showing himself while Miz Barton here is still gone.”
“Why would he do that?” Lise asked, momentarily distracted from Joshua’s perplexing behavior.
They’d reached the rental car and Hotwire pressed the remote unlock button. “We sent a few false signals on his bug, indicators that the electronics were breaking down. Then we cut the transmission completely this morning.”
“You think he’ll believe it’s broken and try to break into my apartment to fix it?”
“That’s what we’re hoping.”
It couldn’t be that simple, could it? Lise thought what it would mean to her to identify the stalker and felt chills go up and down her arms at the prospect.
Joshua opened the back door on the passenger side, indicating she should get inside. She did, but had to suck in air when he leaned across her to lock the safety belt in place.
He stopped when his face was directly in front of hers. “Comfortable?”
“Um…yes.”
He nodded and stepped back, allowing her to breathe normally again.
“So, what did you find in the apartment?” he asked Hotwire as the two men got in the front seat.
Hotwire whistled softly and started the car. “This guy knows his electronics, but he’s not using high-end stuff. My guess is he doesn’t have the financial resources for professional equipment. He’s made modifications to amateur spy tech items that indicate he’s got a pretty good understanding of what he’s doing.”
“What kind of spy stuff?” Lise asked from the back seat.
Hotwire met her eyes in the rearview mirror, his expression as dark as Joshua’s eyes. “He had a transmitter inside your desktop computer. One of the pens in your pen cup had a transmitter as well, but the battery was dead, so we don’t know how long it has been there. One of your stereo speakers has a minicam transmitter—”
“ He could see me? ” she interrupted, even more freaked by the reality than she had been when Joshua had mentioned it was a possibility in Texas.
“Yes, but only when you were in certain parts of the living room.”
Thinking about the direction her speakers faced, she knew exactly which parts. Her maple rocker was one of them, the place she spent most of her relax time. A knot formed in her stomach and squeezed.
“What else?” Joshua asked, as if what Hotwire had said hadn’t been enough.
Hotwire flicked a glance at Joshua before looking back at the road. “Her car has a sound and position transmitter in the antennae. It isn’t satellite connected, but he can follow her within a two-mile radius and she would never know it.”
The whole trip from Texas to Seattle, Nemesis had been following her.
He’d known exactly where she was at all times .
Thinking of some of the small hotels she’d stayed at, the long stretches of deserted highways she’d driven, and the falseness of her sense of security in her anonymity made her stomach churn around the painful knot.
Bile came up in her throat and she forced it back down. “Hotwire, could you please stop the car?”
They came to a sudden but smooth halt beside the road. She unbuckled her seat belt, shoved the door open and jumped from the car. She sucked in air and tried not to give in to the sick sensation, but image after disturbing image flashed through her mind, making it almost impossible not to throw up.
Suddenly Joshua was there, wrapping his big arms around her, pulling her into the heat of his body. “It’s going to be okay, Lise. Relax.”
“He followed me…the whole time I thought I was safe, by myself. He was there, tracking me, knowing where I was every second of every day.”
Joshua turned her body and she buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent and letting the strength of his body infuse her own.
“I know…shh…I know…”
She believed him. Even though she could not imagine Joshua Watt afraid of anything, she believed that he understood her fear and empathized with it.
The nausea finally passed, but she nestled
“Why would he do that?” Lise asked, momentarily distracted from Joshua’s perplexing behavior.
They’d reached the rental car and Hotwire pressed the remote unlock button. “We sent a few false signals on his bug, indicators that the electronics were breaking down. Then we cut the transmission completely this morning.”
“You think he’ll believe it’s broken and try to break into my apartment to fix it?”
“That’s what we’re hoping.”
It couldn’t be that simple, could it? Lise thought what it would mean to her to identify the stalker and felt chills go up and down her arms at the prospect.
Joshua opened the back door on the passenger side, indicating she should get inside. She did, but had to suck in air when he leaned across her to lock the safety belt in place.
He stopped when his face was directly in front of hers. “Comfortable?”
“Um…yes.”
He nodded and stepped back, allowing her to breathe normally again.
“So, what did you find in the apartment?” he asked Hotwire as the two men got in the front seat.
Hotwire whistled softly and started the car. “This guy knows his electronics, but he’s not using high-end stuff. My guess is he doesn’t have the financial resources for professional equipment. He’s made modifications to amateur spy tech items that indicate he’s got a pretty good understanding of what he’s doing.”
“What kind of spy stuff?” Lise asked from the back seat.
Hotwire met her eyes in the rearview mirror, his expression as dark as Joshua’s eyes. “He had a transmitter inside your desktop computer. One of the pens in your pen cup had a transmitter as well, but the battery was dead, so we don’t know how long it has been there. One of your stereo speakers has a minicam transmitter—”
“ He could see me? ” she interrupted, even more freaked by the reality than she had been when Joshua had mentioned it was a possibility in Texas.
“Yes, but only when you were in certain parts of the living room.”
Thinking about the direction her speakers faced, she knew exactly which parts. Her maple rocker was one of them, the place she spent most of her relax time. A knot formed in her stomach and squeezed.
“What else?” Joshua asked, as if what Hotwire had said hadn’t been enough.
Hotwire flicked a glance at Joshua before looking back at the road. “Her car has a sound and position transmitter in the antennae. It isn’t satellite connected, but he can follow her within a two-mile radius and she would never know it.”
The whole trip from Texas to Seattle, Nemesis had been following her.
He’d known exactly where she was at all times .
Thinking of some of the small hotels she’d stayed at, the long stretches of deserted highways she’d driven, and the falseness of her sense of security in her anonymity made her stomach churn around the painful knot.
Bile came up in her throat and she forced it back down. “Hotwire, could you please stop the car?”
They came to a sudden but smooth halt beside the road. She unbuckled her seat belt, shoved the door open and jumped from the car. She sucked in air and tried not to give in to the sick sensation, but image after disturbing image flashed through her mind, making it almost impossible not to throw up.
Suddenly Joshua was there, wrapping his big arms around her, pulling her into the heat of his body. “It’s going to be okay, Lise. Relax.”
“He followed me…the whole time I thought I was safe, by myself. He was there, tracking me, knowing where I was every second of every day.”
Joshua turned her body and she buried her face in his chest, inhaling his scent and letting the strength of his body infuse her own.
“I know…shh…I know…”
She believed him. Even though she could not imagine Joshua Watt afraid of anything, she believed that he understood her fear and empathized with it.
The nausea finally passed, but she nestled
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