Page 64 of Stalked

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

They were out in the hall talking about her. As soon as Molly announced about the transmitter, Steve and Molly had immediately stopped talking. It took Rosalyn a minute to understand why.

They were afraid the Watcher could hear everything they were saying.

Steve wrote her a note explaining that, but Rosalyn had already figured out that he and Molly weren’t just being rude.

Meanwhile, Rosalyn was fighting the urge to find some sort of pliers and yank the crown out of her jaw.

The Watcher had a transmitterinsideher body. Rosalyn laughed out loud, although she could recognize the hysteria that tinged it.

All these weeks when she thought the Watcher was inside her head she’d been literally right.

She glanced around for pliers again. Yeah, it would hurt, but the pain might be worth knowing he was out of her thoughts once and for all. But she couldn’t find anything in the lab.

Steve and Molly came back in about ten minutes later.

“It’s okay—we can talk.” Steve came to stand in front of her, putting his hands on her shoulders and rubbing them gently.

“But can’t he hear us? The transmitter?” Rosalyn fought to keep her voice even.

“No. Not here at Omega. We use a similar jamming device as the Ammonses use in Georgia. We want to make sure criminals are not privy to our private conversations.”

Molly looked up from where she had sat down at her computer. “And ours are on a much greater scale and more sophisticated than the jammers in Georgia. Anything you say here is safe.”

Steve wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Let’s go up to the conference room. We need to get Jon and Brandon on a conference call and figure out our next step.”

“I want to get it out as soon as possible,” she told both of them. “Fortunately, I couldn’t find a pair of pliers while you were in the hallway talking or I might have already taken care of it myself.”

“Absolutely,” Steve agreed. “I want that thing out of you just as much, believe me.”

“It’s still a crown. It’s cemented in,” Molly reminded them. “A dentist will be much less painful and ready for any emergency.”

She and Steve were both deep in their own thoughts as they made it back to the conference room. He had Brandon and Jon on the line within minutes, explaining what they’d found.

“That makes so much sense,” Brandon said. “The reason why he could find Rosalyn at Steve’s house but can’t find her at Omega.”

“Yes,” Steve agreed. “Molly and I already double-checked. Omega’s frequency jammer is keeping the signal from being broadcast any farther than the building.”

“So he probably has no idea where you are, Rosalyn,” Jon said.

“That’s right,” Steve agreed. “And even if he somehow followed her, there’s no way he can get in.”

She felt safe, but she still wanted the thing out of her mouth.

“More important,” Brandon said, “this gives us a big clue as to who the Watcher is.”

Steve turned to her. “Your dentist, Rosalyn. There’s no way that transmitter could’ve been put in the crown by accident. Whoever did your dental work is most likely the Watcher.”

“Fits the profile,” Jon agreed. “Intelligent. Professional. My personal bet had been on some sort of doctor, but I guess a dentist is close enough. Plus, he would’ve had days he could devote to following you and days he couldn’t, thus the gap in notes sometimes.”

Of course. Rosalyn felt a little stupid that she hadn’t thought of that immediately.

“I’m going to bet you had that done about a year ago?” Brandon asked.

“Yes.” Rosalyn sat down in one of the conference room chairs. “I don’t like going to the dentist. So I found one who would put me under general anesthesia to do the root canal.”

She looked at Steve. “Actually, my sister was the one who told me about him. I think he practices all over the Southeast. Gunson was his last name. I don’t remember his first.”

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