As soon as they were inside, she shut the door and sank into her chair. “He just called me.”
“He?” For one moment Jake looked puzzled, and then said forcefully, “Holy shit, are you kidding me? What did he say?”
She told him, word for word, and watched as comprehension of what was actually happening crossed his face. When she finished, he said nothing for a moment. Then he murmured, “It sounds to me like this asshole has some serious problems. We should call the police again. I’d guess they could do something about tapping your phone.”
Jana looked at him and took a deep breath. “That last part was a direct threat against you.”
“Yes, it sure sounded like that all right.”
“He got into your apartment pretty easily. Maybe you should stay with me. At least my house has an alarm system.”
Jake grinned in his signature boyish way. “You think I’m going to turn down that invitation? I concur one hundred percent, Professor. Considering last night, I think this guy needs to realize he’s doing me a serious favor.”
She made a futile helpless gesture with her hand. “I am not sure how you can joke right now, Jake.”
78
Kate Watterson
“I am not sure what else to do.” He bent over her chair and kissed her, a warm, slow pressure of his mouth. When he straightened, he smiled again. “Look, I’m glad you asked me, because I was going to suggest it anyway. Not for me, but for you.”
Jana shook her head. “I’m petrified right now, and I don’t like it one bit. It isn’t…me. I’m angry, too, that someone can interfere in our life like this.”
“I like the sound of that.”
She glanced up and met his dark eyes, his gaze steady.
“What?”
“Our life.”
Yes, she had said that, hadn’t she? “I didn’t mean it that way,”
she whispered.
“When you do, trust me, I’d love to hear it again,” Jake murmured.
Watcher
79
Most of the joy was in the planning, the anticipation. He
recognized it when the phase began, and rode with the hunger, the
yearning, feeding off what he knew was happening. The pretty
professor was scared now. Loverboy was probably a little nervous,
too. It was obvious they felt him, sensed his purpose. It had been a
week now since his message had been received and they spent
every minute as far as he could tell together. Quinn wasn’t a small
guy, athletically built, tall, with plenty of solid muscle, and he
probably thought he was capable of defending her and himself.
He was out of his league, The Watcher thought with a dark
smile. Way out. When the time came, it would be easy.
But it was too soon to end this .To stop the pleasure of it.
It was time to send the video. That should kick things up a
notch.
* * * *
The package sat on the passenger seat of her car, but Jana knew she’d left the vehicle locked. Instinctively she lifted her head and looked around. There was no blue truck, but this was a college campus and there were people walking around, their collars up against the recent drop in temperatures as the weather turned to a true fall chill.
“What the hell is this?” Jake opened the door and stared at it, the small manila envelope unmarked and looking innocuous 80
Kate Watterson
enough, except it hadn’t been there when they arrived that morning.
“I have no idea,” Jana admitted with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.
For a moment they stared at each other across the top of the BMW. In his dark eyes she saw a reflection of her reaction. A mingled fury and frustration, tempered by a healthy dose of trepidation. His good-looking face tightened and the cold wind whipped at his hair. “Your car has an alarm system.”
“I know.” She shivered and it wasn’t just the sting of the autumn breeze. “Should we call the police?”
“We don’t even know what it is or where it came from.” Jake shook his head and bent over to pick it up and tear open the envelope. Inside was a simple disc in a case, unmarked. “It’s too much to hope he left prints on anything. He’s too good at this. Get in the car, it’s freezing out here. I guess we’ll take this home and see what it is.”
Home
. He said in very naturally, and in truth, if it hadn’t been for the proverbial sword hanging over her head, the past two weeks had been pretty close to wonderful. It felt a little like she was coming alive again, as a woman, and as a person. A sort of thawing that came from within, and a glimmer of glimpsed happiness that gave a completion she didn’t know she craved.
In short, Jake Quinn was everything he seemed. Good-natured, intelligent, responsible, the list went on. Not to mention hot-blooded in bed, and considerate at all other times, too. Under that fabulous exterior existed a very nice man, and though she still felt the age difference, it now seemed a pretty trivial flaw in their growing relationship.
