Chapter 16

“That’s your phone ringing. Want me to answer?”

“Sure, but don’t be shocked if it’s a female.”

“I’ll be shocked if it isn’t...

“Marty’s Odd Jobs, Karen speaking.”

’Karen, this is Lynn Sparks, I need to speak to Marty if he’s close by’

“He’s right here, hold on...

“It’s Lynn Sparks, and she sounds upset.”

“Lynn, what’s up. Are you alright?”

‘Yes, I’m alright. Ramona is here with me and we’ve just discovered that we had a prowler last night’

“We’re about two blocks away. We’ll be right there.”

“What’s up Marty?”

“Ramona Peterson is there with Lynn. They’ve discovered they had a prowler last night.”

“Oh Hell.”

When I tapped on her side door, Lynn and Ramona stepped outside.

Both are wearing sheer sleep shirts that leave nothing unseen.

“Lynn, I’m sure you and Ramona both know Karen Edwards. She works with me now, and with her expertise, we may just start that detective service you and Mom spoke of. Tell us what you have.”

“Ramona and I put up five WiFi cameras yesterday when we came home. We thought we heard something outside, the night before.”

“You should have called...

“Ramona have you heard any more from your ex?”

“Nothing.”

“Lynn, can you give me access to those new cameras? Or would you rather not?”

“I should have thought of that when we put them up. I’ll add your phone number to my security system and you can enter the password to check them any time. If there is ever an alert, you’ll receive it the same time as Ramona and me.”

“Will I be able to recover all the recorded video on each of the cameras?”

“Yes, same as Ramona and me ... I need to show you what we retrieved from two of the cameras. Ramona is pretty sure the person is her ex, but it’s too dark to make a positive identification.”

Karen said, “Ramona, do you mind me asking your ex husband’s name?”

“Paul Peterson, but most people who know him call him Pete.”

“Is he staying at the residence he shared with you?”

“As far as I know he is. The neighbor across the street told me that he’s been there, in and out at odd times - and she said he’s been there a lot this past week.”

“Marty told me you gave him some pics of your ex, do you mind if I help Marty find out if this is in fact your ex, snooping around?”

“I don’t mind at all. Help me put a stop to this, even if it isn’t him, and I’ll hug your neck when I hug Marty’s.”

“Don’t tempt me, you and Lynn are dressed much too sexy to stand out here nearly naked like this.”

Lynn looked at me and said, “Marty, why don’t you and Karen come inside for a few minutes and we’ll show you the two short video clips we retrieved, and have a Coke, or something. Besides, I like where Ramona and Karen are taking this conversation.”

Karen and I were standing near the kitchen counter as Lynn poured four glasses of coke over ice. Ramona brought her laptop into the kitchen and placed it on the counter.

“You’ll see the person move around the house, from one cam to another. Though it’s dark, you can see that he or she, is wearing gloves and a cap.”

Karen said, “That looks like a small, baseball bat in his left hand.”

“That’s what we said too, until we saw the clip from the next camera. Look at it now and you can see the hook shape on one end, more like a small crowbar...

“Okay, now back up and show the first one again ... See that? The object in his hand doesn’t have a hook on the end.”

“Take it back to the second video. Assuming this is your ex, where does he go from these cams, and what does he actually do while he’s out there?”

Lynn told her, “He stops at the east window of that corner bedroom. You can see the flash of a small light in the glass as he looks the window over.”

“Do you have alarm sensors on all your windows?”

“I do, and we assumed that’s what he’s looking for ... Now, watch as I show this part in slow motion. You can see the reflection of his face in the window, for just a second or two.”

“I see that! Can you slow the video down to one frame at a time?”

“I tried that, but I wasn’t able to make it go that slow.”

“Do you mind if I try?”

“Heck no. This is a new laptop and I’m not that familiar with it yet,” Ramona told her, sliding the laptop over in front of her.

“Okay, here it is. You have to go back to the beginning of this video clip, then choose slow motion. After that you can advance it one frame at a time - 2X, 3X or 4X - speed. I’m going to advance it, then back up if we pass it again... THERE IT IS...

“I’ll back it up a few frames and advance it one frame at a time.”

“That’s it! You’re right on the frame that shows the face in the reflection,” Lynn told her.

“Ramona, can you make a positive identification? This isn’t a clear frame, but we’ll advance it one more, to see if it’s a better pic.”

“Go forward one more frame, there’s no way I could swear that’s my ex, if I was under oath.”

“Here goes, one frame at a time. I can back it up again if we need to.”

“STOP! THAT’S HIM! You can see his face, his mustache and his dark eyebrows.”

I pulled my phone out and opened it to the pics she sent me of her ex.

“If I was asked to compare pics, I would have to agree - this is the same man,” I told her.

Lynn told her, “Advance one more frame and have a look.”

Ramona shouted, “THAT’S HIM! You can see the long side-burn on that side of his face!”

Karen asked, “Does he have a pierced ear?”

“YES - WHY? OH DAMN! I see it now. Can you enlarge it? He has a small diamond stud in his left ear ... THAT’S HIM. No doubt about it.”

“Lynn, do you have a flashlight? I’d like to have a look around where he’s standing back there, at that window.”

“I have a small mini-light that I keep next to my bed. I’ll get it.”

As soon as she gave me the light, Karen told me, “I’ll go with you.

“Lynn - Ramona ... we’ll be right back.”

...”We need to stop at this first window too. He may have tried to open it.”

She shined the light all around, and we didn’t see any marks on the window frame. At the next window where he stayed the longest, we took a closer look.

I ran my finger along the cross frame between the window panes, and snagged something. “What’s this? It looks like a small bullet.”

“That’s a tiny spy-cam. Leave it. If we move it, he will know we’ve found it. Let’s check all the windows, even the one we checked first.”

There were two of the small spy-cams on each of the sliding glass patio doors. We found one on each of the windows around her house, even the first one we looked at, when we went back to check it.

“We need to leave them, but we need to be sure the drapes are pulled tight, if there happens to be an opening. We don’t need to be seen inside either, as we go from room to room, checking them.”

“You’ve done this before!”

“My father sent me to school for sixteen months to learn the trade. Though I hated it, I stayed with it and they taught me things I’d never have thought of. If you like, we can expand this Odd-Job business into a little snooping - for wives who need the goods on a cheating husband, or a husband who suspects his wife is spreading her pussy around. That was the fun part of my training. Though I don’t have a license - I’m sure my father could remedy that for both, you and me, if we ask.”

“Will I get to meet him soon?”

“He’s already asked about you. He saw the difference in Kasey - and me, the first time we were around him ... after that fucking you gave both of us out in the country. He wanted to know who it was that changed his daughters from wimpy little girls to women.

“He even asked us to invite you over one weekend, so he can get to know you ... Don’t look so shocked. He has the reputation of a bear, but with Kasey and me, he’s nothing but a pussycat. He will like you simply because you’re ambitious, aggressive, handsome ... and a stud at seventeen. He was the same way when he was younger, and he will probably want to shake a fist full of big bills in your face, as he points out a few high-class wives and mistresses he would like for you to nail ... for him.”

“From the moment I met you, you have been so much more than you present yourself to be. I am in awe of you and your skills. I hope our friendship lasts forever.”