Always Watching (13 page)

Olivia slipped from the room and made her way down to the den. She needed to discuss Justine with Wade and knew that wasn't going to be a fun conversation. She'd wanted to leave that painful topic alone, but now his possible stalker had brought her into this situation.

She pulled her phone from her back pocket. It had buzzed twice while she'd been listening to Amy, but she hadn't wanted to interrupt the girl's story and distract her. She glanced at the screen. Quinn. She called him back. “What's up?” she asked.

“I got that security footage from the church. They have some sweet technology at that place.”

“They have a lot of money at that place.”

“Hmm. Well, anyway, the footage shows Amy running for the bathroom, her hands clasped over her ears.”

“That fits.”

“And a short minute later someone enters behind her. I think it's a woman, but it's hard to tell. She has one of those zip-up hoodies on and her hands shoved into her pockets.”

“The person in the parking lot of the radio station had on a hoodie,” Olivia said.

“This woman's also wearing jeans and tennis shoes and carrying a bag over her shoulder.”

“What about the footage of people leaving the bathroom?”

“Got that. We even have a woman coming out with what looks like the same bag. We just need an ID on her.”

Olivia frowned. “Okay. Let me know when you know something.”

“Of course.”

“How's Maddy?”

“The same.”

She nodded. “That's better than worse.”

“Yeah.”

“Thanks, Quinn. Talk to you soon.” She hung up and turned to find Wade behind her. “Quinn's got the video footage.”

“I heard.”

“They're trying to ID a woman who has a bag over her shoulder that looks like the one someone went in with shortly after Amy entered.”

“Is she the one who did this?”

“Possibly. That's what they're trying to find out. How's Amy?”

“Still talking to Katie.” His shoulders slumped. He moved to sit on the couch, hands clasped between his knees. His head drooped.

“You couldn't have known,” she said.

“I should have been more alert.” He looked up at her, eyes narrowed.

“No. I should have.”

He sighed. “No. She
should
have been fine.” He shrugged. “But she wasn't because of a stupid misunderstanding.”

“We'll have to make sure misunderstandings don't happen again. Joanna may need to be reminded of the seriousness of the situation. If she's going to be around a lot, we'll have to explain it to her.”

“She'll be around. She's a longtime friend. She and Martha are practically inseparable. Kind of like Amy and Stacy. And I think the scene today is reminder enough. She gets it now if she didn't before.”

Olivia nodded. “Both Maddy and Haley noted her frequent presence in their notes. Where does she live? I'll request an officer to ride by her place every so often. Even though she hasn't been directly threatened, it might not be a bad idea.”

“I'm not sure where she's living right now. She changes addresses about as often as I change my socks.”

“Why?”

“She says she likes adventure. And she said it's cheaper to move where the deals are. You know, sign a twelve-month lease, get two months free. A room for rent comes open and she'll move into that for a few months. Then something else will come along and she'll move into that place. That sort of thing. I used to help her move, but finally told her I was done.”

“Is that really cheaper?”

“Who knows? It seems to work for her.”

“Is she that tight financially?”

He shrugged. “I don't think so. I think she gets bored and needs a change every once in a while. Moving is her way of adding a little excitement to her life, I guess.”

“Any men in her life?”

“A new one every couple of months or so. She says she'll settle down when she finds the right guy.”

“Interesting.”

“Yes. But she's been a friend since high school. A good friend.
She'd do anything for me or Amy or Martha. She's become family.”

Olivia nodded. “All right, let's keep going.” She paused. “Amy said she doesn't like loud noises. Is that common knowledge?”

He rubbed his chin. “People who know her would know that.” He sighed. “I've never tried to hide Amy's anxiety disorder. It's a part of who she is, but it doesn't define her. It's just something we deal with. I even talk about it in some of the speeches I make at different charity functions. I try to let people know that it doesn't matter where you come from or how much money you have in your bank account, we're all together in this thing called life and we need to help one another. It's no secret I'm well off financially, but by using personal stories of hardship and what I'm going through, I'm able to relate to almost anyone.” He looked down. “Just because I have money in the bank doesn't make me somehow ‘unaffected' or ‘untouched' by life.”

