Chapter 8 : Rules to Stalk by

I walk through the door to an overly excited Zeus. He sniffs the bag of books before deciding there isn’t anything interesting enough to pursue in it. I drop the sack on the counter and walk him into the back. I pull out my phone and dial Doc.

“Hey, Seymore. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. How are things at the house?” he asks without answering with the typical hello.

“It feels better since you swept the place. I was wondering if you’re busy?” I ask, watching Zeus run around the yard to find the perfect spot to relieve himself.

“Not at all. Come on over, and bring Zeus,” he replies. “I miss the big mutt.”

I want to correct him. Zeus is a purebred, but I know it doesn’t matter. I hang up and walk into the house, leaving the slider open for the dog. Doc had recommended getting cameras for the property, but I know too many people can hack those. The last thing I want is to give whoever is following me the opportunity to spy on me with my own equipment.

I consider the alternative. Marcus Greene. The man had done bodyguard detail for me when my father was having a problem with a rival company. Marcus had gotten on my nerves, but I know him. He’s a very large black guy who speaks sarcasm like it’s a language. I somewhat trust him and I know he takes his job seriously. I find his contact info and call. Great, I get to leave a message.

“Hey, Marcus, it’s Seymore. I’ve found myself in a situation where your services are required. Please give me a call when you get this,” I say before hanging up.

“Come on, Zeus, let’s go see Doc,” I call, causing the pup to practically trip over himself to get into the house.

I pull the Range Rover into Doc’s driveway an hour later. Sometimes traffic in London is a real pain. The dog knows exactly where we are and he starts whining from the backseat.

“I’m not leaving you here, we’re just visiting,” I reassure as I open the back door.

Doc opens the front door and Zeus charges inside. He fusses over the big whiney pup as I squeeze past them. The mess on the dining room table has migrated to a corkboard. There are pictures and documents pinned up with notes and strings. The sight looks like something straight out of a police drama.

“Been busy?” I ask, gesturing to the collage.

Doc pats Zeus on the bottom and turns around.

“What, that little thing? It’s too difficult for a visual learner like myself to follow all the connections without seeing it,” he replies, walking over to admire his own work. “So, what brings you?” he asks, motioning for me to sit down.

“I want to ask you for relationship advice,” I say, causing both Doc’s eyebrows to almost lift off his head.

“Well, I'll be damned,” Doc remarks, shocked. “I never thought I’d live to see the day,” the old man teases.

“Come on, I just don’t know how to go about impressing her,” I reply, pretending to be offended by his gesture.

“Well, have you tried getting to know her?” he asks, making it sound like the most reasonable first step.

I look up at him, trying not to let him know how inept I am when it comes to the most basic of human relationships.

“Try asking for her number,” he says, finally saying something I can answer.

“I did.”

“Then call her up and ask her out,” Doc advises.

“I can’t. She turned me down when I asked for it,” I reply, looking down at the floor and running my fingers through my hair.

The look of surprise on his face would be comical if not for the feeling of failure ripping through my chest.

“Oh, this is serious,” he says, sitting back in his chair and glancing up at Lilly’s picture. “All I can say is you need to pay attention to what she likes when you’re around her. Women love that. If you know what they like without them having to tell you all the damn time, they’ll be putty in your hands,” he says while still staring longingly at his wife’s image.

“So, I should follow her and see what kind of things she likes?” I ask, causing Doc to snap out of his daydream.

“No. I’m not telling you to tail the girl, just pay attention to what she says and does when you’re around her. I don’t want to have to go down to Scotland Yard just to bail you out of something,” he explains, warning me not to go the illegal route.

I know Doc’s not telling me to right out stalk Ava; but how am I supposed to learn anything when I only get to spend a few minutes with her once a week? I’m not going to break into her home and steal her underwear, but following her around would be the best way to get to know her. Although, it would be nice to see what kind of clothing she wears under her secretary clothes. It feels like a lot of work, but Ava’s going to be worth it.

“Off topic,” Doc says as I try to figure out how to stalk my interest. “Were you able to look into security cameras for your place yet?”

“I’m going a different route. I don’t trust technology enough to have it not be used against me. I put in a call to an old acquaintance,” I reply, gaining a huge grin from the old man’s clean-shaven face.

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he remarks. “I get to see Marcus Greene again?”

“In the flesh,” I reply, surprised Doc remembers Marcus from the last time I used his services.

