At noon the next day I followed Vanessa down the street from her apartment building to her mom’s assisted living facility—Sunnyside Achievement Home. Six stories high, it took up an entire block on a street off Ashland, across from a mattress store, a preschool, and a Burger King. I watched her tie a mask around her face and walk through the sliding doors..
Taking pictures last night had been, well, stimulating. Rachel enjoyed snapping her whip, which made me nervous. But she complained that the pictures all looked like surveillance photos, so we deleted them, made sure they were really deleted, and then—some time later—finally got around to watching Ted Lasso. I’d found her this morning looking up cameras on the internet.
Gray clouds overhead threatened rain later. I leaned against the window of the mattress store, my phone out, glancing up and down the sidewalk here and across the street. A cloudy day, hinting at rain later. No sign of the stalker or his little dog, just people shopping, running for the bus, parking their cars, walking with coffee—the usual street scene.
Vanessa emerged from the Sunnyside Home 45 minutes later. She looked around, then pulled out her phone. Mine buzzed.
“I’ve got a lawyer meeting downtown,” she told me. “I’m going to catch a cab, so you can go home.”
“All right. Your mother okay?”
“She hates the food they give her there, but I brought her some cookies.” Vanessa laughed. “Thanks.”
She hailed a cab that headed down the street. I waited a few more minutes, then turned for the Burger King. Rachel, a vegetarian, would kill me, but I was hungry.
Then I spotted the stalker.
Actually I saw the dog first, trotting ahead of the man on the other side of the street. I stepped behind a light pole. Yeah, it wouldn’t exactly hide me if he looked in my direction, but he had his eyes on the Yorkie, his hand firmly on the leash.
They walked up the block, then stopped in front of Sunnyside. The man looked up at the windows for a moment while the dog pulled on his leash, and then they walked up to the entrance. The doors slid open for them, and they went inside.
Okay, this was unexpected. I called my client and left a message. I stayed by the pole, my stomach growling. Half an hour passed. Man and dog eventually came out, and the dog immediately peed on a fire hydrant. I ignored my hunger and followed them back to their home, then headed back to where I’d parked near Vanessa’s apartment. Vanessa called back as I was getting into my car. “What happened?”
“He showed up at your mother’s facility and went inside,” I told her. “He stayed about half an hour, then went home.”
“But why?”
“I could go ask the front desk.” Maybe they’d tell me, maybe not. It wouldn’t hurt to try. “There’s one obvious connection.”
“Mom?” Confusion. “But how—wait. Where are you now?”
“In my car. About a block from your building, where I parked to follow you.”
“Come on up to my place. Let’s call her together.”
I hesitated only a moment. “Be right there.”
Rachel snorted when I called to tell her. “A gorgeous porn model’s apartment? Behave yourself. Maybe get some photography tips.”
Vanessa met me at the door to her apartment in sweats and a pink T-shirt. “Hi. Water? Coffee?”
I was still hungry, but I couldn’t ask for a sandwich. Could I? “Just some water would be fine.”
I recognized parts of the apartment from her page. She’d done a shoot playing with cooking implements in her kitchen, and several in her living room featuring balloons, stuffed animals, and toys of an adult nature. She handed me a bottle of water and led me to her office, crammed with computers, cameras, sound equipment, books piled on the floor, and posters of young singers I’d never heard of on the walls.
Vanessa sat down, dropping her phone on the desk in front of a massive screen. “I haven’t told her about the stalker yet. I didn’t want to scare her.”
I nodded. “Does she know about your, uh, business?”
“Of course.” The question seemed to surprise her. “I told her right away. She thinks it’s funny.”
“Sorry. I was thinking of blackmail.”
She laughed. “Nobody who knows me would be surprised. I mean, I do it so I can take care of mom. But I’m not going to worry about hiding it.”
That took away one motive. “My girlfriend likes your site, by the way. She wants some pointers. On taking pictures, I mean, not, uh, anything else.”
Vanessa laughed again. “I’ll see what I can do.” She tapped her mother’s picture.
“H-hello? Vannie?” She sounded like she’d woken from a nap.
Vanessa talked in a rush as if afraid she might lose her nerve and hang up. “Mom? I’ve got to tell you something. I’m here with a private detective, Tom Jurgen. He’s here because I’m being, well, stalked. By a guy with a little dog. He saw the guy go into your place after I had lunch with you, and, well, we’re worried that he might be up to something with you.” She paused, catching her breath.
“A—a private detective?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said. “Tom Jurgen. I’ve been following this man since yesterday..”
“Well, I don’t—Vannie, are you sure? There are a lot of dogs out there—”
“I’m sure, mom.” Vanessa was annoyed. “I’ll call you later.” She hung up. “Damn it. She never believes me.”
I stood up. “I’m going back there. It’s a hunch, probably nothing.”
She stared at me. “What do you mean?”
I chose words cautiously. “If she—if does know the guy, she might call him. I just want to see if he shows up there again.”
“Oh my god.” Vanessa shook her head. “Why would mom be—be protecting a guy like that?”
I didn’t want to speculate. “People have all kinds of reasons. Maybe we’ll find out. Or maybe I’m just wrong.” I headed for the door. “I’ll be in touch.”
I had a box of peanut butter granola bars in the car for emergencies, so I ate two while driving to Sunnyside. Better than nothing—
I almost spit the last bite out when I spotted the guy on the sidewalk, with his dog, half a block from Sunnyside. Walking quickly away.
I hit the brake, wondering if I should pull a U-turn to follow him or just abandon the car and tail him on foot. But before I could decide, sirens started shrieking in front of me, and my phone buzzed at the same instant.
Vanessa. “They just called—they’re taking my mom to the hospital! What’s going on?”
Cars honked behind me as I peered up the street. Blue and red lights were flashing in Sunnyside’s front driveway as an ambulance pulled out. “Yeah, I think I see ambulances there. Hang on. I’ll pick you up.”
“Okay. Hurry.”
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