perfect. And he’ll make this happen one way or another.”
“From my research I learned stalkers can have a very strange mind-set,” Tyson said. “We have to assume he’s mentally unstable.”
Ice took a deep breath and nodded. “You know who you need to put down here, Kai. Start with everybody you work with. If you know the neighbor across the way in your apartment building. If you know the doorman. If you know your bank teller by name. Anybody like that.”
Kai reached for her phone and looked through her Contacts.
Levi said, “Don’t worry about those. Everybody on that list we’ll take a good look at.”
She raised her gaze and studied him. “Really?”
His voice was hard when he said, “Really.”
She shook her head and said, “Well, I don’t have anybody else to add to this then. The men here in my Contacts will all be business acquaintances or friends. If they aren’t listed here, I don’t have contact with them.”
“Then tell us who or what they are, what their relationship is to you.”
“That I can do.”
The waitress brought menus while they continued to work. Kai ordered the Caesar salad and didn’t hear the rest the conversation as she tried to make sense of the long list.
She stared at one name in particular. Rob Goring. “I have no idea who this is.” She glanced from one to the other. “I know a lot of people are on this list, but this one doesn’t ring a bell. Neither does Ben Jones or Thomas Getty.”
“Well, put them down with an asterisk beside their names. We’ll start with them,” Levi said.
She stared at him in surprise. “Why?”
“He had your phone long enough to put a tracker in it. It would take about ten seconds to put his name or a half-dozen names into the Contact list.”
“Sure, but why bother?”
“To make it look like you were friends already, from a cop’s point of view or a boyfriend’s too. Or to make it look like you had a lot of men in your Contacts list. And, before you ask why again, just think of all the ugly reasons he’d do that. Including making it look like you deserve whatever is coming to you. There is logic in his actions. Just because we don’t know what it is, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”
Her stomach got a sickly sense; her skin crawled at the back of her neck. She stared down at her phone and said, “I don’t think I can eat lunch now.”
“It’s more important than ever.”
She gazed at Tyson in anger. “I don’t like where you’re going with that.”
“You’ve got training. You know how bad things can get.”
Her breath gusted out along with some hard memories from her training and the years she’d spent in the military. His words were damn true. But leaving that world behind had been a whole lot easier than she had thought. She’d expected to feel strange and uncomfortable, but she’d thrown off that life with joy. The old Kai didn’t fit the new Kai. Trying to crawl back into that skin didn’t work easily.
“You’re also never to be alone anymore.”
“I don’t trust anybody, other than you guys. But I can’t impose on you for help.”
“Stop,” Ice said. “This isn’t a job. You’re our friend.”
“It’s not that easy. You guys will put a ton of man-hours into this in the end. Who’ll reimburse you for all that?” she asked. Inside she was horrified—and her heart warmed—at their offer of help.
“I’d tell you how we take on pro bono cases all the time,” Levi said, “but I know that would piss you off. On the other hand, I want you pissed off. I want you angry. I want you to look at this guy and see him for what he is. He’s a creep, trying to ruin your life. Yet, you need to stay calm. You need to be in control. And you need to make sure that fear never, ever is in the front-row seat again.”
Getting her head wrapped around this wasn’t easy. Suddenly her neighbor’s face popped up. “Steve Rossi. He has the apartment across from me. Henry…” She thought about it for a moment longer. “Henry Springer?” She frowned. “He was a supply clerk. He was always just kind of”—she looked over at Ice and shrugged—“creepy.”
“Good. Keep going.”
Accepting what she needed to do, she managed to add another half-dozen names to the list. When the waitress returned with their food, she put down her pen. “It seems stupid because these men have nothing to do with me now.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Levi said, accepting the plate from the waitress. “But somebody does.”
“I can set up surveillance,” Tyson offered.
“What kind of surveillance?” Kai asked.
“It would be nice to see the action outside on your street.”
