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magnificent view that must be at night.
    This place didn’t just suggest corruption, it was a big red flag screaming look at me .
    * * *
    Rio dressed quickly into tan slacks and a matching front-buttoning blouse. As she slipped her feet into a pair of Earth Shoes at the foot of the bed, her cell phone jingled inside the pocket of her soiled pants. She grabbed her slacks and fished out her phone.
    Digger .
    Odd for her to be calling. Odd and scary. She only called during work hours when there were signs of impending trouble.
    “Dig, talk to me. What’s up?”
    “You’re not going to like it.” There was an edge to her voice. One that told Rio she was worried.
    “Just give it to me straight.”
    “The tea leaves are against you.”
    “What?”
    Oh, boy. Here we go again. Rio had a hard time acknowledging the validity of such things, but so far that hadn’t had any effect on Digger’s prediction accuracy.
    “For three days in a row, I’ve been seeing the same thing.” She dropped the bomb and then stopped.
    Why did she do that? She knew it annoyed Rio.
    “On track, Dig. Let’s stay on track.”
    “You know I’m not fond of that,” she said. “Especially when it’s this bad.”
    “How bad is bad?”
    “I’m seeing two problems for you.”
    “Two?” Rio uttered the word weaker than she’d anticipated.
    “Someone is watching you.”
    “Am I in danger?”
    “They’re watching your every move.” The silence on the line made the seconds lag like eons. “I don’t know who and I don’t know why, but their focus on you is bordering on creepy.”
    Rio gave the anonymous letter some much needed attention. Retrieving it from her desk drawer at work and scrutinizing it further moved up to the top of her to-do list.
    “You mean like stalker-y kind of creepy?” She felt for the edge of the bed and eased down.
    “Yes, so be careful.” There it was again, that eerie quiet on the line. “You know how easy it is for the stalker personality to go from fantasy to anger.”
    “Yes.” That was easy for a lot of people, not just those with stalker-tendencies. “What else?” Rio hadn’t forgotten that she’d said two things. Given the facts of the first, the second was weighing heavy like a large boulder.
    “Someone wants to discredit you.”
    Rio’s mind jammed with a chaotic surge of information. Nervous anxiety hammered her heart with a good workout. “Can you be a little more specific?”
    “You’re working with someone who is not what they seem,” she said. “A mole.”
    “A mole?” Shock and worry rippled through her like a flag waving in the wind. “Can you see their purpose or who they’re working for?”
    “I don’t think their initial intent was directed at you, but it seems to be turning in your path lately.”
    A puffing sound echoed across the wire and Rio knew Digger was lighting candles. For once, she hoped they worked.
    “Is it Atkins?” A low strained voice gave way to anxiety. Rio was beginning to think the Las Vegas mob boss was going to be a source of irritation for years to come.
    “It’s possible, but I can’t be sure.”
    “I can. That’s just like Atkins to play these games. Discredit me so he can get an acquittal.”
    “I can’t be sure. Don’t discard your other suspicions so easily.”
    “Well, it may not be Atkins directly.” Rio pushed off the bed. “But he sure would benefit if someone succeeds in ruining my rep as a Fed, now wouldn’t he?” It wasn’t really a question and Rio knew Digger understood that.
    “Rio...” Her voice trailed off into a tone of uncertainty. “Whatever’s going on, I can’t help but feel that both issues are tied together.”
    Panic spilled shivers up her body. If Atkins had planted a spy in the department and was behind her stalking, he was much more powerful than she’d imagined.
    “Dig, can you meet me for lunch tomorrow?”
    “Sure. Want me to drop by the federal building around one?”
    “That sounds great.”