MIchael Prescott - The Shadow hunter

Images of her.

There she was, leaving the lobby of the Wilshire Royal to go for a walk.

There she was, dining at a coffee shop in Westwood Village.

There, visiting a park in Beverly Hills. There, playing tennis on a Sunday afternoon.

And more: washing her car, shopping at a mall, strolling on Santa Monica Pier, hiking in Will Rogers Park. Standing on the balcony of her condo-a shot taken from the office tower across the street, the same vantage point Hickle had chosen.

No wonder Travis had been able to guide Hickle to the tower. He had been there himself. Watching her.

Photographing her, just as Hickle had snapped Polaroids of Kris jogging on the beach.

"He was stalking you," Kris whispered.

"Like Hickle stalked me."

Abby nodded. She was not surprised. Travis had said he'd been watching her on the night when he tried to drown her in the Jacuzzi.

She'd had the feeling it wasn't the first time his obsessive hatred had drawn him close.

He had taken photos with a long lens, probably using a digital camera, then had simply stored the images on the CD. His private collection.

She remembered the dozens of photos of Kris that Hickle had cut out of magazines and newspapers and tacked to his bedroom walls. Travis had been doing much the same thing, driven by the same compulsion.

"He could have taken a shot at you whenever he liked," Kris said.

"When you were on the balcony… or walking in the park…"

"I'm sure he was tempted more than once. But he was cautious by nature.

He was waiting for his best opportunity. He was biding his time."

"Like Hickle," Kris breathed.

"They were more alike than different, it appears."

"But why? Why did he hate you so much?"

"Because I failed him. He had trained me, mentored me, and then I made one mistake and nearly cost him everything he had. This house with the canyon view, his office suite in Century City, his glamorous friends, the A-list parties-he saw it all slipping away, and he blamed me."

Kris shook her head slowly.

"We both know how to pick'em, don't we?"

"Maybe next time our luck will be better." Abby smiled.

"It can't get much worse."

Before leaving, Abby gathered up the remaining CDS, dumping them into a plastic garbage bag. She took them with her when she said good-bye to Kris outside the house.

"Thanks for keeping my name out of the news," Abby said.

"It's the least I can do. And I mean that literally.

Thanks, Abby. And… take care, will you?"

"I always do. It's how I've stayed alive this long."

On her way home Abby stopped in an alley in West Hollywood and buried the bag at the bottom of a trash bin. There were secrets on those disks no one had any right to see.

That evening she took a walk in Westwood Village, window-shopping aimlessly. When she saw the bar that served good pifia coladas, she went inside. The pina co lada remained her one weakness. At least she liked to think it was her only one.

She sat at the bar, the glass raised to her lips, thinking of Travis and his secrets.

"Buy you a drink?"

She looked up. It was Wyatt, off duty, in street clothes. He slid onto the stool next to hers and ordered a beer.

"This is the second time you've encountered me here," Abby said with a slow smile.

"You're not stalking me, are you?"

"If I were, I'd expect you to know it. You're the expert."

"I used to think so," Abby said, remembering the photos on the disk.

Wyatt's beer arrived. They passed a few minutes sipping their drinks, not speaking.

"Truth is," Wyatt said eventually, "I've been hanging out here a little more than usual. Hoping I might run into you."

"It worked-just as long as you weren't followed."

"I wasn't." He swiveled on his stool to face her.

"So how are you doing, Abby?"

"Never better."

"Not sure I believe that."

"Well, I'm alive and fully functional. How are things with you?"

"No complaints."

"And no heat from your friend Cahill or anyone else?"

"Zero heat. There's no reason for anybody to link the Hickle case to Emanuel Barth. And no reason anybody would link me to you."

"Unless somebody at Hollywood Station remembers that I paid you a visit a few hours before the excitement started."

"Nobody'remembers. Hollywood's a busy place.

People come and go. So we're okay, Abby. The case is closed. It's over."

"Its over Abby echoed. The words felt good to say.

Wyatt looked away.

"I understand how you wanted to keep things out of official channels, but I wish you'd confided in me. When you came to see me at the station, you already suspected Travis, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You should have said something."

"I wanted to handle things myself."

"Yeah."

"Typical of me. Right?" "You said it. I didn't." He tipped the beer mug from side to side, sloshing the foam in the glass.

"You know, I'd like to keep seeing you."

"Absolutely. You're my main resource in Hollywood.

I depend on you."

"What I mean is-not on business."

"Oh." Abby was quiet for a moment, staring into the mirror behind the bar, where her face gazed back at her, calm and contemplative.

"I don't know. Vie."

He studied her, his expression showing more bewilderment than hurt.

"We get along pretty well, and you wouldn't have to keep any secrets from me, so… why not?"

"Maybe because of what you just said-I can't keep secrets from you.

See, I don't like to be with people who know me too well. I like staying hidden. I like having my space. It's been like that for me since I was a kid. I keep my distance, always."

"That's no way to live, Abby."

"But it's a way to survive."

He let his hand rest gently on hers.

"I won't pressure you. If you change your mind, call me. Think it over, okay?"

"I will. I promise."

They parted a short time later. Abby was first to leave the bar. When she looked back from the doorway, she saw Wyatt sitting alone at the bar.

The sun was setting when she returned to her condo. On her balcony she watched the red glaze of the sky. She remembered sitting with her father before another sunset, years ago, and asking if her aloneness, her need for solitude, was a good thing. He'd said it would be, if she could make it work in her favor. His words were like a riddle she had never solved.

Call me, Wyatt had said. She wondered if she would.

In the living room, her phone rang. She left the balcony to answer it.

For some reason she expected to hear Wyatt's voice, but it was Gil Harris on the line-the New Jersey security consultant who'd brought her in on the Frank Harrington case.

"Abby, how you doing?"

"Fine, Gil. I'm great." She carried the cordless phone back onto the balcony.

"} take it you've recovered from your latest run-in with a crazy man,"

Gil was saying.

She wondered how he could know about Hickle, then realized he was referring to Harrington.

"Sure," she said easily.

"It's amazing what ten days of rest and relaxation will do for you."

"Well, I hope you've had enough vacation time, because I've got something that's definitely up your alley. Interested?"

She hesitated only a moment.

"When do you need me?"

"Soon as possible."

"I'll catch a flight first thing tomorrow, be at your office by late afternoon. Deal?"

"Works for me. Oh, and I should warn you-this one could be kind of tricky."

"They're all tricky, Gil." She leaned back against the railing and smiled.

"Although I have to admit, some are a little trickier than others."

After the call she lingered on the balcony, watching the last of the sunset. She felt her old friend, adrenaline, pumping through her body, and she knew it was what she needed. Wyatt could wait. Her personal life, whatever there was of it, could wait. In the end it was the job that kept her alive and sane. The job was what she lived for. The job was who she was.