Tough As Nails

Yes, Mike made her feel safe, and dammit, that’s what she needed right now.

No, cried a voice deep down in her soul. She was through leaning on any man. Hadn’t she learned the hard way that the only person she could count on was herself? Whatever was going on, she would face the problem and triumph.

Bracing herself, she pulled her hand away and grabbed a tissue from her handbag. After blotting her mascara, she gave him a shaky smile. “I’m okay now.”

His eyes narrowed. “I’m afraid it’s worse than you think.”

She glanced up at him. “What do you mean?”

“The device I found does more than just listen to your phone calls.” His jaw clenched.

She could see his quiet anger toward whoever was behind this. Was he always this emotionally involved with his cases, or was she an exception?

“What do you mean by more than a listening device?”

“I won’t know what the range of the transmitter is until I check it out in the lab.” Mike whispered. “I know it picks up conversations while the phone is on the hook.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “You mean the stalker has heard everything my clients have said while in session?”

He nodded. “Overheard and possibly recorded.”

“But how?”

“It’s a little more complicated than in the movies where someone sits in a van listening to tapes through a headset. Some P.I.s might still do that, but today’s technology that allows visual enhancement of the rings of Jupiter can easily enhance a whisper on the street to symphony-hall clarity.”

She was suddenly speechless.

“TALON-6 uses the cutting edge in surveillance equipment.” His mouth firmed. “We’ll find out who’s doing this and put him away.”

“But…he’s already learned information that could be devastating.” Her thoughts went immediately to Billie Ray Bennett. Could he possibly have the expertise to do something like this? From what she could remember, he was a high-school dropout. But if he wasn’t behind the photographs, then who?

“Mike, are you absolutely sure that what’s said in my office can be heard even though the phone is on the hook?”

“Yes, it’s done every day. Any room sound can be heard and recorded up to as much as fifteen hundred feet, and more on some units. That means through two or more closed doors.”

She shook her head. “I can hardly believe it.”

“It’s easy. The device is activated by sounds. All the stalker has to do to hear or record what’s being said is to start an external stimulus that triggers the bug. It can be done simply by dialing your number. You think it’s a wrong number, but it’s enough to trigger the device.”

“But why me? Who’s doing this and what do they want?”

Mike clenched his jaw, determination darkening his blue eyes. “I promise you, Bria. I’m going to find out.”

Nervously, she glanced out the taxi window at the pedestrians crowding the sidewalk. Hundreds, thousands, millions of people in New York City. The stalker could be any one of them.

“I’m not sure I feel better knowing all these things,” she said finally.

“I’m not trying to scare you, but it’s for your own protection. You’ve got to know what and who we’re dealing with.”

“Of course. You’re right,” she said, realizing that she needed to protect her clients. “I need to know.”

HE TAPPED HIS FINGERS along the computer pad, trying to control his fury.

Did they really think he wouldn’t have known that they had found the bug? Stupid, arrogant bitch. She hires a wiretap man from TALON-6 and thinks he’ll keep her safe. Well, she’d learn her lesson, and so would he.

He clicked off the monitor, then walked to the darkroom. The next photo will frighten the hell out of her. He could hardly wait.

A pity that he couldn’t have seen the bitch’s face when they found the bugging device inside the phone. It didn’t matter. Soon he’d get what he wanted.

Very soon it will be over. And he knew exactly what it would take to bring her out into the open.

He laughed. Damn, she’d go willingly. She always did. Run right after one of her flock. He grinned, thinking of the way her eyes would bulge in shock, her mouth twist in terror while she begged him for her life.

Landis was an extra bonus, an added thrill. Once the incriminating evidence was planted, Landis would be the first person the police would think murdered her.

Thank you, bitch. He laughed. Yeah, now that he had a chance to think about it, he was ecstatic at the lucky turn of events.

He grabbed the telephone and punched in the numbers that were deeply burned into his memory.