not,” Joshua said before she could answer, “but staying in Seattle makes sense right now. Nemesis has escalated since the move. It’s only when he acts that we have a hope of tracing who he is.”
“And how are you going to do that?”
“By using counterintelligence techniques. Nemesis definitely has sound devices—and maybe even visual ones—planted in Lise’s apartment. That’s a damn good lead.”
“You think he has visual?” Her skin crawled with images of some slimy guy in a dark room watching her go about her business. “Where?”
“I’m not sure he does, but we know what he can’t see. The entryway, hall, or your bedroom. If he could, he would not have thought I left when you shut the door.”
She hoped Joshua was wrong about Nemesis having any kind of visual, but she was sure now that her stalker had been listening to her every move and conversation in the apartment. She recoiled at the idea of some shadowy figure listening to her live her life.
“Our best chance of catching Nemesis is to use his own equipment against him.”
“And if that gets my sister killed, or raped?”
“That’s not going to happen.” Joshua’s extreme confidence soothed the jangling nerves inside her, even if it didn’t calm her brother down appreciably. “And there’s no reason to believe this is a sexual fixation. In fact, as we’ve discussed, the crime seems more vengeance-related.”
“Which does not mean she’s not at risk.”
“I agree.”
“Please. There’s no reason to believe I’m in any physical danger.”
“Have you forgotten being shoved into traffic?” Joshua asked.
She’d deliberately left that out and she didn’t appreciate Joshua revealing it.
She gave him a look that told him so. “If he’d wanted to hurt me, he would have pushed me into traffic when a car was coming. I wasn’t in any real danger.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jake was back to looking furious.
She felt ready to explode herself. Joshua’s view of what her brother needed to know and hers were about as far apart as the north and south ends of the ranch.
She pressed her lips together, remaining stubbornly mute.
If he wanted Jake to know every little detail so bad, Joshua could tell him.
He did.
“And the Seattle police didn’t do anything about it?” Bella asked with outrage.
“No one saw me get pushed,” Lise felt compelled to explain. “The sergeant who filed my report thought I’d been jostled by the crowd.”
Joshua’s dark brown gaze was filled with purpose. “I can get the police to take her seriously. We can even bring the FBI in because Nemesis crossed state lines to stalk Lise, but there’s only so much they can do. We’re better off handling this on our own.”
“Why?” Lise asked, having liked the sound of making that annoying police sergeant listen to her.
“The authorities are hampered by rules and procedures.” He paused so his next words had maximum impact. “We aren’t.”
She shivered at the menace in his voice.
“Which does not mean you have to move in with my sister,” Jake asserted before Lise could say anything else.
Joshua crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “What exactly is your problem with me being Lise’s bodyguard?”
“You want her.”
“No, he doesn’t—”
Joshua shocked her by interrupting her hasty denial. “If I do, what’s it to you? She’s well past the age of consent, not to mention having been married before.”
“You said you don’t do sex on a job,” she reminded Joshua, her heart thumping in her chest at an alarming rate.
Before Joshua could answer, Jake was saying, “Damn it, you can’t deny it. I’ve seen the way you look at her—it’s like a hungry wolf ready to devour its next meal.”
Lise had felt like that meal once, and it was not a memory she was comfortable with. “Joshua and I are not involved.”
“And if they get involved it won’t be any of
“And how are you going to do that?”
“By using counterintelligence techniques. Nemesis definitely has sound devices—and maybe even visual ones—planted in Lise’s apartment. That’s a damn good lead.”
“You think he has visual?” Her skin crawled with images of some slimy guy in a dark room watching her go about her business. “Where?”
“I’m not sure he does, but we know what he can’t see. The entryway, hall, or your bedroom. If he could, he would not have thought I left when you shut the door.”
She hoped Joshua was wrong about Nemesis having any kind of visual, but she was sure now that her stalker had been listening to her every move and conversation in the apartment. She recoiled at the idea of some shadowy figure listening to her live her life.
“Our best chance of catching Nemesis is to use his own equipment against him.”
“And if that gets my sister killed, or raped?”
“That’s not going to happen.” Joshua’s extreme confidence soothed the jangling nerves inside her, even if it didn’t calm her brother down appreciably. “And there’s no reason to believe this is a sexual fixation. In fact, as we’ve discussed, the crime seems more vengeance-related.”
“Which does not mean she’s not at risk.”
“I agree.”
“Please. There’s no reason to believe I’m in any physical danger.”
“Have you forgotten being shoved into traffic?” Joshua asked.
She’d deliberately left that out and she didn’t appreciate Joshua revealing it.
She gave him a look that told him so. “If he’d wanted to hurt me, he would have pushed me into traffic when a car was coming. I wasn’t in any real danger.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jake was back to looking furious.
She felt ready to explode herself. Joshua’s view of what her brother needed to know and hers were about as far apart as the north and south ends of the ranch.
She pressed her lips together, remaining stubbornly mute.
If he wanted Jake to know every little detail so bad, Joshua could tell him.
He did.
“And the Seattle police didn’t do anything about it?” Bella asked with outrage.
“No one saw me get pushed,” Lise felt compelled to explain. “The sergeant who filed my report thought I’d been jostled by the crowd.”
Joshua’s dark brown gaze was filled with purpose. “I can get the police to take her seriously. We can even bring the FBI in because Nemesis crossed state lines to stalk Lise, but there’s only so much they can do. We’re better off handling this on our own.”
“Why?” Lise asked, having liked the sound of making that annoying police sergeant listen to her.
“The authorities are hampered by rules and procedures.” He paused so his next words had maximum impact. “We aren’t.”
She shivered at the menace in his voice.
“Which does not mean you have to move in with my sister,” Jake asserted before Lise could say anything else.
Joshua crossed his arms over his chest and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “What exactly is your problem with me being Lise’s bodyguard?”
“You want her.”
“No, he doesn’t—”
Joshua shocked her by interrupting her hasty denial. “If I do, what’s it to you? She’s well past the age of consent, not to mention having been married before.”
“You said you don’t do sex on a job,” she reminded Joshua, her heart thumping in her chest at an alarming rate.
Before Joshua could answer, Jake was saying, “Damn it, you can’t deny it. I’ve seen the way you look at her—it’s like a hungry wolf ready to devour its next meal.”
Lise had felt like that meal once, and it was not a memory she was comfortable with. “Joshua and I are not involved.”
“And if they get involved it won’t be any of
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