Chapter Fifteen-Part 4
"When they searched your house, they found a video camera."
"Where did they find it?"
"In the linen closet upstairs. There was a perfectly drilled little hole about half the size of an aspirin. There camera's eye was facing your bed. You never would have noticed it. It's right in the center of a flower in your wallpaper."
She felt as though all the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She spun around in her seat and unconsciously clutched his forearm. "And you're just now telling me?"
"I thought you could use a little a respite from this nightmare. If I'd told you when we first got in the car, you would have been worrying about it all the way home. Am I wrong?"
"How long has it been there?"
"Awhile," he answered. "There was dust on it, so it's been there for some time, at least a week or two, but I can't tell you exactly how many days and nights. The serial number was filed off."
"Don't ever hold back information again. All right? When you hear something new, you tell me right away."
"We're going to be practically living together. I'll tell you everything."
"Until death do us part?" she asked sarcastically, but her sarcasm was tinged with fear.
"No, until we catch him."
She released her grip on his arm. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. You did warn me. You told me he'd been in my house and that he'd watched me sleep. He's seen me……"
She didn't go on. She turned to look out the window so he wouldn't see how shaken she was. She pictured herself getting dressed and undressed. And all of it was on tape.
She looked down at her lap and saw that she'd broken the hair clip. "I feel like I've done something I should be ashamed of." She defended.
"What you do in the privacy of your own bedroom….."
"But that's just it," she cried. "I haven't done anything. I slept. That's all. I certainly haven't been entertaining any men, but what if I had? God, this is so sick."
"Kripa—"
"Don't you dare say it."
"Say what?"
"That it isn't too late for me to change my mind."
He pulled over to the side of the road, put the car in park, and then nodded toward the sign to the right. It was the Des Moines city limit.
"Are you giving me one last chance to change my mind?" she asked.
"No."
"Then why did you stop?"
"To tell you that you've got to stop freaking out every time you hear something……unpleasant. There are going to be some surprises, and I'm going to try my damnedest to anticipate, but you're got to……handle it. You understand? I can't be worried about how you're reacting and try to put you back together every time you—"
She put her hand on his arm, gently this time. "I promise. I won't freak out. At least I'll try not to."
He could hear the determination in her voice, see it in her eyes.
She hadn't realized he was going to kiss her until his lips were touching hers. She didn't resist. She should have, but she didn't. Her lips parted, and then he deepened the kiss and she went limp.
He abruptly pulled back. "You've got guts," he said as he changed gears and pulled out onto the highway.
She was suddenly cold. She turned the air conditioner down and rubbed her arms. "Did they find the tape? Was it in the camera? Those tapes don't last very long, do they? Just a couple of hours. How did he change it? Had he been going back and forth into my house……my bedroom? If he has, he's been taking quite a risk of being seen."
"The camera's operated with a transmitter, which means he's watching your bedroom on a monitor somewhere. I'll show it to you when we get there. It's a fairly simple motion sensitive device." He added, frowning, "High school stuff real—and that's what bothers me about it. Whoever set up the equipment wasn't a pro, but he got the job done."
"Why does that bother you?"
"It just doesn't seem very clever for our boy," he explained. "Like I said, it isn't high-tech, and our unsub seems like the kind who would go to great lengths to make it slick……..perfect. His goal is to impress us."
"And you weren't impressed."
"Exactly."
"This is damned heavy chitchat."
He picked up the phone, punched in a number, and then spoke into the mouthpiece, "We're taking the next exit and finding something to eat. By the way, you're following too close."
After he'd put the phone back, she turned around to look out the back window. "The blue car, right?"
""No, the gray Honda behind the blue."
"How long have they been following us?"
"Since we left the airport. This car has a tracking device with fifty-mile radius, and once we're in your town, ACP Pradimanyu, the senior agent in charge of this operation, will always have us under surveillance."
"That won't do us much good. It's a little town, and we'll walk as much as we drive."
"You're going to be wearing a cute little tracking device too. I'm not sure what it will be in, but probably a pin or bracelet."
It was actually comforting to know that the FBI would be tracking her as she moved about town.
"I'm sure ACP Pradimanyu is efficient, but I still wish that Josh were in Des Moines."
"He wouldn't be much good there. He's never been a field agent. ACP Pradimanyu, Sujal and I will feed him information as we get it, and hopefully Josh will be able to figure out where and when and how. Think there's a decent place to eat in Sweetwater? (I didn't make up the name, guys. The town is there. Pretty awesome too.) That's the next exit."
"There's a diner in the center of town. The food's actually pretty good."
