Free Stalked by Brian Freeman Page B

calm, quiet girl in his office with the explicit, submissive fantasies filling her brain.
    He shut down the computer. Nothing here gave him any clues as to why Tanjy had disappeared, or whether she had even disappeared at all. There was nothing strange about someone getting in their car and driving away. People did it all the time. Sometimes they chose not to come back.
    Stride felt the house sag and heard a sharp
pop
from somewhere in the rear of the apartment. He got to his feet and stepped lightly to the bedroom door. He listened. There were cautious footfalls near the back window where he had entered the house.
    “Yo, dude!” a young male voice called. “What’s up? I know you’re here.”
    Stride emerged in the hallway and saw a young man in his twenties there, nervously brandishing a golf club like a weapon. The kid saw him and practically jumped.
    “I’ve called the police! They’ll be here any minute!”
    “They’re already here,” Stride told him, flashing his shield. “Who are you?”
    “Oh, shit. Wow, I’m sorry.” He was wearing gray sweatpants, an untucked flannel shirt, huge unlaced boots, and a bulky fur hat with a turned-up flap in front and ear flaps that hung down on either side of his head as if he were a bloodhound.
    I live in the land of stupid hats
, Stride thought.
    “What’s your name?” Stride repeated.
    “Sorry, I’m Duke. Duke Andrews.”
    Even his name sounded like a dog’s. “What are you doing here?”
    Duke pushed up his black-framed glasses, which were slipping down his nose. He had a wispy goatee on his chin and a string of pimples on his cheek that looked like the Big Dipper. “I live in the house next door. My bedroom looks out on the yard. I saw you go in, and I was, like, hey, could be a burglar.”
    “Here’s a little advice, Duke. Don’t try to confront burglars yourself. Let the cops handle it.”
    “Yeah, yeah, right, guess that was stupid.” Duke tugged at the hairs on his protruding chin.
    “A golf club isn’t much of a match for a gun.”
    “I don’t even golf, man. How dumb is that?”
    “Do you know who lives here?” Stride asked.
    Duke nodded eagerly as he bit one of his fingernails. “Oh, sure, yeah, it’s that girl who was in the news, you know. The whole rape thing. Tanjy. Short for Tangerine, right? Weird name. But wow.”
    “Have you seen her lately?”
    “Not in a couple days, no.”
    “Do you remember exactly when you last saw her?”
    Duke didn’t have to think about it. “Monday night. I saw her go out in her car right around ten o’clock.”
    “You sound like you keep a close eye on her.”
    “What?” Duke was nervous and shuffled his feet.
    Stride was taller than Duke, and the kid shrank as Stride came closer. “I mean, what will I find if we go back to your place? A telescope focused on Tanjy’s bedroom? That’s better than binoculars for peeping, right? Leaves your hands free.”
    “Whoa, dude, what are you saying? No way.” Duke looked at the door as if he wanted to take a running dive through it.
    “Listen, you take your telescope and point it at the stars from now on, okay? I don’t want to charge you as a Peeping Tom. But right now, I need to know what kinds of things you’ve been seeing in Tanjy’s bedroom.”
    A small, excited grin flitted across Duke’s lips. He yanked at his sweatpants. “Oh, man. It’s so fresh. You wouldn’t believe it.”
    “Try me.”
    “This girl, she’s better than a porn star. Always sleeps in the raw. Gets herself off like every night. I should sell tickets, man. Could pay my rent and then some.”
    “How about visitors?”
    “Nobody in the bedroom, not since I’ve been watching.”
    “Which is how long?” Stride asked.
    “I moved in to my apartment in early December. Didn’t take me long to realize the place had a great view.”
    “You have any idea where she went on Monday?”
    Duke took off his hat and scratched his head. His black hair stuck up in messy wings.