Feel the Heat (16 page)

Troy shook his head. “I know how you feel, but I’m not playing games with your life. Call her back, explain that you’re in a tricky situation and as soon as it’s cleared up you’ll call her back.”

She felt tears for the unknown patient clogging her throat. “I just hope it’s not too late for her husband.”

“We’ll do the best we can to wrap this up quickly. Believe me, I don’t want that nutjob running around here any longer. So call the woman back and explain it to her the best you can. Tell her you’ll get back to her just as fast as you can.”

“What shall I tell her?”

“The truth always works best. With all the media coverage the past week, I’m sure a stalker won’t sound too unlikely to her.”

“Oh Miss Cahill, how awful,” Gayle Hauser said when Lauren explained. “And I certainly don’t want to compromise your safety.”

“I appreciate that,” Lauren told her, making her voice as soothing as possible.

“But—but do you have any idea when that will be?” Her voice was thready and Lauren could tell the woman was on the verge of tears.

“When?” she mouthed at Troy.

“Tell her you’ll call her tomorrow. You’ll know better by then.”

She relayed the message to Gayle, putting as much sympathy for the woman as she could into her tone of voice.

“Even if the stalker’s still on the loose,” she added, “I’ll see if we can work something out.”

“Oh Miss Cahill. You have no idea how grateful I’d be. I’ll wait for your call.”

“Not a good move,” Troy said the moment she disconnected the call. “I can’t guarantee we’ll wrap this up by then.”

“I understand, but if Phoenix is that good you should be able to figure out a way for me to get in and out of the house and then to the hospital and keep me safe.”

“We’ll do our best,” he assured her, “but I’m not gambling with your life.”

“Meanwhile, there’s something else you can do if you want to help.”

“What’s that?”

“I always check out the people who call me. But it sounds like this Andy and his Dragonslayer can do it faster and better than I can. If I give you the names, can you ask him to do it?”

Troy nodded. “Right away.” He gathered the photos from the printer tray. “And let’s see if Dan’s come up with any bright ideas.”

* * * * *

Gayle Hauser clutched her cell phone, her stomach tied in knots. They couldn’t lose this opportunity. They just couldn’t. It was Clark’s life on the line, as well as a lifeboat to save them from their terrible financial crisis.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, barely able to get the words past the tightness in her throat. “She was adamant. And I got the impression there was someone with her telling her she couldn’t go.”

“Are you sure you told her everything?” Reid pushed. “How urgent the situation is?”

“Yes I did. But…”

“But what?”

“She said she has a stalker who’s threatened her life. She’s afraid to leave the house until he’s caught.”

“Shit.”

She could hear him grinding his teeth.

“I don’t suppose she told you who it was. That would be too easy.”

“No, she didn’t. But she did say I could call her tomorrow and the situation might have changed.”

Silence.

“Fine. You call me after you talk to her. If she still has a problem, I’ll get my boss involved.” Unexpectedly, his tone softened. “We want to get help for your husband and pull you out of financial deep water, Mrs. Hauser. Somehow or other, we’ll make it happen.”

* * * * *

“God damn it.” Olberman squeezed the unlit cigar in his hands so tightly it broke apart. Disgusted, he tossed it into the wastebasket. “That’s all we fucking need.”

“I didn’t even see this coming.” Reid’s tone was placating. “There was no way to predict something like this.”

“I can’t believe the media hasn’t gotten hold of this. That’s usually the kind of stuff they sniff out.”

“You know how private a person she is,” Reid pointed out. “You know everything about her except whether or not she flosses. And my guess is, also, she probably thinks this guy is doing it for headlines and she doesn’t want to give that to him.”

“We can’t sit around forever and wait for this to resolve itself. I have clients waiting. If Phoenix can’t do anything about it, find the goddamn stalker yourself and get rid of him.”

“Me? What? But I—”

Whatever else he might have said was cut off as Olberman disconnected the call and slammed the cell phone down on his desk. Why did the sweetest project in the world to come his way have to get fucked up like this?

Chapter Eight

“He’s got a car.” Dan read the message on his phone then saved it. “A 2009 Ford SUV. Black.”

