Closer

by Leigh, Jo

  “Lots of things. Revenge. Money. Sex.”

  Boone sighed as he stood. “I thought about all of that, but blood on the bed? That’s spells passion to me. I don’t know. Maybe Kate can figure it out.”

  “Don’t count on it. Hey, what’s this?” Seth moved to the bedside table, and slid the whole unit out from the wall. He looked under the lip, ran his hand down the wood, then stopped. It took him a second, but he pulled out a strip of dark tape.

  “What’s that?”

  Seth held up his other hand, then took a magnet from his bag and ran it over the tape four or five times. “It’s a new kind of bug. It records audio data, but it’s very sensitive. I just scrambled it but good.”

  “Shit, where’s he getting this stuff?”

  “He obviously has deep pockets.”

  “Yeah. That’s what I was thinking.”

  “CIA, maybe?”

  “More likely than FBI.”

  Seth sat back on his haunches and looked at Boone. “We shouldn’t be messing with this. Maybe this isn’t just about Christie. You know that, right?”

  “Nate’s dead, Seth. Everything he knew went with him.”

  “We know that.”

  Boone dragged a hand through his hair. “So do they. I can’t think of one reason they’d go after Christie. She’s completely on the outside.”

  “I hope you’re right. It’s our lives, bro.”

  Boone stared at his friend for a long time. “There’s only one way to know for sure. We catch him.”

  “Let’s hope he’s the only one who gets caught.”

  CHRISTIE SAT ACROSS THE TABLE from Kate, who sipped her coffee and looked at Christie as if she were going to have to draw her face from memory. “So, uh, how do you know Boone?”

  “We hang out at the same places. Know some of the same people.”

  “Were you in the service?”

  Kate shook her head. “I worked for the UN.”

  Christie waited, but it was clear Kate wasn’t going to elaborate “What do you do now?”

  “I work for an R & D firm in Canoga Park.”

  “I see,” Christie said, even though she didn’t. Was everyone in Boone’s life so secretive? Jeez, it was like living in a spy novel. “What is it you’re supposed to talk to me about?”

  Kate smiled. It was a nicer smile than Christie expected, and there was some real warmth behind it. “Men.”

  “In general?”

  “No. Men you know. Or have known. We need to find this creep, and the odds are, you’ve either met him, or had some kind of relationship with him.”

  “You don’t think I’ve wracked my brain trying to figure this out?”

  “The point is, you’ve wracked your brain. Now it’s my turn.”

  “You’re not thinking of using needles, right?”

  She laughed. “No. Sodium pentathol is so Cold War. We’re just going to talk.”

  “That’s a relief.”

  “Then if we don’t find anything, I have drugs.”

  Christie looked at her for a long while before she got that it was a joke. “This is my first cup of coffee. Don’t mess with me until at least cup three.”

  “Check.” Kate reached into her big bag and pulled out a notebook and a pen. “Let’s start from the beginning. Any boyfriends in high school?”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “As a heart attack.”

  “Okay then.” Christie sipped her coffee as she went back to high school. It hadn’t been a good time for her. She’d gotten good grades, but had to work hard for them. She’d also been on the track team and tried out for cheerleader. She hadn’t made it. Then there was that whole Scott Fairchild incident. “In my senior year I went out with a guy named Jim Lynsky.”

  “Tell me about him.”

  “He transferred into my high school that final year. He’d come from Yugoslavia, of all things. His father was a doctor there.”

  “Really?” Kate jotted down notes, and she was very fast. Her writing was neat, tiny and from what Christie could see, fastidious.

  “We only went out for about four months. He was into surfing and when he figured out he could get somebody better than me, he did.”

  “Ouch.”

  “I’ve had better days.”

  “Okay, college.”

  H E SAT STARING AT THE MONITOR , even though it had no image. Big Bad Boone had done a good job of cleaning out the house. Not perfect, but good.