Yes, she had gotten a few teasing Incredible Quinn comments from her colleagues, but it really didn’t bother her in the way she thought it would. The only problem was it was all too comfortable too soon. How could they so smoothly slide into the normally
Watcher
81
rough transition of suddenly sharing a living space, especially as it had been hers alone for so long.
Was that actually a problem?
She liked him staying at her house, stalker or no stalker. She liked him in her bed, but also in her life. Actually, she just plain liked him.
Maybe more than liked.
Why the hell does someone have to ruin it
, she thought violently as she slid into the driver’s seat and started the car.
“He’s probably around somewhere, watching our reaction to finding this,” Jake stared out the window as she backed up the car and pulled out of the lot. “I have to admit to a certain primitive desire to find him and kick the living shit out of him.”
“I have a primitive desire to watch you do it,” she agreed, trying to just concentrate on driving and not that ominous disc.
“Yeah, well, we have to figure who he is first, and what he wants.”
She felt that inner queasy quiver in her stomach again.
“Besides my tires, he hasn’t really done anything bad.”
“Yet,” Jake said briefly, not looking over.
That one terse word was true and hard to argue.
Her house looked quiet and serene, a refuge with the carefully locked doors and expensive alarm Brian had insisted they install for the times he traveled. Jana pulled into the garage and they went inside. Jake lost no time but went to where the entertainment center sat discreetly in a large cherry cabinet against a wall in the living room. He opened the doors, inserted the disc into the DVD player, and pressed a button.
In the act of taking off her coat, Jana froze at the sound of her own voice. She whirled around to stare at the television screen.
The image flickered, and then focused.
Not a word. A moan.
Oh God.
82
Kate Watterson
It took a moment to sink in, but when it did, she felt a flush of outrage that made her whole body suddenly warm.
She was on her back, nude, knees bent and wide apart. Jake’s dark head was between her open legs, and he was licking her pussy with a skillful enthusiasm that had been wonderful at the time, his hands cupping her bare ass. As she watched in mortified horror, she arched into his mouth and moaned again, saying his name as she climaxed, her body shuddering.
“Jesus,” Jake muttered harshly. “Are you kidding me? That’s your bedroom.”
“Turn that off,” she demanded.
Jake turned and looked at her, and his face held that same hint of furious disbelief. “No, wait. Let’s see if we can figure out when this was filmed.”
“He could be here right now,” she pointed out, more than a little panicked. “Inside the house.”
“I doubt it. He’s fucking playing with us.”
The screen went blank, and then came alive again. This time she was on her knees, bare breasts front center camera, nipples tight and pointed. Jake lay propped against the pillows, his bold erection against his stomach, and as they both watched, she leaned forward and took his cock into her mouth. It was big, so she also stroked him with her hand too, cupping his balls as she moved up and down, sucking and licking.
“That was Tuesday,” he said almost inaudibly.
Jana glanced at him and asked in a voice that didn’t sound remotely like her own, “How do you know?”
“Good grief, you gave me a blow job for the first time. Like I’m going to forget that? Keep watching, pay attention, and let’s see if we can figure out if this was that one night, or several.”
She did, ill from the thought that whoever was harassing them had seen such intimate moments.
Things only got worse.
Watcher
83
The DVD lasted almost a full hour and obviously it had been edited. It was like a bad porn film, or maybe a
really
good porn film, for they weren’t acting, but actually enjoying themselves and each other. It had quite a variety, including almost every position they had tried. Her on top, riding him, eyes closed and head thrown back as she panted in enjoyment. Jake behind her, holding her breasts as they moved together in a rhythm of thrust and withdrawal…
All of the snippets showed the sexual intercourse they had shared, and all of it was graphic and personal.
This is a nightmare
, Jana thought frantically.
When the screen went blank, Jake pushed the button and turned around. “The camera never moved and those shots were taken over the course of several different nights. It’s in your bedroom somewhere. I’d guess it’s set to start automatically either at a certain time of day or activated by movement.”