“I know,” she said.

He looked up.

Olivia cleared her throat. “So how would someone change the volume on that movie to blast those gunshots?”

“I suppose someone would just have to get ahold of the remote and crank it up.”

She nodded. “Of course. That makes sense. Someone who knew the loud shots would freak out Amy and send her running to the bathroom. Someone who was in the youth room at the time of the movie. Someone who belonged there.”

Wade paled. “I'm not liking the direction of your thoughts.”

“That whoever is doing this is someone close to you?”

“Yes.”

“I don't know that it is, but we have to consider the possibility.”

“But it could be someone who sat in on one of the charity dinners and listened to me talk about Amy.”

“True.” She leaned forward. “But the knowledge that she flees to that particular bathroom when she gets overwhelmed at church—” She pressed her lips together. “We'll investigate every angle and see what comes to light.”

“
We'll
investigate?”

“I know I'm not a cop anymore, but I've got friends in high places.”

“Right.”

“So what's your schedule for the rest of the day?” she asked.

He blinked, not expecting that question. She hadn't brought up Justine yet, but he knew it was coming. Should he go ahead and say something or just wait on her? He'd wait, try to mentally prepare himself for that conversation.

He blew out a sigh. “I would still like to take Amy out on the boat. She loves it and I sort of promised her.” He glanced at her. “How would that work security-wise?”

“Might be a nightmare.”

“Might be?”

She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well, on the water, you'd probably be safe. Unless there was a sniper on another boat or on the shore.”

“A sniper.” He swallowed hard.

“I'd have to get Katie or Haley to go with you.”

“Why?”

She lasered him with a fierce look that held a bit of defiance. “I don't do boats or water.”

“Really? You can't swim?”

“I can swim, it's not that. Water and I just don't . . . um . . . get along.”

“Then I've got a patch you can use if you get sick on the water.”

“Getting sick is the least of my worries,” she muttered. Then sighed. “Let me think about how we can work it.”

“Fine, but let's think about it over food. I'm starving.” Or at least he was until she brought up the whole sniper thing. But they had to eat. He looked around, then back at her. “How are your culinary skills?”

“The fact that I have forty-two different restaurants listed in my contacts list is one of my crowning achievements.”

“Impressive.”

She held up her phone. “I think so.” She gave him a slight smile. “So what are you in the mood for? Thai? Sushi? Italian? Mexican?”

He gave a low chuckle. “Surprise me. I like everything.”

She tapped the screen with her thumb a few times, then lifted the device to her ear. “Chinese it is.”

Wade shook his head and swallowed a grin that threatened in spite of everything he and Amy had been through today. The woman intrigued him, he couldn't deny it. He didn't have time for romance or relationship building right now. He had to focus on his family and keeping them safe.

But he was still intrigued.

When she hung up, she stuck the phone in her back pocket and placed her hands on her hips. “It should be ready in about twenty minutes. Katie will be here and I'll go pick it up.”

“You could have told them to deliver it.”

She lifted a brow. “Not hardly.”

He paused and thought about it. “Yeah, I guess that would be a bad idea.”

“We just can't take a chance on a call being intercepted and have a fake delivery person show up at your door.”

“I get it.”

“Good.”

“But I'll go with you.”

“What? That's not necessary and might even put you in more danger.”

“I know.”

She simply waited, her brow furrowed.

He sighed. “Look, I understand my father's reasoning in hiring you and your agency. I even appreciate it. But the truth of the matter is, if I stay holed up in this house with massive protection coverage, we're never going to catch the person responsible.”

“So you're saying you want to set yourself up as bait and draw the stalker to you and anyone you happen to be with?”