  He closed his eyes, remembering her scream. The sound of it had given him an incredible erection, and he was tempted to play the tape again. But there were things to do. Lots of interesting things. The anticipation was almost as good as the scream. Especially now that he knew all about lover boy.

  SETH HAD FOUND FOUR MORE strips of the bug tape, the most disturbing one under the box spring. While he worked, Boone stripped the bed and cleaned up all traces of the sticky blood. He found fresh sheets in the hall closet to remake the bed, although he doubted Christie would be sleeping there any time soon. At least it didn’t look like a set piece from Friday the 13th.

  Seth also took a look at the camera Boone had set up, and he made a few adjustments. They put a second camera in the closet, and a third focused on the window. They could see exactly how the geek had gotten access to the house; he’d cut the glass all around the outside edge, then when he was through, he’d put it back so it was virtually undetectable. Seth had glued the pane in place and added a nifty little trip wire that would alert them to any future attempts.

  “I think this room is good,” Seth said. “What next?”

  “The kitchen, then the living room. We’ll do the guest room last.”

  “What about the bathroom?”

  “You can scan in there, but no cameras.”

  “Is there access?”

  “Yeah. Change all the locks. And there’s the garage and her car.”

  “Got it. You know I could use some of that coffee now.”

  Boone went to the door. “You still like it black?”

  “Yup.”

  Boone left him and headed for the kitchen. He slowed as he approached, standing just within earshot of the two women.

  “That’s Dan Paterson. He’s a psychologist. He was nice, when I needed someone to be there. It was just after my brother died.”

  “I’m sorry about that,” Kate said.

  “Yeah. Me, too. Did you know him?”

  Boone moved closer to the kitchen entrance, making sure he was quiet.

  “Yeah, I knew him. He was a hell of a soldier. And a good friend.”

  He didn’t hear anything else, except for Milo. When Boone walked into the room, he saw the dog sitting right next to Christie’s chair, scratching at his neck, which made his collar jingle.

  “You guys done?” Christie asked.

  “Not even close. I’m just getting Seth some coffee.”

  Christie nodded, then turned back to Kate. “Anyway, we met at this bar I go to sometimes. They play trivia there, and it was a nice way to spend an evening when I had nothing better to do.”

  “How soon did you meet him? I mean, after Nate’s death.”

  Christie sighed behind him. “A month, I guess. I remember it was the first night I’d been out in a long time. He gave me an answer to one of the trivia questions, then bought me a drink.”

  “How long did you go out?”

  “A few months.”

  “What went wrong?”

  “I don’t know. Me, I guess. He wanted to help, but I didn’t want all those questions. It was like going to therapy instead of a date.”

  “What kind of questions?”

  Boone didn’t even make a pretense about listening now. He got himself a coffee refill, then filled a cup for Seth, but he went to the table and sat down. He wanted to hear this.

  Christie looked at him, and he could tell she was disconcerted by his presence, but he didn’t care.

  She cleared her throat, then looked at Kate. “
About my family. My relationship with my mother and father. That kind of crap.”

  “Did he ask a lot of questions about Nate?”

  “What do you mean by a lot?”

  “Did he focus on Nate?”

  “No. Just me. He thought I couldn’t get close to a man because of my relationship with my mother.”

  “What was wrong with it?”

  “Is that necessary for your profile?”

  Kate sat back. “No. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay.” She bent down and petted Milo. “What are you scratching, buddy? It’s really starting to get old.”

  Boone figured he’d better get the coffee to Seth. And that he’d best leave Kate to do her thing. “You guys take your time,” he said. “Don’t miss a trick. It could matter a lot.”

  Christie smiled at him as he stood. She nodded once, then sat up straighter. As he walked out of the room, he heard Christie talk about a guy named Brent, and Milo, scratching again.

  He took his time walking down the hall. He wasn’t thinking about the bugs in her room, but the man who’d been in her bed. He’d ask Kate for his last name later. It wouldn’t surprise him if this Dan clown turned out to be the stalker. Psychologist. What a pussy. He’d like to see Danny boy in the field. He wouldn’t last ten minutes. Jerk.