“How could he get in?” she asked, cold all over. “Jake, what are we going to do?”
“First of all, call the police. They can find the camera.”
“I’m not letting them see that video!”
He shoved his fingers through his thick hair, making the dark strands more unruly than ever. “I’m not anxious for that either, but if you think this is the only copy, think again. For all we know, we’re currently stars on the internet sites that publish without the permission of the people involved. Jana, really, we need to report it.”
“I’m guessing they’ll want to look at it. No. Absolutely not.”
“I don’t know.” His mouth set in a thin line. “Maybe we can just say that we know it exists. After the slashed tires, my apartment break-in, and the phone call, they might believe us without further proof.”
“They might just buy a bucket of popcorn and enjoy
themselves,” Jana said acidly. “I think this is what he wanted. He 84
Kate Watterson
knew I wouldn’t want that video reported and I bet he’s sitting somewhere enjoying the idea we both feel violated, yet he won’t answer for it.”
Jake slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans. His dark gaze was steady. “Okay, it’s up to you. I’ll look for the camera myself and we won’t say a word. But I have to tell you, if we go that way, it feels to me like he’s in control of this situation.”
They certainly weren’t, and she felt it in the uncharacteristic edge of hysteria that seemed to hold her prisoner. Tears filled her eyes and she swallowed hard. “I’m not ashamed of anything we’ve done,” she said. “But on the other hand, it is only between you and me.”
“Hopefully so, and yes, that is how it is supposed to be.” Ever the pragmatic scientist when she seemed to have lost that part of herself, he sounded almost infuriatingly calm. “But that’s a gamble with this psycho, and when you think about it, it’s true. He could send a copy to anyone either of us knows. The son of a bitch took my checkbook, my mail, He knows where my parents live, for God’s sakes. Maybe they got a copy just today.”
“Jake,” she said in weak protest, and then had no choice but to walk to the couch and sink down, her legs felt so useless. “Don’t say that. I haven’t even met them yet. Oh God, what if you’re right? That would be the worst thing on earth.”
“No,” he disagreed and came over to sit next to her. His arms slid around her shoulders and his mouth comfortingly pressed her temple. “It would be embarrassing, but not the worst thing. The worst thing would be to let him win this…this thing, whatever it is, whatever his sick agenda. Come on, let’s call the police.”
How could she?
How couldn’t she?
Jana said dully, “All right.”
* * * *
Watcher
85
He hoped he’d done the right thing, hoped they knew what they were doing.
God, he certainly prayed that was true.
The detective took a mercifully brief glance at the beginning of the DVD, and with two uniformed officers went upstairs. They didn’t find the camera, but did find traces of adhesive on the back of the headboard of the bed itself, as if something had been taped there recently and removed.
Detective Larkin, young, blond, diffident, was the same one who had come to his apartment after the break in, and he seemed both sympathetic and grimly concerned. “I’m not surprised the camera is gone. Why lose a valuable piece of electronics? He must have known you’d search for it the minute you knew you’d been taped.”
Jana still sat on the couch in the elegant living room, looking shell-shocked but slightly more composed. “How did he get in?
I’m diligent about using the alarm system. If anyone opens a window or door, it’s supposed to go off plus directly contact the police department.”
“I’d say you need to have someone out to check it and make sure it’s all in working order. In my experience, these systems are a deterrent, but a really determined intruder can sometimes get around them. Especially if he knows what he’s doing.” Larkin paused for a moment and then said unemotionally, “He wants you to know he’s out there, that’s clear enough. He wants you to know he was in your house, that he knows where you work, and even what you do in the privacy of your bedroom, Dr. Johnson. Stalkers usually are pretty possessive of their victims and it looks like maybe when you started seeing Mr. Quinn, it set him off. What he told you on the phone, plus what he typed on the computer, indicates that his interest in you makes him resentful that you are having a sexual relationship with someone else.”