Page 60 of Stalked

“Great, Roman,” Steve said. “I need you to stay there and keep an eye on the Ammonses. If you’re right about everything, there shouldn’t be a problem. We think we have a profile on the killer. Doesn’t look like he’ll be coming your way, but just in case.”

“Got it, boss.”

Roman gave a little more information before hanging up, promising to keep a watchful eye for anything unusual.

“Well, that solves question one of the two. The Watcher couldn’t find you while you were at the Ammonses’ because the equipment they were using to block the government from hearing them—not that the government is listening to a couple in their seventies who have never broken the law—also kept the Watcher from being able to hear or find you.”

He could see Rosalyn’s relief at one more piece of the puzzle falling into place.

“Thank God.” She leaned back in her chair. “I was afraid he’d just been toying with me. That he was going to hurt the Ammonses in some way, even though I never mentioned him to them.”

“Looks like the Watcher may not know about them at all. Their government paranoia saved them from a serial killer.” Steve reached over and grabbed her hand again. He didn’t care if anyone else knew about his feelings for Rosalyn. It’s not like he’d done such a good job hiding them up to now.

They all took a break to eat lunch. Steve walked with Rosalyn to the small cafeteria in the building. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t missing any meals she couldn’t afford to miss. He saw her hands suddenly fly to her belly and a little smile cross her face. He knew the baby had kicked again.

It just made him all the more determined to keep them safe.

But to do that they had to figure out how the Watcher was finding them now.

Back in the conference after lunch, they pored over the case files, comparing what little dates and specific information they had to Rosalyn’s much more in-depth notebook. Jon and Brandon had already left, Jon to Tampa, Brandon to New Orleans, to see if they could gather more intel from talking to the victims’ families and the local police.

They wouldn’t give the families all the details in the cases, especially since right now it was only a theory, but they would let them know that there had been others who had suffered similar fates. Maybe there would be something—or someone—else the family members could remember.

Andrea worked with Joe Matarazzo to see if they could find any ties between the other four victims and Rosalyn. They’d shown Rosalyn all the women’s pictures, but she hadn’t recognized any of them.

Steve couldn’t stay with Rosalyn the entire day like he wanted to. He had to deal with Doug Wilson’s death; the tragic job of notifying the family belonged to him. He also had to catch up the local PD with what had happened at his house this morning.

He wanted Rosalyn’s case to be the only thing he had to work on, but it couldn’t be.

When he got back to the conference room at nearly nine o’clock that evening, she was still poring over her notes with Andrea and Joe.

“Time for everyone to go home,” he announced. “We’ll pick up fresh tomorrow.”

Joe nodded before hugging both women. Steve wasn’t offended or threatened. Joe was a people person to his very core.

“Tomorrow, boss,” he said on his way out.

“Tell Laura I said hello.” Steve and Laura, Joe’s bride, had become close since they both were almost burned alive by a psychopath a few months ago.

“I’m sure she’s going to want you to come to dinner with your new girlfriend.” Joe said it in an exaggerated stage whisper, winking at Steve.

Steve’s eyes met Rosalyn’s. She was shaking her head at Joe’s antics, as they all tended to do.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow too,” Andrea said as she put her blazer back on. She hugged Rosalyn. “We’ll start again first thing. Welcome to real-life police work. It takes time.”

Rosalyn’s frustration colored all her features as she looked down at the case files and papers spread out all over the table. It wasn’t messy but it was chaotic.

He slipped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Andrea’s right, you know. It takes time.”

She eased against him but rubbed her face with her hands. “We’ve gone over so much my brain hurts. And I don’t know that we’re any closer to catching the Watcher.”

“We are. Every day we put together more of the puzzle pieces. Soon we’ll have a good view overall.”

“I can’t stay here forever. He has me just as much trapped here as he did when he had me on the run before.”

He grabbed her by both shoulders so they could look eye to eye.

“No. You’re not alone here. You have people who will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. We will catch him, Rosalyn.”

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