“You’re kidding.” Lauren crooked her head to peer at the phone. “For some reason, I had the feeling he didn’t even have a driver’s license.”

“The man’s twenty-seven,” Dan pointed out. “So I can’t see why he wouldn’t.”

“From what I gathered while I was at the Switzers, he’s been institutionalized for most of his life. Driving wasn’t an option.”

“That doesn’t mean he hasn’t figured out how to get one without them knowing it. Or doing a lot of other things.”

Troy made a sound in his throat. “What bothers me is that they know how he feels about you. And you’ve been in the media enough lately. Decency would have had them call you and warn you he was gone.”

Lauren touched his hand. “It makes me angry too, but I have the feeling they’re in complete denial. That they can’t deal with one more episode with him.”

“But this is your life,” Troy insisted. “This isn’t just acting out. I say we give them a call, just to make sure we’re tagging the right person. If he’s back at home then we start at square one again.”

Lauren accessed her contacts list on her cell and rattled off the Switzers’ phone number. “But please be gentle with them,” she cautioned. “This isn’t a pleasant situation for them.”

“Easier than for you,” he bit off, “but I’ll let Dan make the call. He’s smoother than I am anyway.”

It wasn’t hard to tell from Dan’s side of the conversation that the Switzers weren’t too thrilled to hear from him. Nor were they inclined to be helpful.

“They seem to ignore the fact that you saved their daughter’s life.” His voice was edged with anger as he disconnected the call.

Lauren shrugged. “And I can’t regret that. But you’ve heard what Nolan is like, you’ve all listened to the phone calls. They’re probably praying by this time whatever he does it doesn’t come back to them.”

“If he gets to you,” Troy snapped, “harms you in any way, they’ll get more grief than they ever imagined.”

“He’s not going to get to me.” Lauren tried to take the edge off his temper. “Not when I have all of you here to keep him away from me.”

“It’s okay,” Dan assured him. “We’ve got guards front and back and electronic eyes on everything in between. And now at least we’ve got a car to look for.”

Mark, who had joined them a half hour ago, just snorted. “Yeah, good luck with that in a city this big.”

“We don’t have to search at all,” Dan reminded him. “Now we know what kind of vehicle he’s driving, we only have to get him to show up here and I have a feeling he’s about to do that. We’ll give the guards his picture and the info on the car and we’ll be ready for him.”

“But what if he doesn’t?” Troy asked. “What if he keeps up the phone calls, trying to keep her off balance until he’s ready to pounce?”

Dan shook his head. “Mia said from the tone of his calls it sounds like he’s rapidly escalating. I don’t think we’ll have long to wait.”

Lauren leaned forward and looked at each of them. “What if we give him a little nudge?”

Troy scowled. “I don’t think I’ll like what you’re about to say.”

“Just listen to me a minute. I don’t think I can stand waiting much longer for him to act. Or having him stop until the next time. It’s not pleasant knowing he’s out there fixated on me.”

“I hear you,” Dan said, “but—”

Lauren cut him off. “What if we flush him out? Use me to tip him over the edge, so to speak.”

Three male voices chorused a loud “No.”

“Just at least listen. You keep saying I’m well protected, but he doesn’t know that. Maybe I could answer him the next time he calls. Tell him I’m tired of listening to his garbage. I’m changing my number again so he’ll leave me alone. That will up his level of frustration and I have a sense that he’ll be forced to make a move.”

“We’d have to move the guard and his car from down the street,” Mark said unhappily. “He sticks out like a sore thumb.”

“Which was the original purpose,” Troy pointed out. “At least the three of us will be in here. Unless Switzer’s got eyes on the place all the time, he can’t know whether or not Lauren’s alone.”

They argued as Lauren knew they would but in the end they all had to agree—they couldn’t just sit around waiting for the nutjob to make his move. This way at least they’d be controlling the situation.

Troy turned the ringer back up on the landline and they waited for the call they were sure would come.

