When PI Jake Marshall fails to stop the abduction and subsequent murder of a client who was being stalked, he vows to do everything in his power to identify the man responsible. He'll need all the help he can get, including Kelly, his partner in the agency, and Russ Foster, a library security guard he met at a local bar ... with whom he's becoming personally involved.<br><br>Soon, it becomes even more imperative they find the stalker when a friend of Jake's also disappears and everything points to the stalker as his abductor.<br><br>Can Jake and Russ stop the stalker before he kills again? And how will their search affect their budding relationship, presuming the stalker doesn't target one of them next?

Stalker

“Going teetotaler on me?” Jake asked, lifting an eyebrow.


“It’s that or you carry me back to the car. Oh, don’t worry, I’m kidding, but I’m definitely feeling what I’ve had so far.”


Russ was surprised when Jake nodded and followed suit, ordering a gin and tonic without the gin. “Sort of like a Bloody Mary without the vodka,” he explained.


“Yep, but ordering that sounds so lame. Besides, I’m not big on tomato juice.”


Russ was about to suggest they start their hunt when Paul strolled over, saying, “Slumming?”


“This is hardly a slum,” Jake retorted with an eye-roll. “And, no, I’m here on business, with Russ’s help.”


“Okay. Looking for someone, I presume.”


“Yes, this man.” Jake handed him on of the pictures.


“What did he do, or can’t you say?” Paul asked as he studied them. “Where’s the rest of his face?”


“This is all I could get off a surveillance video,” Jake explained.


Chapter 18