“Glen Baird is the kind of man who says and does whatever he wants, whenever he feels like it,” she began. “On the trip he kept trying to sit by me, and he’d follow me everywhere. People on the tour instinctively started crowding around me so he couldn’t have access.
“But when we reached Paris, several of them left our tour. I know it was because of him.”
Now that she’d gotten started talking, she couldn’t seem to stop. “He was moody, and didn’t appear to like the tour. None of us could figure out why he’d come. He had a powerful set of binoculars. Sometimes they’d be trained on me from a distance. It was awful.”
“That’s another piece of information that wasn’t in Officer Green’s report. What else do you remember?”
“I’m not sure. Early on, Denise and I considered joining another tour, as well, but because of the wonderful Australian friends we’d made en route, we decided to ignore him as best we could and enjoy the trip anyway.
“That was the difficult part. The first time I saw him loitering in the lobby of our London hotel, he just stared at me out of blank eyes. With all that hair on his face, he scared me.”
Taking a shuddering breath she cried, “I wish to heaven Denise and I had obeyed our first instincts and left the tour.”
A murmur of compassion escaped his lips. “If your guide had had any idea of the terror you’re going through right now, I’m sure she’d regret having given everyone free access to the names and addresses of the people on your bus. But it’s done now, and chances are he would have found another way to get to you.
“Let’s thank providence you had the wisdom to obey your instincts this time and get help. If and when he comes to Salt Lake to look you up, he’ll meet with a surprise he wasn’t planning on.”
Brit shivered at the chilling sound of his voice.
After a brief pause he said, “If he follows the profile, and I happen to believe he does, he’s lost all concept of the guidelines normal people live by. According to his letters, he’s been to Salt Lake before. Sending you brochures of hotels near your condo, plus his old map of Salt Lake, circling the street where you live, was his way of telling you that he knows all about you, that you’re not going to escape him. He believes he’s invincible, and has only one thought—to make you suffer as he has perceived you’ve made him suffer.”
Her eyes played over his well-formed features, noting the lines of experience around his mouth. He sounded so sure. “You’re the one whose credentials are listed in the Yellow Pages. It’s your company, isn’t it?”
A flash of white teeth unexpectedly set her pulse tripping. “Guilty as charged. There are twelve of us.”
“Have you covered a lot of these kinds of cases?”
Oh, sweetheart. You don’t have a clue.
“Too many,” came the grudging admission. “But let’s not dwell on that. We have a wedding to plan. Guests to invite. One of the P.I.s will serve as the minister. We need to talk to your parents and explain the situation.”
At that pronouncement her head reared back, swishing her hair over her shoulders. He moved so fast she couldn’t keep up with him.
“My parents don’t know anything yet. I’ve been afraid to tell them for fear of upsetting them. Dad has heart trouble.”
“We’ll proceed carefully. When they learn the truth, they’ll probably be more amenable to my plan. In any event, your parents are going to have to know, because tonight you’ll be staying with me,” he said in an authoritative voice.
At her startled look he explained, “Before I rang your front doorbell tonight, I checked out your back door and windows. I could have gotten in any of them without your being aware of it. If I could do it, so could he.”
Brit had no idea Roman had been wandering around outside her condo.
“Some voyeur types like to enter their victim’s premises and look at their personal things, touch them, even steal some of them to make a shrine. Baird mentioned your shampoo because he likes the smell of your hair.” So do I. “He might want to take something like that as a remembrance.”
“That’s horrible!” The possibility that Glen Baird could creep into her home anytime he wanted almost paralyzed her with fear.
“Safety isn’t the only issue. If we’re going to make your impending marriage look real to everyone, except your family and Denise who will already know the truth, then it’s probable you’d be making preparations to set up residence with your future husband.
“Assuming your tormentor is en route to Salt Lake, the fact that you’ve changed addresses will lend credence to your claim that you’re getting married. To make it stick, you’ll have to give your landlord notice. It’s possible Baird will case the complex first, even talk to people to learn your habits. I’ll have a mobile unit here on guard day and night, monitoring his activities on tape to give to the police.”
A shiver racked her body. “After what you’ve just told me, I’ll be glad to get out of here so Glen can’t find me, but I’ve signed a year’s lease. I was going to renew it in December.”
“If my hunch pays off, this man will make an appearance shortly. We’ll be ready for him and you’ll be able to resume your normal life without too much delay. In the meantime, my firm will take an option on your place so you can move back in after everything is over. At that point, we’ll explain things to your landlord so that you won’t lose any money.”
He thought of everything! “W-where do you live?”
“In Olympus Cove.”
One of her favorite neighborhoods situated at the base of the mountains.
“Don’t you have a family?”
“No. I’m on my own. Why don’t you call your friend, Denise? Since she was on the tour and Glen Baird mentioned her in the letter, she’s involved, too, and needs to know the truth. I’d like to talk to her tonight. She might be able to remember something important to the case.”
“She’s home tending her younger brother while her parents are away on a trip. What about him? I don’t want him frightened.”
“He won’t be. You can introduce me as your fiancé.”
“But he knows I don’t have a boyfriend.”
A mysterious gleam entered his eyes. “You do now. Tell him I’m the man who once stole your heart, then moved away. Now I’m back to reclaim you.”
This time she felt a quickening inside her, and had the strongest conviction that if he had been her old boyfriend, and had moved away, he might very well have gone off with her heart.
“See if it’s convenient for us to visit Denise before we drop by your folks. You can call them from her house and alert them that we’ll be over around nine tonight.”
Within five minutes they were on their way across town to Federal Heights where both the Martins and her parents lived. En route she was once again seized by the enormity