“Hot damn!” he exclaims while slapping his knee.

“I was in the city earlier today and noticed a car following me. The city’s too big for it to be a coincidence. That, and when I tried to confront the guy he drove off in a hurry,” I add.

“If you see the car again, snag me the plate number. I still have connections in the department, so I can have the plate run to find out who it is,” Doc replies firmly. “Odds are, whoever bugged your house realized the devices were removed. They are taking another approach.”

I nod in agreement. If it is the Ambrose family behind this, Duncan is one persistent guy. You would think he would have backed down after getting caught, but it appears he just changed his strategy. I admire someone who doesn’t give in, but being the guy on the receiving end has me anything but impressed.

“What’s her name?” Doc asks out of the blue.

I look at him, confused for a moment, before remembering I came here for relationship advice.

“Ava. Ava Brown,” I reply calmly.

Just saying her name makes me feel lighter than air. I can’t imagine how good I’ll feel once I’m able to hold her in my arms and call her mine.

I order us a pizza and Doc and I enjoy a couple of games of chess while we kill time. The hour grows late and I can tell the old man is ready to call it a night.

“Well, it’s been fun, but Zeus and I need to be heading out,” I finally announce after stretching in my seat.

Although he’s clearly tired, Doc looks disappointed we can’t stay longer. He gets up from his chair with a groan and walks us to the door. Even Zeus doesn’t look like he’s ready to go. Doc had bought him a new dog bed that he had been enjoying. I was really hoping to get a call from Marcus before heading out of the city, but my phone had stayed silent.

“Let me know if you get that plate number. I’ll keep digging around on my end and see if I can find any ties between you and the Ambrose family,” Doc says, opening up the door and letting in a gust of cold air.

I thank him again and walk out into the cold evening air. The sun had gone down a while ago, so at least traffic won’t be as bad as it was coming into the city earlier. I back out of his driveway and immediately start thinking about Ava and how I’m going to go about following her. I don’t want her to notice me, so I’ll have to try and keep my distance. I can follow her home from work and see where she lives.

Once I have her address, it will be a lot easier to keep an eye on her. The thought is exciting and I can’t wait to get started. I know she doesn’t live too far from the office if she walks in every day. It wouldn’t be too difficult to sit out along the street and wait for her to pop up. She knows I use the same coffee shop, so it’s not farfetched that I would run into her there.

A black car speeds past me, causing my heart to try and jump out of my chest. Probably just someone upset about the fact I drive the speed limit. I can’t help the paranoia creeping up in my mind, though. The thought of going back to my empty house is daunting, causing me to take the long way home.

I pull into the driveway in time to see a light in the house shut off. Someone’s in the house. I kill my headlights and slowly make my way up the drive. No way am I going to call the police, it would take them too long to get all the way out here. I have a bat sitting in the garage just inside the side door. I can grab it before sneaking through the back sliding door.

I pull the vehicle to a stop and slip out my door, quietly closing it behind me. I would let Zeus out, but I don’t want him to run into the house without knowing who’s in there. I don’t know what I would do if he got harmed.

It’s beyond dark in the garage as I fish around for the bat. I know I put it back in here after my run-in with the neighbor. My fingers finally land on it and I pull the weapon into my hand. I can see someone moving around inside the house, but they look like a shadow through the curtains. The back sliding door has a fingerprint lock, so it will be the easiest point of access. A subtle glow from the kitchen indicates whoever is in my house just opened the refrigerator.

“Who the hell breaks into someone’s house for a snack?” I whisper to myself as I move toward the slider.

The door quietly clicks as I press my thumb against the lock. I wait a second to make sure the intruder hadn’t heard it. No one comes to the door, so I carefully slide it open. After pushing the curtain to the side, I peek in and look around. It’s so dark I really can’t make out much of anything. I hear a plate being set on the counter in the kitchen and know exactly where I need to go.

I crouch down and slip in through the sliding glass door. My heart’s racing as I put my back against the wall. I almost want to go running back out to the Range Rover and get Zeus. He could distract whoever this is while I get a good swing on him. It’s too late, though, I’m already in the house.

My mouth is cotton dry and I can feel a bead of sweat run down my temple. The figure walks into the living room and I almost yell out, but I manage to catch myself before I do. He’s standing right in front of me, his back in my direction. His huge figure is silhouetted against the windows on the other side of the room. It’s now or never.