A Face to Die For (Forensic Instincts 6)

“I don’t know whose parents are in worse shape,” Gia told them in a watery voice. “Actually, I do. Dani’s. Mine at least had the chance to meet Dani and to see what a wonderful person she is. They’re also more involved, since they live so close by. Dani’s poor parents haven’t seen their daughter since this all began, and all they know about me is my name and that I’m the twin who just surfaced out of nowhere and uprooted their life.” She ran a hand through her hair. “Although this is tearing my parents apart, too. I feel like a horrible daughter—I can’t do a thing to ease their pain.”

Casey felt a wave of sympathy, for both the girls and their parents. This situation was one big emotional devastation. And there was a whole facet yet to reveal—Lina and all the ramifications that came with that revelation.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quietly. “You know we’ll do everything we can to ease your way through this.”

“We know,” Dani replied. Her eyes were puffy from crying, and pain was etched all over her face. “It’s just all too much. My parents are in shock. Gia’s parents are, too, although they were lovely to me. But they couldn’t stop staring, and Mrs. Russo was blinking back tears all night. It was the most difficult evening of my life, and certainly of theirs.”

“Your parents will be arriving later today,” Patrick said, trying to soothe her. “Then, all of you can get together. It will comfort and strengthen you. You’ll see.” His jaw tightened. “And this time I’ll be heading up the security team. Safety won’t be an issue.”

He turned to Gia. “You have three weddings this weekend. I’m uneasy about you handling them. It’s too risky. Too many people. Too little control. I’d suggest you send Liz Watts, the assistant planner you mentioned, in your place.”

“Not a prayer.” Gia’s response was immediate. “As it is, I had to call on Liz to be my stand-in this past weekend—with me on the other end of the phone for hours. But that was for my parents; they needed me and they needed to meet Dani. But the upcoming weekend? No way. Two of the three weddings are enormous events I’ve been planning for over a year. The third is smaller, but the clients are even more demanding than the other two sets. There’s no way Liz can run the show on these, and there’s no way I’d let her. My clients would eat her alive, then they’d hunt me down and shoot me.”

Patrick’s brows shot up. “That bad?”

“Worse.”

“Fine. Then I’ll have to double security on you.” He turned to Dani. “And I want you in a controlled environment while Gia’s away. That means Gia’s townhouse or your

parents’ hotel room.”

Dani nodded. “As long as my folks are with me, I’ll stay put.”

Gia pressed her lips together, anger mixing with pain. “I hate this. I have no control over my life. Neither does Dani. Our lives are in the hands of some lunatic.”

“We’ll change that. And soon.” Casey’s words were more than a statement. They were a promise.

Ryan cleared his throat. “We’ve got another angle to cover.” Remembering Claire’s words, he kept his delivery nice and easy. Normally, he’d be going at this like a missile. But there was no point in making things worse and impeding his progress. “We need to talk about the spyware I found on your computers.” He intentionally used the plural. If he told Gia and Dani the truth now, it would push them closer to the edge and destroy their ability to think clearly.

“So we were being monitored, just like you suspected.” Dani sounded wearier than she did shocked. “What were they privy to?”

“Besides seeing everything on your screen? Audio and video feeds.”

Gia blanched. “They could hear what we were saying? And worse, watch us?”

“When your computers were on? Yes. Otherwise, no. But I’ve made that go away,” he added hastily. “I put a piece of masking tape over both your microphones and your cameras. That’ll frustrate the hell out of your hacker. When you take these babies home, all he’ll see is what’s on your screen—which will be none of the important stuff. That you’ll continue to put only on your Raspberry Pi. The video and audio feeds will be blocked.”

Gia and Dani didn’t look appeased. They looked green.

“I can’t believe he was watching us,” Dani said, her mind clearly racing to all kinds of creepy places. “And if he can’t see or hear us anymore, won’t he know we’re onto him?”

“He already knows that,” Ryan replied. “He figured it out the first time whoever’s keeping eyes on you saw you walk through our front door. And it was confirmed by the absence of data you’ve been posting. He more than realizes he’s been made. This is just a great gotcha to raise his blood pressure.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun.” Gia was angry—angry and scared. “But doesn’t taunting him escalate the danger?”

Ryan was stunned by the barb. “Not to my way of thinking, no. Sure, he’ll get pissed off. But he’s the IT guy, not the big boss. He’ll report in and they’ll try to figure out another way to keep tabs on you.”

“That sounds like escalated danger to me.”

“I…” Ryan was in way over his head and sinking deeper. He dealt in facts. Dealing with emotional freak-out was not his thing.

He shot Claire an imploring look.

She picked up on it at once. “Please don’t let your imaginations run wild,” she said in that calming way of hers. “Ryan just removed your invasion of privacy. That’s a huge relief. I know you’re freaked out. I don’t blame you. But I agree with Ryan that this won’t up the danger. This spyware guy is just a pawn. And remember, he was hired only to keep tabs on what you do now that you’ve found each other. He’s not some perv who’s stalking and ogling you.” Even as she spoke, Claire had the oddest feeling that that wasn’t quite right. Something more was going on here. And whatever it was sent a shiver up her spine.

Her reassurances, however, seem to have the desired effect, as both Gia and Dani settled down.

“I’m sorry I snapped,” Gia apologized to Ryan. “My nerves are just frayed.”