by Mel Spenser
He handed Andy a piece of paper. "By the way, this was on your windshield when I got your car out of the library parking lot this afternoon."
Andy took it. The note was printed in bold, jagged script and all it said was, "Hi Andy. I'm back. Miss me?"
Nick watched Andy's face lose all color. He raised his eyes and met Nick's.
"Well?" Nick didn't look pleased. In fact, he looked kind of pissed.
Andy looked back down at the note and didn't say anything. Then he sighed and said, "I've kind of got myself a fatal attraction going on."
Nick didn't laugh at the half-assed attempt at a joke. He said nothing and just looked at Andy, waiting.
"I had already decided the other night that I was going to tell you about it. I was just waiting until we were alone again. I didn't want to ruin your weekend with your sister."
Andy could tell that may have been the wrong thing to say when Nick pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger, and said, "You didn't want to ruin my weekend… Jesus. This is the reason for all the security, isn't it?"
"You noticed that, did you?"
"Of course I noticed it, Andy." He dropped his hand and frowned at Andy. "What the fuck's going on? Is somebody trying to get at you?"
Andy had never seen Nick mad before, but he could tell that Nick was good and pissed. He didn't really like being on the receiving end of it. Finally he took a deep breath and met Nick's eyes.
"His name's Lee Sims. He's been stalking me for about a year or so."
"Goddamn it!"
Andy flinched. Yes, Nick was definitely pissed.
"Tell me about it." Nick had turned toward Andy in the car seat and his forearm rested on the steering wheel. He gave a couple of impatient turns of his hand. "Come on. Out with it. Tell me everything."
"Well… First you need to know that the staff who work in a public library are pretty much sitting ducks for any sick-o who wanders in. They know our names because we wear badges. They can easily figure out which car we drive. They could even follow us and we'd never know it. That's basically what happened to me."
"Go on." Again with the impatient hand gesture.
"Lee came in one day and I helped him just like I would anybody else. I remember that he had questions about identity theft. Like a lot of the people who come in, he had no idea what it was that he really wanted, so I got some information on the screen. I asked him if he wanted to come behind the desk to look at what I'd found to see if there was anything he could use."
"When he got behind the desk, he got up real close in my space. He didn't stink, so I tried to ignore the fact that he was practically right on top of me. Then he launched into this story about how someone was out to kill a friend of his. Then the story changed that it was the CIA trying to kill his friend. It was at that point that I knew I was dealing with a nutcase."
"I tried to steer him back to his original question. Then, out of the blue, he asked me if I ever noticed the fear on the faces of the people who are in snuff films. That pretty much pissed me off. I told him that I wouldn't know because I had no interest in that kind of stuff and I don't watch those kinds of films. I made one last attempt to bring him back to the thing he'd originally asked me about. He started getting off on a tangent again. I'd had enough, so I stood up to let him know that we were finished, and he backed off.
"He came in the next day and wanted to check out a laptop. They check out for two hours in the building. He turned it in three hours late. Meaning he'd been in the building for at least five hours. Then he started bitching to the staff about the late fee. Of course, being the manager, I had to get involved. I wasn't too sympathetic because I was still pissed at him from the previous day. I pointed to his signature on the agreement. I told him that since he had signed for the machine, he had obviously read the policy and agreed to it. I refused to waive his fine, and he got verbally abusive with my staff. I told him to leave.
"Anyway, I thought it would end there, but it didn't. I was at a gay club one night and he showed up. He started coming on to me, and I shut him down.
"He wouldn't go away after that. He started leaving me notes on my car. He'd IM me. He's a mechanic and he would drive his customers' cars, so I could never tell when he was following me. He'd show up at the weirdest places. It seemed like I was seeing him everywhere.
"Then, one night, he broke in to my house. I went to get something out of the fridge, and the fucker was standing right there in my kitchen. Before I knew what was happening, the crazy bastard attacked me, and I went out like a light. I didn't even have time to fight back. He didn't realize Sandy and Eric were there visiting. They were in the TV room. They heard all the commotion and came running. Eric's a pretty big dude and he beat the shit out of the guy. We had him arrested.
"While I was in the hospital, Sandy used some of the house trust fund and hired a company that specialized in home security. They yanked out the bushes, put up fences and installed the system. She got Henry. I filed a restraining order against Lee. Then it all stopped. It looked like Lee had left town. I started letting my guard down. I haven't heard from him in months. Until recently."
"When did it start up again?"
"A little over a month ago."
"What has he done?"
"He IMs me at work. He calls and hangs up."
"Anything else?" Nick asked.
"No."
"Have you seen him?"
