Forbidden Fantasies Bundle(159)

He got up, stretched and dismissed the idea of getting a sandwich. There was too much to do before Christie woke up. He grabbed his bag, slipped on his night-vision goggles, and headed for her office.

It took over two hours to do the bug sweep. The stalker was inventive, that’s for sure. Boone was certain he was someone in security, maybe even a spook, and that made Boone damned uncomfortable. The stalker’s obsession most likely had nothing to do with his profession, but it did make him far more dangerous.

Stalkers weren’t all the same, but they all had things in common. They were socially immature loners, unable to establish or sustain close relationships. They tended to pick unattainable victims, and create intimate fantasies that could turn deadly in the blink of an eye. Intelligence was a factor, too. Many delusional stalkers were smart as hell, which made catching them more difficult.

Boone had never gone after a stalker before, but he’d had a lot of experience going after people who didn’t want to be found.

He sat down at her computer, took off the goggles, then booted up. He’d already found a bug at her desk, but now he was looking for software. Particularly key-logging software. If this guy was a security geek, he would have used his time inside the house to get more access. If he had key-logging technology, he’d be able to read her every keystroke, and see every message she wrote. The more personal the better.

He wouldn’t be obvious about it, either. It wouldn’t be under the software name. Boone would have to look for hidden files, for specific code. Luckily, he had his own program that did just that. He inserted the disk and let it run. It would take a while, and in the meantime, he could continue with his sweep.

He stood, and his gaze caught on a picture of Nate and Christie, barely illuminated by the light near the computer.

Nate had told him a lot about his sister, but not how beautiful she was. The picture, taken in better times, showed him how much this ordeal had taken out of her. She’d lost weight, which was understandable. But the bones were there. Big brown eyes, dark hair that swept her shoulders. Everything was right about her face, especially her smile. Warm, inviting. He wondered how long it had been since she’d laughed. Since she’d known any peace at all.

He remembered one night, several years ago, when he and Nate were stuck together doing some surveillance in a damp, cold building in the middle of a burned-out Serbian village. There was nothing going on, and nothing to do. They couldn’t sleep, so they talked. Nate got on to the subject of Christie. He never talked much about his family, so Boone had paid attention. It was clear Nate loved her, and felt protective of her, but it was equally evident that he was proud of his baby sister. How she’d gotten through college on a scholarship, how she’d become a designer to the stars. The way he described her, as funny and sarcastic, had stuck in Boone’s mind long after the conversation and the mission ended.

He’d thought a lot about her after that. He had no one close, except for the men in his unit, so she’d become a comfort to him when things got rough, much as she had for Nate. He’d imagine her at Christmas, when he was stuck in a jungle or a town where he didn’t know the language. It wasn’t anything sexual, just comforting. But now that he’d seen her, he’d never think of her as a little sister again.

She also reminded him of Nate. The way she lifted her right eyebrow in doubt. Rubbing her lower lip when she was nervous. They were both habits Nate had, ones Boone hadn’t consciously noted until seeing them echoed in Christie.

He picked up the photo, studying her, filling in the blanks. Once Seth had sent out the SOS, Boone had used his slippery network of inside sources—some from the military, some from domestic agencies—and found the records of the stalker immediately. He’d spent the next five hours digesting everything he could about the geek. Then he’d come here. He didn’t live far—a rented house in Pasadena. It hadn’t taken any time to gather his equipment. He always had it packed.

The only problem was the work he’d left behind. He might be living under the radar, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t busy. Since he’d come back from the Balkans, he’d found a lot of people who needed his services. Others, like himself, who worked in the shadows, came to him when they had security problems. Someone listening. Someone they needed to listen to. Although he’d been a radioman in Delta, he’d acquired a lot of gadgets and the know-how to get the jobs done.

Seth had stepped up to the plate once more. If anyone knew more about covert surveillance than Boone, it was Seth, and he’d agreed to take over Boone’s jobs until the stalking bastard had been taken out. It was a relief to know that despite the mess they were all in, the unit had never lost touch. They were a team, now and always.