Perfect Victim (Nadia Stafford 3.6)

"Actually, Dexter was my dog. I miss him more." She glanced over. "Is that an awful thing to say?"

"Considering your ex's asshole move? Not at all."

"Having Cliff--that was the boyfriend--walk out just showed what I already suspected. That he wasn't the one."

"Does Cliff have your keys? Security codes?"

She shook her head. "I couldn't get those changed fast enough."

She pushed open the side door and led me in.

"I'm sorry about your dog," I said. "I have two."

"Better than a boyfriend?"

I chuckled. "No, I have one of those. A good guy."

"Lucky girl." She shut the door. "That will be my new dating test. If a psychotic client threatened me, would you (a) offer moral support or (b) say 'Sorry babe, I'm outta here'?"

"The correct answer is both a and c."

"C?"

"Offer to buy me a gun and offer to escort me to work, but don't be offended if I say no to either."

She grinned. "Exactly. I do have the gun."

"And now you have the escort."

During my fake walk-through, I made suggestions, like telling her to keep the blinds shut at all times and have multiple lights on at night so she didn't leave a trail of illumination, showing where she was in the house.

As we walked into the kitchen, I said, "The killer seems to like explosive devices, which is, unfortunately, the most frightening scenario. It could be anything you open. A door, a box . . ."

"A backyard grill . . ."

"Exactly. Plus there's the possibility of tripwires. I'm sure you've been told not to accept packages, here or at the office."

"All my mail goes through the police."

"Perfect. But while bombs seem to be the new modus operandi, we know it's not the only way this killer operates. He did fire those shots at your ex. So I have a few suggestions for home security. Yours is good--it's not foolproof."

"Just tell me what I need."

"I will. And while home security is great, the best defense against break-ins is your neighbors. I'm guessing they're on high alert? Told to report suspicious activity?"

She nodded. "They've been great."

"Good. Your backyard, though, is another matter. May I see it?"

She took me outside. I pretended to poke around while I called her attention to the issues Jack had already observed.

"Motion sensors are the big one," I said as we walked to the back fence. "There's no way to stop people from coming into your yard, no matter how high your fence, and backing onto unused property makes security tough. If you can't stop them, the next best thing is to know when someone's there. You have sensors already but . . ." I waved toward the rear deck. "Would you stand over there, please? I'm going to hop the back fence and try to get in without activating those sensors."

I climbed the fence and started experimenting. After about five minutes, she said, "Okay, I see the problem."

"Yep. If we're dealing with a tot

al amateur, he's likely to stumble into range of your sensors. But if he can see them, like I do, and"--I started toward her--"he can get all the way to--"