Page 59 of Stalked

“That’s his way of trying to continue his manipulation of you.” Steve squeezed her hand. “There’s no way he can get to you here. We’ll put protective custody around your mom.”

“The Ammonses too. In Georgia,” Rosalyn whispered.

Steve nodded. “Roman should be checking in soon. He was meeting with them this morning.”

“We’ve still got a lot of holes,” Jon said. “The same ones Brandon was mentioning last night. Mainly, why didn’t you hear from the Watcher for the six months you were in Georgia, and how he keeps knowing where you are, even though there aren’t any more tracking devices on your clothing. There’s no way he should’ve been able to find you at Steve’s house last night.”

“I swear I didn’t tell him where I was,” Rosalyn was quick to interject.

“No one thinks you did,” Andrea murmured, leaning closer to Rosalyn.

Steve nodded quickly. “No one is idiot enough to think you’re involved.”

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged, grinning sheepishly. “At least not today.”

She rolled her eyes. Steve was so happy to see her more lively that he couldn’t be the least bit irritated.

When he’d seen the note that threatened their baby... Renewed rage caused Steve’s fists to clench. He would make this right no matter what it took.

“We’re still looking for other cases,” Jon said. “Because of the intensity of his crimes, we’re pretty sure he can only stalk one woman at a time, maybe two at the most. None of the cases overlap. There are probably others but we haven’t found them yet. And we’re still gathering info on the cases we have found.”

A call beeped through to the conference room’s phone. Steve pressed the speaker button.

“Roman Weber is holding for you, Steve,” Cynthia told him. “He’s in Ellijay, Georgia.”

“Good. Maybe he can provide some answers. Put him through.”

“Hey.” Roman’s voice came through clearly. “Remind me next time you want me to go to some tiny town in Georgia to make you send someone else.”

Steve caught the slightest hint of a smile on Rosalyn’s face.

“Roman, I have you on speaker in the conference room. Everyone’s here.”

“I talked to the Ammonses this morning. Like Rosalyn said, they’re good people. Just don’t trust the government much. Their son died in the military, years ago, but I think they were probably pretty skeptical before that.”

“Okay. Did you find anything of interest?”

“I tell you what, these people are more than ready for a TEOTWAWKI event. They’ve got a cellar full of food, water purifiers, ammunition. You name it.”

Rosalyn looked confused. “What doesTEOTWAWKImean?”

“The end of the world as we know it,”Jon explained. “A lot of survivalists use the term.”

“They’re definitely off the grid. No computers, only one phone. The whole town is prepared for a zombie apocalypse or whatever, but the Ammonses are definitely the most paranoid.”

“Did you talk to them yourself?” Steve asked.

“Yes, they said to give you their best, Rosalyn. And to let you know you are welcome back at any time.”

Rosalyn smiled. “If you see them again, send my best too. I know they’re not very talkative.”

“That’s for sure. Steve, in all their survivor gear—and believe me, it’s extensive—they have some jamming devices. They didn’t want the government listening in on them in any way. This wouldn’t stop a lot of the higher-end devices we have now, but it would’ve protected them from the basics.”

And there they had it. One mystery solved. Steve looked at Rosalyn across the table. “And their equipment would have interfered with transmissions of all kinds.”

“No doubt. I thought you would find that interesting, given the transmission devices you found on Rosalyn’s clothes.”

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