"No."
"Does your sister know?"
"No."
"Five weeks. And you didn't tell anyone."
It was an accusation. And it cut deep. Andy looked out the window and didn't respond.
"So, what does he look like?"
"He kind of looks like Howdy Doody. He's got carrot red hair and freckles on his cheeks. He's tall. But not as tall as you. And doughy looking."
The description sounded vaguely familiar to Nick, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
"So this whole time we've been together you've been going home late at night by yourself. And that son-of-a-bitch has probably been watching your house."
Andy just looked down at the note in his lap.
"I'm sorry, Nick."
Nick stared at Andy in disbelief with his mouth gaping open, then all but yelled, "What the hell do you have to be sorry about?! You haven't done anything wrong! You're the victim here!"
Andy winced at his tone and looked over at him.
"Come here, goddamn it." Nick grabbed him around the shoulders, pulled him close and held him tight. Andy put a hand on Nick's arm that was across the front of his chest.
Nick put his mouth up to Andy's temple and said, "Now you listen to me. Until we get this fucker, you are not going to take any chances. No more driving home alone late at night. You understand?"
Andy nodded.
"Jesus, Andy." He released Andy and put the car in gear.
"Okay. Let me think." He pulled out of the lot. "You're leaving town next week for your trip. Is it too late for me to go? Does that invitation still stand? Or do you even still want me to come?"
"Of course!"
"Good. Because I want to come, damn it. I just didn't admit it to you or myself before."
Andy raised a brow and looked over at him. Nick was clearly agitated, but it was obvious that he wasn't mad at Andy.
"We'll go to your place and I'll book it tonight. Until we leave town, there's no way in Hell you're getting out of my sight unless you're at work. I'm going to hire someone to track that son of a bitch down while we're out of town and we'll deal with him when we get back. Now let's go get something to eat, damn it. I'm starving."
***
That night, Nick was able to book the same flight to Cancun as Andy's. They added his name to Andy's room at the resort. Andy called his sister to let her know that Nick was coming on the trip.
Nick also made him tell her about Lee. Andy had a hang-dog look on his face and held the phone away from his ear when she let him have it for not tellin
g anyone sooner. Nick took pity on him and grabbed the phone away from him.
"Sandy? This is Nick."
"Oh, hi, Nick. It's nice to finally meet you. At least over the phone, anyway. I've heard so much about you. Apparently you're gorgeous."
"So I've been told." He smiled at Andy, who was turned away from him changing into some sleep pants.
"Can you believe this shit? Can you believe he's started this crap up again?"
"Pretty sick. Listen, Sandy. I wanted to let you know that we’re going hire someone to find this guy and take care of this once and for all."
"Thanks, Nick. I'm glad Andy has someone who cares about him. And I'm really glad that you're going with us on the trip. I can't wait to meet you in person."
"I'm looking forward to it." He watched Andy crawl under the covers. As he continued talking on the phone, he saw Andy lift the edge of the blanket and pat the bed. Henry slinked up next to him and curled up in a tight ball. Andy let the cover drop over them both.
Nick finished his conversation with Sandy. Then he turned off the lights, shucked his clothes and got into bed. He reached out, pulled Andy up against him and they spooned.
"Good night, love."
Andy was already half asleep. He wasn't sure if he'd really heard what Nick had said, or if he'd dreamed it.
Chapter 8
"There it is." Andy pointed to an unobtrusive building in the middle of the block. A discreet sign said Briggs Private Investigations. They had been going up and down the one-way streets in downtown Houston in rush hour traffic for the last fifteen minutes,
trying to hit the block at the right place for the address.
Nick signaled and gunned the engine. He streaked between traffic and across two lanes, almost launching the coupe into the parking lot.
"Damn. Mr. Toad's wild ride," Andy said and held onto the inside of the door as Nick zipped into a space and halted.
"There's something to be said for little cars in city driving."
They both got out of the car and headed to the entrance.
"So you think this guy can help us?"
"I hope so. Let's listen to what he has to say." Nick held the door open for Andy and they went in.
The receptionist buzzed through and let the detective know that they were there.
It wasn't very long before the inner office door opened. A dark-haired man about Nick's build, wearing kakis and a polo shirt, came out into the waiting room.
"Hello. I'm James Briggs." They shook hands. "Come on in my office."
They all sat down and Briggs said, "So tell me what's going on."
Nick let Andy explain the situation with Lee and all that had happened. Briggs took a lot of notes while Andy talked, and asked several questions. They let Briggs know that the hard part would be finding Lee because he was so mobile.
Finally, Briggs seemed satisfied that he'd gotten the information he needed.