He grimaced. “It sounds stupid when you say it like that.” She lifted a brow. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It
is
stupid, isn't it?” Again she didn't answer. “Of course I don't want to put myself in danger, much less anyone else, but I don't think this person is going away. I don't think I can just wait her out and she'll disappear once she realizes she can't get to me. I have a feeling she will outlast all of us.”

“Now that, I'll agree with.”

“Which means the only other option is catching her. And no one can do that unless we get her out in the open and are prepared for her.”

Olivia gave a slow nod. “I see your point, even understand it.”

“Good.”

“But that doesn't mean we want to act in a rash manner or move too fast, without thinking through all of the ramifications of doing something like that.”

“Okay, then let's work out a plan.”

Her phone buzzed again. “Hold that thought.” She looked at the screen. “It's Quinn.”

“Again?”

“He must have some more information.” She pressed the button to answer the call and then put it on speakerphone. “Hello?”

“I've got more on the footage from the church. I'm going to come out there so we can talk and I can show Savage some pictures.”

She glanced up at him and he nodded. “Okay. We'll see you when you get here.”

“Great.”

She started to hang up, then had a flash of brilliance. “Wait!”

“What?”

“Which way are you coming?”

“Up I-85. Why?”

“Stop and get our dinner on your way over here, will you?” She gave him the address. “We'll be waiting for you. I'm anxious to see this footage.”

“I'll be there as quick as I can.”

“Just don't forget the food. And get extra, please, because I'm not sharing.”

SUNDAY LATE LUNCH

Quinn arrived with brown paper bags filled with tantalizing smells. His partner, Bree, stepped inside with a gallon of tea and a six-pack of Cokes. Olivia gestured to the kitchen. “Thanks for picking it up.”

“Not a problem. Do we eat first or watch the video first?” Quinn asked.

“Eat,” Olivia said.

“Definitely eat,” Wade echoed as he started pulling plates from the cabinet.

Quinn snorted. “I see you share her priorities.”

“My stomach definitely does.”

Katie stepped into the kitchen. “Should I fix a plate for Amy?”

“I'm already on it,” Wade said. He and Quinn opened the boxes. Wade placed a small amount of food in the center of a blue dish. “Is she coming down?”

“I don't think so. She's seems to prefer her room.” Katie moved down the line, adding her own food.

Wade sighed and nodded. “Fine. I'll let her get away with it today.”

Katie took the filled plate from him. “I'll be back for drinks.”

“I'll bring them up,” Olivia offered.

Thirty minutes later, with the small talk finished and Olivia's nerves on edge from waiting, Quinn pulled a laptop from the black bag he'd brought inside. He pushed his plate aside, placed the laptop on the table, and lifted the lid.

Bree rose. “I'm going to do a perimeter search of the house. Any alarms I need to know about?”

Wade told her and she left. He then scooted his chair around beside Quinn. Olivia rose to stand behind the two men so she could see the screen.

Quinn already had the footage pulled up so all he had to do was press play.

The parking lot of the church came up. Quinn pointed. “There's the vehicle, right?”

“Yes.” Wade leaned in.

“I've run it forward to this point. Wait until it gets to 10:41.”

Olivia watched the clock count. When it reached the time Quinn specified, she narrowed her eyes. “There.”

“I see it.”

A figure walked past Wade's vehicle. Stopped, then walked back. “Of course she has a baseball hat on,” Olivia muttered. Then sucked in a breath. “Wait a minute. That's a male.”

Quinn shot her a smug look. “Exactly. You people keep saying ‘she.'”

“The person in the parking lot of the radio station was a woman,” Olivia said.

“Without a doubt?”

She paused. Thought back to the night she'd found Wade unconscious. Pictured the person dressed in black hovering over
him. “No, not without a doubt. I thought it was, just from the way the person moved, but she—he—whoever, had on a black hoodie, a ski mask, and black sweat pants. Nothing form fitting. So, no, I can't say for sure. The 911 operator asked me too, and I couldn't tell her.”