* * * * *

Reid figured there were two things he could do. One was to get a pro to set up a tap on Lauren Cahill’s phone line from an outside connection. Two was to cruise the neighborhood as much as he could without calling attention to himself and see who else was keeping an eye on her. Neither option appealed to him. He knew enough about Phoenix to realize they’d be suspicious of a telephone repairman who appeared out of nowhere. And the car parked conspicuously down the street had to be a guard they’d placed there to keep an eye out for trouble.

Swell.

So just how the fuck was he supposed to find one asshole in the middle of this city?

Bonner was not good for much of anything except keeping eyes on the Hauser woman but he didn’t know what good that would do until Lauren Cahill agreed to her request.

Reid had Googled Lauren and found hundreds of links to articles about her abilities as a psychic healer. But fat lot of good that did him. Nothing referred to a stalker or anything remotely related to one. Could it be someone she’d treated who was now unhappy? Someone she hadn’t treated who was even more unhappy?

He needed more information to know how to proceed. Olberman could get Vivian and her computer on it, but he had a feeling calling his boss right now wasn’t a great idea. Next best thing was checking the Cahill woman’s house out once a day, at different times so the rent-a-cop watching the house didn’t get suspicious.

And hitting the library to use their LexisNexis database. It provided a searchable databank for more than twenty thousand sources and was much faster than his laptop. Somewhere in all that information, there had to be a clue for him to follow.

And he’d better get on it at once. Getting on Olberman’s bad side could have devastating consequences.

* * * * *

Lauren was doing her best to control her nerves as the hours of the day ticked past. She forced herself to focus on her web business, posting the updates her customers had requested and setting up the basics for two new sites. But it was a struggle to keep her mind focused.

She sensed that Troy was uncertain how to help her. He knew enough not to hover but he also checked on her frequently. He, Mark and Dan were camped out in the kitchen, handling business from their cell phones, but periodically he brought her tea or a snack. Faith called to check on her and Lauren was grateful for the concern but she wasn’t in the mood to chat even with a close friend.

She was focusing on manipulating a graphic when a tap on the doorjamb to her den broke her concentration.

“Getting on toward dinnertime.” Troy smiled. “We’re discussing what kind of takeout to get. Any preferences?”

“My first preference is for that idiot to call so we can get this over with.”

Troy moved to stand behind her, his strong hands massaging the tight muscles in her neck and shoulders.

“We all think that. Strange that he’s been silent all day.”

As if summoned by his words, the phone, which had been silent all day, shrilled into the air. Lauren jerked, startled, then reached for it but her hand hovered tentatively over the receiver. She looked up at Troy.

“Go ahead,” he nodded. “I’m right here.”

As if to reassure her, he rested one hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently.

Lauren picked up the receiver, tilting it so Troy could also hear the conversation. “Hello?”

There was a pause on the other end, as if she’d surprised the caller by answering.

“So you finally decided to answer the phone, bitch.” The voice was harsh with pent-up anger. “Did you actually think I’d give up? Stop calling you?”

“I could only hope.” She knew she was baiting him but this was the way they’d decided she should handle him.

“I’m never giving up,” he ranted. “Not until you’re gone from the face of this earth. Not until you stop spreading that black magic everywhere.”

She swallowed and tightened her grip on the receiver. “You keep saying that, every time you get on a kick like this, but you never follow through. It’s been three years now. If you really have a problem with me maybe we should talk about it.”

Another silence. She could almost feel the hatred vibrating through the connection.

“You want to
talk
to
me
?”

“Yes.” She leaned back closer to Troy. “I think you have the wrong idea about me. If we could get together maybe you could tell me what’s bothering you and I could answer any questions you have. I—I’m not as bad as you think. Really.”

“Not as bad?” he screamed. “You’re worse. Much worse. You want to talk to me? See me? You think I’m all show and no go? Get ready then, bitch. You’ll see me sooner than you think.”

She flinched as the phone slammed in her ear.

Troy took the receiver from her hand and replaced it in its cradle. Then he cupped Lauren’s face in both hands, bent his head and kissed her with such tenderness it nearly made her cry. She didn’t ever remember anyone caring this much about her. Even her family. She could almost be grateful for the chaos that had brought him into her life.