"Okay. This is how I suggest we start. We need to locate Sims first. I'll do a preliminary investigative sweep of the usual databases and see where he pops up. You said that he is a mechanic, so I'll need a list of places where you know that he has worked in the past. Then I can approach it from that angle. Also, you said that you know he goes to some of the gay clubs in the area. So you need to let me know which ones you've seen him at. With his description, it shouldn't be too hard to find someone who's seen him.
"You said that both of you guys were leaving town?"
"We're leaving on Friday for Cancun. We won't be back for two weeks," Andy said.
"Oh, I should have something for you by then. I should at least know where he's living and some of his habits. When you get back, we'll meet again and decide how to proceed from there. If you haven't done so already, I need for you to file a report with the police to document the fact that Sims is at it again. Once I locate him, we can let the police know where to find him. They will take him in if he's violated the restraining order. It will put some pressure on him. I have several contacts with the police department and they are pretty good about working with me. Especially on these stalker cases. They get frustrated themselves because their hands are tied a lot of the time and they don't usually get called in until it's too late."
Nick frowned. "That's what we want to avoid. We don't want to wait around for this guy to make his next move."
The meeting was coming to an end and Briggs escorted them to the door.
"Stephanie will discuss fees with you."
Briggs shook their hands.
"You guys have a good vacation. I should have some information on Sims by the time you get back. Then we'll decide what to do next."
They left after Nick signed the contract.
"So, are you hungry?" Nick asked as they got into the car.
"Yeah. Let's go get something." Andy put on his seatbelt. "We need to think about going shopping for you for the trip. You don't have anything to wear. Damn workaholic."
"You're right. Let's think about it while we eat."
Chapter 9
Nick and Andy sat waiting for the plane to get ready for take off. The seats in front of them jiggled around as the twins checked out everything within their reach. Two small hands gripped the top of the seat in front of Andy's. They were followed by a blond head.
"Hey, Uncle Andy?"
They both looked up at Lydia. Her green eyes twinkled at them over the back of the seat. Libby's set of identical green eyes peered at them lower down from between the seats.
"Are we going to get to swim in that underground river you were telling us about?"
"Of course, kiddo. It's really neat."
"Can we ride horses down to the beach?" This was Libby.
"We can do that, too."
"Cool."
"Are we going to see the baby sea turtles?" Lydia again.
"You bet."
"I can hardly wait!" They said in unison. Excitement just poured off of the twins.
"Come on, girls, time to buckle up." Eric said from across the aisle. "We're getting ready to take off."
They both disappeared from sight, but their seats were still bouncing around from the excitement.
Nick took Andy's hand as the plane lifted off.
Before they left, Nick talked to Briggs and the private detective told him what he had found out so far on Lee. Andy filed a police report stating that Lee was at it again. Now they could put that nut out of their minds and just enjoy the next nine days of their vacation.
***
It was a short flight and, before they knew it, they were standing in line in the stifling heat with hundreds of other tourists waiting to get through customs.
Everyone took their turn going through the customs security turnstile. Each person had to press a large button as they went through. A green light meant that you were good to go. A red light meant that your luggage got searched. It was random selection. Everyone got a green light. Eric got a red light.
The rest of them waited while Eric put his suitcase on a table and opened it. An airport security person wearing surgical gloves began taking things out of Eric's suitcase and made a show of examining his personal stuff.
Andy started snickering. Sandy glared at Andy.
Of course the security person had to be a woman, which just added to Eric's embarrassment. She poked around among Eric's underwear and toiletries. Eric got red in the face when a pair of his boxers fell out on the table.
Andy started laughing. Sandy smacked Andy on his stomach with the back of her hand, "You're so juvenile."
Andy grabbed his gut when she slapped him. "I can't believe it! This happens to him every single time." He laughed harder.
"Shut up, you delinquent." Sandy muttered at him. She smacked Andy on the back of his head. That only made him start laughing his ass off.
Nick watched the interaction between Sandy and Andy with interest. It was uncanny how much she and Andy resembled each other. She was a feminine version of him. She had the same color blond hair, gr
een eyes and fair skin as Andy. Even their mannerisms were similar.
Security finally decided that Eric wasn't a threat and let him go. The others stood around watching as he started repacking.
"This happens to me every time I come here. Nobody else in our party ever gets the red light. Just me." Eric was mumbling as he stuffed everything back into his suitcase so he could close it.
"It's probably because you look like an evil-doer." Andy was still chuckling. "Maybe you ought to just put your undies in Sandy's suitcase and save yourself the embarrassment next time. She never gets the red light."