“But the person in the bathroom with Amy was a female. We watched the video footage of that. No male person entered that bathroom,” Wade said.

They watched more of the video. Quinn pointed again. “There. He's putting the tracking device Katie found on the car. Right under the license plate.”

Olivia watched the man slip the GPS device under the plate, stand, pull his baseball cap lower, then shove his hands into his pockets. He strode toward woods just beyond the parking lot and disappeared into the trees.

Olivia blew out a breath. “What color was his hair? Could you tell?”

“Not with this black-and-white footage. It looked dark, but . . .” Quinn shrugged. “He kept his face from the cameras, did you notice that?”

“Yes, I did,” Olivia said. “So the hit at the church was planned.”

“Looks like it,” Quinn agreed. “And whoever planned it knew the schedule. Knew the play that was going on, knew how to get to the remote and crank up the volume, knew that Amy would head to that particular restroom.”

Olivia shook her head. “I
really
don't like this.”

“And I
really
don't blame you.” Quinn clicked a few keys on the computer. “But the good news is, we found the woman carrying the bag from the bathroom. She claims she found it in one of the stalls and took it to the lost and found.”

“You believe her?”

“Yes, we checked her out and she's clean. She keeps the nurs
ery and was in there the whole time except for the bathroom break after the service, according to the other two ladies working with her. We went to get the bag, but it had been claimed.”

“By whom?”

“We don't know. And yes, we asked about cameras on that hall, but the one covering the lost and found wasn't working.”

“Wasn't working or was sabotaged?” Wade muttered.

“Wasn't working. We asked. Apparently it's been down for about two weeks and just hasn't been fixed yet.”

“She knew that too,” Olivia murmured. “She set up her entire plan around that broken lost-and-found camera.”

Quinn nodded. “It's possible. Take a look at this.” The video played. “There's Amy running down the hall.”

Olivia heard Wade's indrawn breath and felt the renewed tension in his body. She knew he was feeling the anguish of his inability to help his daughter. Behind the others' backs, she gave his shoulder a slight squeeze, then let go, immediately appalled at her less than professional behavior. Yet, curious too. She wanted to comfort him.

“There.” Quinn pointed. “That's the woman following behind Amy.”

“I guess it's a woman,” Wade said. “Medium height; short, shaggy hair; hoodie. She . . . he . . . is thin and wearing loose clothing.” He let out a disgusted grunt. “I can't tell.”

Olivia leaned closer. “Whoever it is, the person dressed to be on camera.”

“Amy thought it was a woman because everything happened in the women's bathroom,” Wade said. “But what if it was a man?”

“Compare the time stamp of the person in the bathroom to the person putting the GPS tracker on Wade's vehicle,” Olivia said.

Quinn did. “Well, look at that. Everything's going down at the same time.”

“You know what this means, don't you?” Olivia said.

“No. What?” Wade asked, turning to look at her.

“It's possible you don't have
a
stalker.”

“I don't?” Wade frowned, confused.

“No. You might have a
team
.”

Wade flinched. “What are you talking about?”

“I think the woman in the video—and I think it is a woman in spite of her efforts to disguise herself—is the one who's stalking you.” Olivia rushed to say, “But it looks like she's enlisted help. I don't see how it could be just a simple coincidence that someone goes after Amy in the bathroom while someone else goes after Wade's vehicle in the parking lot. They've got to be working together.”

“I definitely don't think it's a coincidence, therefore I have to wonder,” Quinn said.

“Wonder what?” Wade sighed.

Quinn's eyes met Olivia's before he answered Wade. “That maybe this is more than just a simple stalker situation. Isn't that what you're thinking, Liv?”

“Yes.” She looked at Wade. “Any ideas?”

Wade pinched the bridge of his nose. “No. I mean, what more could it be?” He sighed. “I don't know anything anymore. I just want it to stop.”

Olivia pursed her lips. “I know.”

