Page 59 of In the Line of Ire

"That'sunfortunately something we have to accept in this business. Wheredo you want to start?"

"Ithought we could take a tour through the house and I’ll let youtell me where the best place is for the camera."

"Let'sgo."

Inside,the house was just as still as outside. Solomon and I walkedthrough together and I remained on high alert, scanning foranything odd or out of the ordinary but I didn't spot anythingunusual. There was no new stack of mail. The furniture hadn't beenmoved and nothing was left out on the kitchen counters. Thetelevision and stereo were both off and the fridge was empty. Iwondered if I should ask for some surveillance support in watchingover Natalie. It might help identify if anyone else was alsofollowing her.

"Everything okay?" asked Solomon as I put my foot on thefirst stair.

"Seems so. I'm going to check upstairs." Without asking,Solomon followed me, which was a good thing. I shuddered as Istarted to wonder about "what if."Whatifsomeone burst out of a closet andattacked me?What ifa hand reached from under a bed and grabbed my ankle?What ifsomeone upstairswas waiting to pounce on me the moment I ascended? It was stupidbut I couldn't stop my thoughts from running wild.

Gingerly, I walked around the second floor but there wasnothing to see or be concerned over, just the strange sense ofdesolation. A family should have been living here—laughing, cooking, andsleeping—butcouldn't because some ass didn't want them to do that.

"I'llneed an hour to set up the security system," said Solomon as I tookone last look around before we descended. He bent on one knee andopened the bag, searching for the equipment he needed. "I think amotion-sensor camera right here over the door, aiming towards thestaircase, would probably catch any unwanted guests. The line ofsight would cover the hallway, regardless of whether the perp camein the front or the back, and on the stairs too."

"Thatsounds good. How do we view the footage?"

"I'llwire it to convey the images to our servers and tell Lucas to sendanything he receives straight to our phones."

"Good. Idon't want to disturb Natalie with this until we have something toshow her," I said, glad that we could monitor the situation fromthe safety of the agency. "I don't want her to be worried everytime her phone rings. If we catch someone on camera, she might beable to identify the stalker and then we can turn it over to thepolice as evidence."

"You'veconsidered the possibility it could be someone sheknows?"

"Yes, and also that it's someone who knows her, whom shehasn't noticed. The mailman, or the guy from the coffee shop thatshe says hello to but never really acknowledges. It could even besomeone who drove past her months ago whom she would neverrecognize again," I said with a sigh. "That's what's so horribleabout it. She knows it could beanyonedoing this. I didn't want toscare her, but I think the perp must have a key. They get in andout too easily. That means the suspect list could include aworkman, a former tenant, or someone connected to a prior tenant.If she is being stalked, it's impossible to narrow down the list."I broke off, my voice rising in pitch.

Solomonreached for my hand and squeezed it. "We'll find the suspect soonenough."

"What ifthey don't come back here? They might have worked out that she'sgone already and are trying to track her down."

"Ifthey've been at this for so long already, I think the temptation tocome back here must be pretty strong. They might even want toindulge their obsession."

"Howso?"

"Bytaking their time examining her things. Or stealing something.Maybe just spending the night in her bed."

I pulledan appalled face. "That's really gross."

"I couldbe wrong. If it's not about stalking, these things could also beconsidered scare tactics."

"In your experience, what happens if itisjust scare tactics?"

"Ifeverything that happened was simply to get them out of the house,maybe nothing. Their objective has been achieved. Worst casescenario, the house is re-let for a higher fee or to a preferredtenant and all of their personal belongings are tossed out on thelawn. I've even seen landlords torch their own houses to claim theinsurance."

"I thinkI'd rather lose all my possessions than have a psycho stalking me,"I decided.

"Let'shope you never have to make that awful choice."

I sat onthe stairs and waited for Solomon to hook up the camera over thedoor before installing the motion sensors on the external doors. Heworked quickly and deftly, performing a task he'd obviously donedozens, if not hundreds, of times before. He methodically followedthe steps it required and after a while, I realized he was hummingthe music from our first dance. I couldn't help smiling.

"I'mgoing to check and see that all the sensors work and everything isbeing fed to the agency," said Solomon. "You might want to coveryour ears."

I noddedand did that while he opened and closed the doors, ensuring thesiren didn't sound. We agreed not to frighten the creep off themoment he or she stepped inside. Then Solomon called Lucas andconfirmed that the alert and the camera sensor image were bothproperly transmitting.

"Is thateverything?" I asked. "I wonder why someone didn’t come over ifonly to see why we were walking around inside."

Solomonsmiled. "I don't see anyone racing over to check now."

Glancingfrom the window, I agreed. It seemed like no one was home at theneighbors’ houses either. With any luck, we'd be gone beforesomeone showed up and everyone nearby would be ignorant to thetechnology we installed.

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