"What are you in mood for?"
"A big, juicy hamburger with pickles. And fries. Lots of French fries."
"Sounds good to me."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kripa slid into a booth by the front window. Angad sat down beside her. There wasn't much room.
"Don't you want to sit across from me?" she asked.
"No," he replied as he reached for the sticky, plasticized menu standing on the end behind the salt and pepper shakers. "We're gonna start practicing this lovely-dovey stuff."
Angad ordered two double hamburgers, a double order of fries, and two glasses of milk. She told him he ate like a farmhand, and that reminded him of a story about her brother involving the cafeteria line at college. By the time Angad finished recounting the incident, she was laughing so hard, there were tears in her eyes. She had no idea Prithvi had been such a prankster.
"He started the food fight?"
"Prithvi wasn't always shy," Angad reminded her.
He told her another story, and then another. A couple of times the other patrons of the diner turned at the sound of their laughter. They saw a young couple completely at ease with other.
"I thought you were hungry," he said. "You've barely touched your food."
"This hamburger could feed a family of six. I ate as much as I wanted." She picked up a French fry and was about to take a bite, then changed her mind. She pointed it at Angad.
He took the French fry and popped it into his mouth. He loved watching her face as she thought aloud. She was so animated and eager. Over the past couple of years Angad knew he'd become overly cynical, but in his line of work, it was only a matter of time before the calluses formed. He'd learned not to get too close and not to expect anything, but he still hadn't quite figured out how to leave the work at work.
"Gotta go," he said. He quickly paid the bill.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Kripa was thoroughly relaxed by the time they got back into the car and headed out again. She titled the seat back. She had just closed her eyes when Angad said, "I don't get it?"
"What don't you get?"
"You……living in such a little town."
"I like it."
"I don't believe it. You're a big-city girl at heart."
"Actually, I'm not at all. I grew up in a little village."
"Your grandfather happened to own the village," he pointed out. "You lived on an estate. You can call it a small town if you want."
"And I went to school in a tiny little town. It was almost cloistered. I really like it here, Angad. The people here are good and decent. And it's beautiful. And peaceful.....at least it used to be peaceful."
"Yeah, well if you like it so much, how come you rent the house you live in? Why didn't you buy it?"
"I wanted to concentrate on the business first," she explained. "And Mrs. Walia didn't want to sell the house just yet. She raised her family there, and even though she's living in a nursing home now, she isn't ready to let it go. I'm thinking about buying a cabin on the lake. It needs a lot of work though."
"How come you haven't already purchased it?"
"Rajeev Khandelwal"
The Advancement Society guy?"
"He owns the cabin."
"I think the guy wants to own you."
"What?"
"It seems that when Agent Kabir and Azaan went into your house, the neighbor lady called the sheriff and he came running."
"L.A. doesn't run anywhere."
"The sheriff's name is L.A.?"
She smiled. "Lard A**," she explained. "Everyone calls that. He isn't highly thought of in Des Moines."
"I guess not."
"I didn't mean to interrupt. What happened when the sheriff showed up? Did he know they were FBI? They must have told him."
"No, they didn't and wouldn't tell him anything, but the odd thing is, he never asked. He was busy telling them all about Rajeev Khandelwal's designs on you. Seems Rajeev's telling everyone he's going to marry you."
"He's such a jerk."
"Sounds like it. One of the agents told the sheriff all about our hot and heavy relationship, and he couldn't wait to leave."
"No doubt to tell Rajeev."
"No doubt."
"He's the kind of man who has trouble understanding he can't get everything he wants."
"I'll help him understand."
She wasn't sure how he planned to do that, but the tone of his voice indicated he was looking forward to it.
It seemed that the time spent driving home sped by faster than the actual miles. They were comfortable together. They discussed music—they both liked classical and country. They argued politics—she was a die-hard liberal, and he was a full-blown conservative. And he kept her fascinated with funny stories about growing up in a larger family. Before she realized it, Angad was slowing down to take her town's exit.
"Is the camera still there, or did they take it away?"
"It's still there."
"Is it on?"
"Yes. We don't want him to know we found it."
"Then he didn't see the agents when they went into my bedroom?"
"No, they found it in the hall closet," he reminder her. "They kept out of the camera's eye."
"Where would he get something like that? Do they sell transmitters in the stores?"
Before he could answer her, she blurted, "Every time I go into the bedroom, he could be watching."
He put his hand on her knee. "We want him to be watching. This is a great opportunity to push him. You and I are going to be getting HOT and HEAVY in front of the CAMERA."
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