Quinn took a call and exited as Bree slipped into the room and took her seat at the table. “All looks quiet out there. The officer on duty said he hasn't seen anyone or anything to set off his alarm bells.”

“Good,” Wade said. He tapped his fingers together and sighed. “Should I cancel my appointments for tomorrow?”

Olivia glanced at Bree, who nodded.

Wade pulled his phone from his pocket. “I'll call Linda.”

“Your administrative assistant,” Olivia said. “Maddy mentioned her too.”

“She's great. The office would fall apart without her.” He dialed the number he kept on speed dial.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Linda.” Linda Birch had worked with him since he and his partner had opened the practice.

“Wade, how are you? I talked to Cameron and he told me what happened. I wanted to call, but didn't want to interrupt anything.”

“Everything is pretty calm for now.” He paused. “You know all of my clients.”

“Yes.”

“Can you think of any one that stands out as particularly . . . um . . . stalker-ish?”

“Stalker-ish?”

He could feel Bree and Olivia's attention centered on him. “Yes.”

Linda hesitated. “No, not offhand. I mean, you've worked with some pretty
intense
people, but I can't think of anyone that's shown undue interest in you. Not like you would think a stalker would.” She cleared her throat. “Except for those gifts that were left here. And then it was only the two.”

“Right. Well, if you think of anyone, will you let me know?”

“Of course.”

“And cancel my appointments tomorrow. I think my first one was at nine.”

“I'll take care of it.”

“Thanks.” He hung up and found Bree and Olivia watching him. He shrugged. “Linda couldn't think of anyone.” He
stood. “I'm going to check on Amy.” He wasn't worried about her physical state, but he was very concerned about her emotional one.

A knock on the front door startled him. He moved to answer it, only to find Olivia had moved faster. She pushed aside the sheer curtain, her hand on her weapon. Then he saw her relax. “It's your father.”

She opened the door and his dad stepped inside. “Just thought I'd stop by and see what kind of progress is being made.”

Bruce didn't know about the incident at the church yet and Wade wasn't in the mood to rehash it. “I was just going upstairs to check on Amy. You want to go with me?”

“Sure.” He frowned. “Is she all right?”

Wade gave a quiet sigh. So, rehashing it was on the agenda. “Not really. Come on, I'll give you the abridged version.” They climbed the stairs together. He felt Olivia's eyes on his back. If they were lasers, he'd be see-through. He knew she was concerned, but he needed a break. From everything. And everyone except his family.

She didn't stop his ascent and he figured she might understand a bit of what he was going through.

The rage at the person terrorizing his family hadn't diminished one bit. And while he kept it under control, he could feel it simmering, boiling, growing.

Ready to be unleashed as soon as he had a target.

Olivia watched the two men disappear around the corner at the top of the stairs. She could hear Wade telling his father about the incident at the church. She had to admit she and her agency were looking incompetent. If she were Bruce, she'd fire them all and hire someone else.

The whole situation made her frown.

“What is it?” Katie asked from the top of the stairs.

“Just thinking.”

“About?”

“About the fact that if I were Bruce Savage, I'd fire us.”

Katie lifted a brow. “Yeah.” She started down the stairs. Voices from the kitchen floated to Olivia even as her brain struggled to figure out this complex problem of keeping the Savage family safe from an invisible enemy.

“Wade has a charity event Thursday night,” Olivia said.

“Another dinner.” Katie reached the bottom and stopped in front of Olivia.

“Yes. Just the very idea of it makes me want to break out in hives.”

“There's no way he'll give up going,” Katie said.

“I know.” She pursed her lips. “I'm missing something,” she said softly.

“What?”

“I don't know. If I knew, I wouldn't be missing it.”

Katie rolled her eyes. “So what's the plan for now?”

“We've already established that this person—or persons—who are after Wade know him well.”

“Yes. She . . . he . . . whoever . . . knew he'd most likely be at church this morning.”