  “Hey, what the hell took so long?”

  Boone walked into the guest bedroom to find Seth on top of the bed, running a scan over the light fixture.

  “Sorry.”

  “They on to anything?”

  “Don’t know. Kate’s being thorough.”

  “Didn’t expect anything less.”

  “How we doing in here?”

  “Give me twenty.”

  Boone nodded, went to the duffel and pulled out his kit, then crouched in the corner and cleaned his weapon. Seth moved around the room like smoke, getting into corners and crevices, under and over, in places Boone never would have thought to look.

  Boone’s electronic expertise wasn’t about bugs. It was radios, GPS systems, telecommunications. When they were in the field, Boone got them where they needed to go, and got them out again. When necessary, he was the man that got the updated orders, and he was the one to report home.

  Seth, on the other hand, was surveillance. He could listen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, with no one the wiser. They worked well together. They had for years.

  Once Seth gave him the all clear, he knew it was safe to talk again. And there was something he really needed to know. “What do you hear from the rest?”

  Seth looked at him for a long time before he went and picked up his cup of coffee. He drank, put the cup down, and walked over to Boone. Once he was crouched in front of him, he put his hand on Boone’s leg. “Everyone’s alive.”

  “Alive? Sometimes that isn’t enough.”

  “Cade’s working in Colorado. Leading tour groups through the mountains.”

  Boone smiled. That made sense. “What about Harper?”

  “She’s working in a clinic right here in L.A. Downtown. She’s happy.”

  “Good. That’s great.”

  “We’re keeping under the radar, buddy. But this. This might turn into something ugly. And then what?”

  Boone looked him right in the eye. “We prevail.”

  IT WAS LATE AFTERNOON BY THE time Seth was finished with every room but the kitchen. Kate and Christie were still in there, but they weren’t working. They were cooking. And from what Boone could see, having a decent time of it.

  He was sitting at the table, looking over some of the bugs Seth had discovered. The technology was so cutting edge it felt more like James Bond equipment than real things used by real people. But there were lots of folks out there whose sole purpose in life was to try and crawl into places they didn’t belong. He should know.

  Seth sat down across from him. He looked tired, but healthy. Which was good. They all needed to stay in shape.

  “What’s cooking?” he asked.

  “Chicken and rice, with assorted vegetables,” Christie said. “And for dessert? Nothing. Not even a damn piece of pie.”

  “Why not?” Seth asked.

  “Blame your friend.”

  Seth slugged Boone in the arm. “You still don’t get it about women and chocolate, do you, buddy?”

  “Shut up. She’s in training.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  Boone laughed, and Seth did, too, and it was good to hear that. He watched as Seth got out his gadgets, knowing the full sweep in the kitchen wasn’t going to be made easier by the crowd, but that was okay, too. It was good to be a team, however makeshift.

  “Whoa, what’s this?”

  Boone looked at what Seth was worried about. His scanner was pinging, but Boone couldn’t tell where it was pointed. He had to look under the table. At Milo.

  “Oh, shit,” he said.

  Seth looked at him with a shake of his head, then leaned down and petted Milo on the neck. He paused, nodded once.

  “RFID?”

  “Yep.”

  “How long has this bastard been tracking her?” Boone asked, although there was no way in hell he was ever going to have the answer.

  Chapter 9

  “WHAT IS THAT?” Christie moved closer to Boone and Seth, who were crouched over Milo. “What are you talking about?”

  Boone looked up at her. “Does Milo have an electronic dog tag?”

  “No,” she said. “I thought about getting one, but I wasn’t sure about the side effects.”

  “That’s what I thought,” he said. He petted Milo, who rewarded him with a whimper and a lick. “Good boy.” Boone stood, but Seth stayed down, manipulating Milo’s neck.

  “Is he hurt?” she asked, willing herself not to get crazy. It was hard, though, because it was Milo.

