He frowned.
“What?”
“We’ll discuss this when I get back. Relax and enjoy some downtime. Keep your phone beside you, and if something feels off or you get nervous…”
“I’ll call.”
“I won’t be too long, I hope. I’m just downstairs in Egan’s apartment.”
“Okay.”
He disappeared into the walk-in closet and emerged in shorts, grabbing the shirt he’d taken from the drawer earlier. He pulled it over his head and ran a hand through his short, dark hair. He held up a pass. “Use this to open the door for upstairs and swipe it to get back into the apartment.”
“What about you?”
“I got this one for you last night. I have my own.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“Anything. You call. Don’t hesitate.”
“I will.”
He studied me and then, as if liking my response, nodded. I heard his footsteps head down the hall and the door close behind him.
“Good thing I hadn’t planned on leaving the building,” I muttered, then shook my head. I was being petulant. I had zero interest in leaving the safety of the building or being far from Damien right now. The garden upstairs called my name, and I dressed, put on some sunblock, found a baseball hat of his to use, my Kindle, and a bottle of water. I put everything in my satchel and headed upstairs, sighing in pleasure when I got to the roof. It was sunny and warm, but there was a nice breeze, and the high walls gave a sense of privacy. I headed to the gazebo and sat in a lounger, looking around. It was a lovely space, and I could smell the flowers and even the fragrance of some of the herbs growing in the pots. I settled back and opened my Kindle, deciding, of all the places I could be today, this might be my favorite spot.
* * *
DAMIEN
I looked at Egan, shaking my head. “Nothing? At all?”
“No,” he huffed out. “Nothing. It’s like he’s invisible. The sketch didn’t get a hit in any of the databases. I searched other dating sites, although I’m not done yet.” He looked at me in wonder. “Do you have any idea how many there are?”
“I know. It’s a different world.”
He snorted. “The firewalls on some of them are so simple to get through. People have no idea how easily they could be compromised.”
I frowned. “I wonder if he only creates a profile once he zeroes in on a target. Maybe he hacks into these sites, finds his targets, and then builds a profile to match it.”
Egan nodded slowly, pursing his lips. “Have you considered this is possibly the first time he’s done this? Maybe it is an attraction gone awry on his part?”
“I had, before the rock through the window. The smashed daisy. I saw the crazed look in his eyes. I recognize it.”
He held up his hands. “Just checking, Watcher.”
I rolled my eyes.
“I think you may be onto something, though,” Egan mused. “We need to come at this from a different angle. Instead of searching the actual site, we need to dig into the back end. See if he left a trail.”
“If he’s as clever as we think, he’s probably rerouted through a ghost VPN.”
Egan smirked. “Even the cleverest people make mistakes.”
“I’m going to use the Hidden Justice software and search police records. See if anyone filed a report against this fictitious Andy Smith, or someone with the same MO.”
“Good plan.” He sat back. “We should concentrate on the slightly less popular sites. The bigger ones are harder to get into and tend to have safety checks in place. I think he’d haunt the ones he knew he could get in and out of easily. The Real Connection isn’t huge. I think that might be our starting point.”