“We checked with Detective Mannford about the city cameras, but they are only on the main traffic intersections and not on the residential side streets. Not only that, but the front of your apartment building is hidden by large trees so any city-street cameras would have a hard time capturing a clear picture. It’s an older building with standard security, not one with a high-end camera system in the hallways, elevators or stairwells, so a dead end there too,” Tyson said.
She stared at him. “You’re ready to set up something now?”
He nodded.
She took a bite of her salad. “We could set up a camera inside my vehicle. That might show if somebody is near it and gets inside. The chances are they’d have a key already made.”
“When you take it home, park it and leave it there.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I still have to get to work and have a lot of things to do around town.”
He nodded. “We brought in two vehicles. One has been loaded with sensors to pick up other electronics. So you can drive that for the next week or so, and we’ll see if somebody tries to penetrate the vehicle or track you again.”
“This is hardly fair,” she protested. “You guys are taking on way too much.” She looked around but only saw hard faces. She shrugged. “Okay, but keep track of what you spend,” she said. “I’ll see what I can pay back over time.”
“We’d rather take it out of our pocketbook than out of your hide,” Ice said.
Kai realized just how good a friend this group had ended up being. She glanced at Tyson to see his hard dark eyes locked on hers. When he gave a clipped nod, she realized he included himself in that group. And she smiled this time, a warm welcoming smile and said, “Thank you.”
*
Tyson didn’t like anything about this. They had to find this guy. And fast. “You need to be with somebody at all times,” Tyson said. “It can’t be somebody from work just because you feel like nobody at work would do this. One of them could be your stalker. We need a full list of who works for you and what their role is.”
He waited for her to glare at him. He understood the money issue involved in her mind. But, if Levi said anything about the expense, Tyson would sign up and do it for free himself. He didn’t need to think how Tracy would feel about it. He knew she would be on his case, urging him to protect Kai. Just because she had to leave this life early didn’t mean Kai should leave the planet early too because of negligence. He glanced at Levi and said, “I know you were sending me out on a job. If you have somebody else who can go, I’ll stay with Kai for free.”
Levi’s eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly as his brain kicked in. Kai’s gasp and immediate refusal was shut down by Ice’s hard stare. Good.
Tyson didn’t drop his gaze from Levi. Tyson wanted to keep his job, but he had to keep Kai safe. He didn’t know how much Levi knew about their history, but then Levi gave him a nod.
“Agreed. We’ll discuss the money factor later.”
Kai protested. “Hell no, Tyson. You have a job to do. Go and do it.”
He turned and drawled, “I intend to. You’re now my job.”
She snorted and sat back. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Too bad. You got into a situation, and now we’ll help you get out.”
“I’ll be fine,” she said adamantly.
“And how do you think Tracy would feel if I let her best friend get hurt when I could’ve stepped in and done something about it?”
She opened her mouth to blast him, but the words didn’t come out. In a low voice she said, “That’s not playing fair.”
“I’ll play any way I have to if it keeps you safe.” He almost smiled at the glare on her face. She looked like a child who had just been schooled unfairly. She didn’t like the situation she was in, and there was no way to know how cooperative or uncooperative she would be. But he wouldn’t let her stay unprotected, particularly as Levi had given his stamp of approval. He turned to Levi and said, “Thank you.”
Levi shrugged. “Somebody has to stick to her like glue. Obviously you two have a history, so maybe this is a good time to work it out. We need you, Kai, to come back and forth with your new toys. I don’t really want any bad blood between the two of you either.”
“Won’t happen,” Tyson said quietly. “Kai and Tracy were best friends. Our shared history is just the person we lost in common.”
“I gathered that.” Levi picked up the massive burger on his plate and started eating.
Tyson realized how good it looked, wondering at his sudden appetite, and picked up his burger and dug into it. He noticed Kai played with her salad. She might be uncomfortable with him as her bodyguard, but she’d get over it.
Or not.
Her choice.
He wasn’t going anywhere.