Page 10 of Waiting to Lose
HE SAT IN a conference room inside the Denver arena, surrounded by files, reports and photographs. A few hours after he demanded information, Jake was faced with piles of it. Peter Markum had been released from jail this morning and successfully tailed ever since. Dave had found his last residence in an apartment on the outskirts of L.A. and had a retired detective from his days at the police department tracking his every movement. Jake scanned photos of him entering his apartment. Through a window, they were able to see him typing at a laptop. Jake wanted to know what he was looking at, but unless they broke into his room and installed spyware, there was no way to know for sure, since he always faced the small window when he was on it. There were ten different files on him. Jake shoved his fingers through his hair, sighing as he picked one up and examined every word.
Dave handed him a sheet of paper as he flipped through the pages of a report. “His mother’s name was Brenda Markum. Father was listed as unknown. His mother died ten years ago from a drug overdose, and he lived with his grandmother, Helen, until she passed away last year. She left him all her money and he’s been living off it since. He goes by several aliases, some of which are Thomas Rose, Thomas Markum, Peter Thomas and Peter T. Rose. He’s worked several jobs for short periods of time. The most recent before you was at a factory where they made mannequins. Creepy son of a bitch.”
Jake’s eyes briefly stopped at Peter T. Rose as he followed along with his copy of the report. It looked familiar for some reason, but he couldn’t place it.
“We’re having a hard time with the juvenile records. I’m calling in a few favors to see what we can learn, but it may take a while. We are gathering previous hate mail that you received to see if there is a match to the handwriting sample we collected. It’s being examined as we speak.”
Jake nodded his head. “I want all this inside my locked room on the bus. Is the security in place for my family? Did you hear from Rob?”
Dave and Caleb both nodded.
“Where’s Ang?” Jake asked.
“I’m here.” Ang walked toward him from behind, wringing her hands. “Can I speak with you in private, please?”
Jake put his arm around her after everyone cleared the room. The meeting with the staff had gone well, but Jake could tell Ang was worried. “I know what you’re going to say.”
Ang sat down in a chair and Jake followed suit. “Do you? Do you know that I think that keeping this from Madi is one of the dumbest things you could possibly do?”
“I’m not keeping it from her forever. I’ll see her in a month. I’m going to tell her everything when she’s in front of me and I can tell her she’s safe. I’m waiting for him to slip up, Ang, just once, so there’s a reason to put him away. She’s secure in Chicago.”
Ang swallowed hard. “I know you think you’re doing the right thing, but don’t you think Madi will be angry you didn’t tell her?”
Jake rubbed his chin as he pondered Ang’s words. His fingers plowed through his hair once again as he stood and paced the room. “What choice do I have? If I tell her now, she’ll be scaredandangry and I’m too far away to explain. At least I know when I’m with her, there’s a chance she won’t be angry for long. I have someone on him 24/7. I have someone watching over her as we speak. I would never risk her life, for any reason.”
“You know how I feel. You’d better hope that guard you have on her stays out of her way. She’s smart. Don’t you think she’ll notice him?”
Jake cracked a smile. He’d learned that Madi was more observant than he’d given her credit for. Even on the phone, she could see right through him. “He’s trained to stay invisible. I’m just trying to protect her.”
“I know, sweetie.” Ang reached out and touched his shoulder. “I know you mean well, but you’re a man. No offense.”
Jake smiled. “None taken.”
“You think you need to safeguard her, but Madi’s strong. She has a right to know.”
“Just please let me do this my way, Ang.”
Ang shook her head and sighed. “You’d better practice how you’re going to tell her. If I know her at all, she’s not going to hold back when she explains to you what she thinks about your way of ‘protecting’ her.”
Jake knew Ang was right. He didn’t like hiding things from her, but it was only for a few more weeks, and he convinced himself he was doing the right thing. In the meantime, he needed to find out why this stranger hated him and why he had tried to use Madi to exact his revenge.
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