Just Take My Heart - Mary Higgins Clark [99]
Totally traumatized by the death of her neighbor and the knowl?edge that Zach Lanning had been not only spying on her but creep?ing in and out of her house, she had told Jake Rosen that she had to get out. Walking her to her car, Jake said soothingly, “I'll take care of everything.” She completely understood that her home had to be fully processed for fingerprints, any additional electronic devices, and any other evidence that Zach Lanning may have left behind.
“Try to calm down,” Jake Rosen told her softly. “It's a good idea for you to get away from this for a couple of hours. When you come back, I will tell you everything that we have found. I promise I will not hold back on you.” He smiled. “And I promise we won't leave your house a mess.”
“Thanks, Jake. I do insist on knowing right away if he's had cam?eras or other devices planted anywhere in my house. Don't try to protect me from it.” She attempted to return his smile but couldn't manage one. “I'll see you later.”
She drove straight to the courthouse. Carrying two folded duffel bags over her arm and holding the leash with Bess excitedly bounc?ing along beside her, she got into the elevator. There were only a handful of people left in the whole office.
As she walked down the inner hall toward her own office, a cou?ple of young investigators who had heard about the discoveries pat?ted Bess and expressed their outrage at what Lanning had done to her and to the old lady. Then, sympathetically, they asked if there was anything at all that they could do for her.
Emily thanked them. “I'm okay. I am going to stay home the next couple of days. I want to have all my locks changed and I don't have to be convinced that I have to upgrade my alarm system. I'll just be here a few minutes. I have a bunch of files that I need to go through that really got backed up while I was on the Aldrich trial. While the work is being done at my house, I can make some headway on them.”
“Can we at least help you carry them out to the car?”
“That would be great. I'll let you know when I'm ready to go.”
Emily went to her office and closed the door. There were indeed plenty of files that needed her attention but they would have to wait. She had made the decision to pack up the entire Aldrich file and bring it home. That was the reason for the duffel bags. She didn't want anyone to be able to see what was in them. She intended to go back again through this case and scrutinize every word contained in the hundreds of pages of documents to see if anything had been missed.
It took her about thirty minutes to reorganize the folders and pack them in the duffel bags. One of the thicker folders, which she par?ticularly wanted to scour, contained copies of the New York police reports from the nearly twenty-year-old murder in Central Park of Natalie Raines's then roommate, Jamie Evans.
It had happened so long ago. Maybe that file didn't receive enough of our attention, she thought, as she watched her colleagues lift the duffel bags into her car.
On the way home, Emily wondered if she would be able to fall asleep in her own house tonight, or for that matter, anytime soon. The personal invasion and sense of humiliation is bad enough, she thought with a lump in her throat. But the reality of that psychopath Zach Lanning still on the loose was terrifying.
But there was also a part of her that needed to be in her own home.
As she pulled into her driveway, Jake walked out of her house to meet her. “Emily, we're all finished inside. First let me tell you the good news. There were no cameras or listening devices other than the one you already know about in the kitchen. The bad news is that Lanning's fingerprints are all over your house and