“Fill me in, guys.” Jody came around from the back of the counter. “I’d be happy to take the case, but if you want to do it, I can make some serious recommendations regarding the equipment you may need. We’ve got state-of-the art equipment here. State-of-the-art.”
“Jody, despite what James may have told you, we don’t have a clue what this woman wants. She told me that she would give me instructions when the time came.”
Jody walked to the center of the showroom and pointed to the ceiling. “Those are sprinkler heads.”
They were.
“That one, that one, and not that one.” The third was the same as the other two.
“And what is that third head?” Em looked puzzled.
“A camera.”
“No.” Em was amazed.
“Come here.” He put his arm around her shoulders and walked her to a TV monitor on the wall. There were twelve different scenes represented on one plasma screen. James and I stood under the heads.
“Jody,” Em stepped to the right, removing his arm, “how does this work?”
“Right here.” He pointed to one of the scenes.
“Oh, my God.” She spun around and starred at me. “You and James are in the shot, perfectly clear.”
Good gadget.
“Skip, you should see this.”
If I walked to the monitor, I wouldn’t be in the picture.
“There are twelve cameras in this showroom.” Jody spread his arms. “You are being viewed from every angle.”
I walked to the screen. It was unbelievable. James stood in the center of the room, viewed from every camera. “Dude, I can see you from twelve different positions.”
“Doggie is my favorite, Skip.”
We all ignored his comment.
“So, Jody, what are you suggesting?”
He patted Em on the back as she took three steps from him.
“Nothing yet. You get an idea of what this lady, the owner’s daughter, needs and you call me, Skip. I mean, I could sell you a couple of portable cameras, voice recorders, and stuff like that, but until you have an idea of what this lady wants-well, you just stay in touch.”
It was a plan.
“We’re going to need some voice-detecting equipment.” James was now walking around the room, touching the different items. “Like this.” He pointed to a plastic power strip.
“Good choice, my man. You can plug in any appliance, lamp, whatever, and this baby will work just like it should. The microphone inside will pick up all the conversation in the room. Crystal clear. You can have your transmitter in the truck, at work, in your home, and attached to a recording device.”
“And, of course, you’ve got the recording device as well.” Em picked up the small power strip and shook her head in disbelief.
“And what’s this?” James was pointing to one of the motion detectors mounted in the corner.
“Tell him, Skip.”
“It’s a,” I knew I’d be wrong, “motion detector. We install them for security systems. It detects motion in the room. You can set the sensitivity level from low to high. That’s what it is, right?”
“Meant to look like a motion detector, Skip.” Jody smiled and walked to Em. “It’s a camera, folks. See scene two on the monitor?” He laid his hand on her shoulder. She removed it.
“Jody.” I should have explained the ground rules before we set foot in his store.
He spun around. “Skip.”
“Um, the GPS. It’s really that simple?”
“You’ve got to change the battery. Every couple of days, you’ve got to go to the vehicle and change the unit. Or the battery.”
“So, if you don’t change the battery-” James had wandered back to the counter.
“You lose the signal, James.”
“Middle of the day, night, early morning, you have to take the unit off the gas tank and replace it?”
“You’ve got it.” Jody picked up the gray box and held it in his right hand. “You just slide under the vehicle and switch it out. Shouldn’t take over thirty seconds.”
“Hey, Jody.”
“Yeah, Skip?”
“I really appreciate the fact that you’re giving us this prep course on doing some investigation.”
“Thanks, man.”
“However-”
“However what?”
“Em and I are dating. We’re a couple. I guess what I’m saying is, we have a really good relationship, and I need to tell you that.”
He raised his arm in mock defense. “Jeez, I wish you’d said something. I mean-I wasn’t coming on or anything. I’m not that kind of-well, I’m a friendly guy. What can I say?” A muscular, handsome, friendly guy who had the nickname of Macho Jody. And I needed to address that.
I’d taken a stand. Hopefully, she would realize that I loved her. Hopefully, she’d realize that the thing with Sarah was a job. A damned good-paying job, but nevertheless a job. I thought Sarah was hot, and I was intrigued with the hooker angle, but I really cared for Em. And I hoped this proved it. Maybe she’d thank me. Miracles do happen.
“Skip?
“Yeah.”
He smiled at Em as she walked over to me. “It’s just that, I don’t know, that I never would have pictured the two of you. I mean, forgive me for saying this please, but-”
“But what?”
“Well, I only knew her when we were in school,” he nodded to Em. She gave him a cold stare and nodded back. “But, man, she used to be so far out of your league.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“H e’s sleazy.”
“Em, he’s a guy.” James and I stopped at the truck. Em’s brand new BMW convertible was down the street.
“He probably uses those spy cameras to film Girls Gone Wild videos.”
I’d checked Jody out on the Web. He was solid. Good reputation, fair and honest. “He didn’t know we were dating, Em. Now he does.”
Em smiled at me. “And you set him straight. My hero.”
Her tight jeans and her black designer T-shirt hugged her cute little body, and I thought about what James and Jody had both said. About my league versus hers. Her blonde hair caught a slight breeze, and I felt a shiver.
“Let me just put the magnetic straps on the box.” James climbed into the truck and pulled the GPS from the bag. “This is going to be so cool, Skip.”
He was convinced we’d need it. To check on Carol Conroy, to track whoever her potential killer was, to follow whoever we thought needed following.
“Almost five hundred dollars of cool, James.”
“Yeah, but it’s on approval. If we don’t need it, if we don’t like it, he said we could return it.” James snapped the bands together tightly around the box.
“Just don’t make it too loose. It would be our luck to have the damned thing slip off and we’d have to pay him for nothing.”
“Okay, let’s go.” We walked down to Em’s car and she gave me a questioning look. I shrugged my shoulders. As usual, it was James’s call. He tugged at the bands, seemed confident that they were tight, and he lay down on the ground, easing himself under the BMW. “Ah, this is easy.”
“Yeah, but this is Em’s car and there’s nobody around to kick your ass for messing with his vehicle. If it was someone else’s car, and you got caught-”
James pushed himself back out. “Those magnets are tight. It’s gonna stay right where I put it.”
“And you just want me to drive wherever I usually go?” Em wasn’t 100 percent on board. Hell, it was my job and I wasn’t 100 percent on board.
“Yep. We’ll install the software on our computer at home, and we should be able to track you anywhere.”
“I don’t go to too many exciting places, boys.”
James brushed himself off. “You should get out more, Em. Pretty girl like you. Show yourself off a little more.”
“Screw you, James.” She got in the car, started it up, and pulled out onto the street.
“Can’t wait to get home and try this.”
“James, if you had your way, you’d spend the entire profit on this kind of stuff.”
“Only what we need, Skip.” We walked back to the truck.