Page 38 of Teach Me
“Canvas found no witnesses yet. We’ll run the security tapes tomorrow, see if any clues are there.”
“Start with the camera over apartment thirty-one. It’s pointed directly at her door. No way could it have missed a direct shot of anyone going in,” Conlan said.
Gaines frowned. After consulting his notes again, he said, “The office records don’t say anything about a camera in the hallway. At either end, yes, but not over one of the apartments.”
“I saw it while we waited for y’all to do your thing.” He named the brand, and Jack whistled.
“Popular with high-end security teams and high-end thieves.”
Jess was starting to get an even worse feeling than she’d had for about four hours. “Are you saying he’s not just following me, he’s videotaping me?” She’d known about the pictures, but video?Insideher apartment building?
So he’d followed her, taken pictures of her at intimate moments, tracked down her e-mail address, her new apartment… “I think I might be sick.”
One side of Gaines’s mouth quirked down in something vaguely resembling a grimace. “We don’t know that for certain,” he said, overriding Conlan, who’d opened his mouth to answer. “And even if we did know someone had a camera placed in that location, we haven’t tied it to Holbrooke.”
A long look passed between Jack and Conlan, one that Gaines intercepted.
“This is an official APD investigation. I’m assuming I’ll have your full cooperation, gentlemen?”
“Are you asking us not to butt our noses in?” Jack asked.
“Yes.”
Jack shrugged. “Sure.”
They all knew he was lying, but Gaines didn’t pursue it. After making a final note, he began gathering the papers. When all was neat and tidy, he leaned forward, resting his clasped hands against the table.
“I can tell you that I will investigate, Ms. Kingston—without prejudice. What we’ll find, I don’t know.” The predator was back in his eyes, and Jess braced herself for his next words. “Holbrooke’s position in this city is not a factor for me, but neither will he be my only focus. When the evidence comes in and we have more to go on, we will definitely be in contact with you. Officer Davies is supervising the scene until the crime techs are done, and he will allow you to pick up some personal items. We’ll need to know how to contact you.”
“How to…? God, I didn’t even think…” She couldn’t go home, not for more than to pick up a few things, if she could even find a few things intact.
Conlan squeezed her fingers again. “She’ll be with me. You have my information.”
Jess’s breath stuttered. “What?”
She wasn’t the only one surprised. Jack jerked his head around, staring at Conlan for a few moments before a small, satisfied smile touched his lips. Jess couldn’t begin to guess what that was about; she was too busy reeling from Conlan’s declaration.
“I-I can call Cris. I should—”
“Holbrooke knows you, Jess. If you aren’t at home, where’s the first place he’ll look?”
He was right; he’d go straight to her best friend. “Still, I—”
“With me, baby, and that’s final. You need around-the-clock protection until this is over.”
Baby.How she loved hearing him say that, enough so that his last words almost slipped by her. “I can’t afford around-the-clock protection.”
Jack chuckled. “I don’t think he’s planning on charging you.”
Jess shot him a glare before turning back to Conlan. “Wouldn’t your address be easily available? I mean, he saw us together. He knows your name, your phone number.”
“Trust me; I’m not worried about him. I protect people for a living, remember? For tonight at the very least, you’re stuck with me.”
“I don’t th—”
“Don’t think, not right now.”
Which was how she found herself sitting in Conlan’s car a few minutes later, headed toward her apartment. At almost midnight, traffic was sparse, but even so, she couldn’t help wondering at the normalcy of people going about their lives, hanging with friends, doing whatever. She was headed to her trashed apartment to see if she had any clothes left, then going home with the man who’d refused to sleep with her but now wanted her living in his pocket. Her world was so far from normal it wasn’t even funny.