  “No, he probably didn’t feel any pain. The RFID is implanted with a needle. Only, this one feels larger. It’s got broadcasting capabilities. Its own power source.”

  “So is he listening to us?” she asked, her voice in an involuntary whisper.

  “No,” Seth said. “It’s not a listening device. It’s a location tracker.”

  “He knows where we run,” Boone said. “Train. Shoot.”

  Christie sat at the table, thinking seriously about having a drink, even though she wasn’t that fond of liquor. This was all so bizarre. The bastard was tracking them through her dog? What kind of mentally defective creep was he?

  “We have to get it out of him,” Seth said as he stood. “I’ll get my bag.”

  “Wait just a minute here.” Christie looked from Seth to Boone. “Are you thinking of cutting him up?”

  Boone came around to her side of the table and sat next to her. “We’ll make sure he isn’t hurt.” He looked at Seth. “You have any Novocain in there?”

  “Close enough.”

  Christie backed away from Boone. “Are either of you veterinarians? No? Then there is no way in hell you’re going near my dog with a knife. Is that clear?”

  Boone looked at Seth. Kate looked at her hands. Seth scratched his head. Then he paused, and connected again with Boone. “I can fix it. But you’ll have to take him to a vet to get it removed.”

  “What do you mean, fix it?” Christie asked.

  “No knives. Nothing like that. I can disable it.”

  “It won’t hurt Milo?”

  “Milo won’t feel a thing.” Seth bent to his duffel.

  Christie turned to Boone again, wanting to make sure that this was all legit. If something happened to Milo…

  “I trust him,” Boone said. “I’d let him do it to me.”

  “Okay. But if Milo so much as whines.”

  “I’ll stop him.” He touched her hand, and the effect was immediate and more calming than she could have imagined.

  Kate got up and went to check the chicken. She got a spoon out of the drawer and tasted the sauce, smiling her approval.

  Christie liked her. She was a tough cookie, and it was good to have her
on the team.

  “We still have to get this room finished,” Boone said, in his familiar whisper. Then he looked at Christie. “You can go in your room,” he said. “Get some clothes, whatever.”

  “Did you throw it all out?”

  “Seth is going to do that for us when he leaves. I don’t want to put those sheets in your garbage.”

  “That’s smart,” she said. “Good.”

  “You want to go there now? Give Seth some room to finish up his work?”

  “Sure.” She got up, and walked with Boone down the hallway. Glancing at Seth as she walked by, she saw he had some sort of electronic device he was working on, but she had no idea what it was. If Boone trusted him, so would she. Hell, what choice did she have.

  Boone moved right next to her in the hallway. He put his hand on the small of her back. A simple move meant to reassure her. It did that, but holy crap, so much more.

  Everything about last night came back in a head rush. The way he looked, standing naked by the tub. The feel of his chest on her back. The way her hand had been filled with his thick cock.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Nothing.”

  “It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’ve got you.”

  She smiled. She’d never get tired of hearing him say that. It didn’t just make her feel safe. It made her swoon. Her grin got bigger as she thought about that. Her? Swooning? Nate would be on the floor laughing if she’d suggested such a thing. But then, he’d never have imagined her in a situation this bizarre. This terrifying.

  She stopped smiling at the door. Everything inside her revolted at the idea of walking in there. Her favorite room. Her sanctuary. Defiled in a way that turned her stomach.

  “Christie.”

  She looked at Boone. His green eyes were steady, his whole body strong and determined. But he wouldn’t push her. He’d let her make the call. “Let’s lock and load,” she said.

  In return, he graced her with that half smile of his. That, and standing by her side as she opened the door.

  Of course, her gaze went straight to the bed. He’d remade it, which surprised her. Nothing fancy, just some of her sheets with a comforter she’d gotten as a gift from a client. Clean pillowcases. No trace of the red, sticky mess. No scent at all. But it wasn’t her bedroom. Not anymore.