Phish NET Stalkings

by Denise Robbins

  Janette’s Internet favorites list was rather short. She had her online banking site bookmarked, her online school, her son’s doctor’s office, a few educational kid game sites, and a site called Literotica that supplies readers with an array of erotic stories. “Business homework for Janette,” he mused.

  He didn’t see much more in her Internet history. He saw a link to a local pizza joint and a hair salon. Then he spotted a link called Love Online. “Interesting,” he said aloud as he clicked the link and it displayed an online dating site. “What would a woman in the oldest business need with an online dating service?”

  “Maybe she was looking for love,” Jack said from the doorway.

  Cooper stood and scratched his head. “You think?”

  Jack shrugged. “Either that or it was another avenue for finding business.”

  “Look at this.” He gestured to the screen. “It states that it is scientific matching based on a questionnaire. They then use thirty dimensions of compatibility to match you with other singles for a happier, healthier, long-term commitment. What a crock,” he laughed. “They even give you step-by-step guidance on how to get to know someone.”

  Jack lifted one shoulder, dropped it and his face flushed. “It may not be perfect but a lot of people have met online through one of those dating services. According to the statistics five percent of all marriages nowadays have met online.”

  Coop’s brows drew together as he stared at his best friend. “You’ve done this?”

  “Hell, no!”

  He narrowed his gaze on Jack.

  “Okay, I tried it a couple of times for kicks. I met a couple of very nice women that I would never have met otherwise. I don’t date any of them anymore but we are still friends.”

  He gaped at his best friend in disbelief. “You never told me.”

  “I knew how you and all the guys would react. I went through a dry spell after my last serious relationship and I just needed a boost.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “It helped.”

  “So maybe Janette was looking for love?”

  “Could be. I mean she wasn’t going to find it on the street corner. What else did you find?”

  The computer beeped.

  “That’s the password breaker,” Cooper told Jack as he moved back to the laptop and sat in the chair. “It cracked Janette’s password on her electronic address book.”

  “Does it have names of her Johns?”

  “I don’t know yet.” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand and started typing. “Bingo!” Cooper rolled his chair back so Jack could see what he did. “Look for yourself.”

  “Holy shit! It not only lists the names, it lists their preferences, their cost, and the amount of money they paid and tipped. Wow! Talk about a meticulous hooker.”

  “She wasn’t just a hooker. She was a loving and cautious mother. She was looking out for herself and her son. Not only did Janette secure the important information that she did not want her son to see, she itemized everything in case someone tried to screw with her or her family. She was smart.”

  “There are no initials next to the names.”

  “No. That’s what we have to do.”

  “That’s what you have to do,” Jack said straightening. “I’ve got to go check on those witnesses and do some follow up on the superette burglary.”

  “I want to identify the initials on the last day in her appointment book first and then go from there. I’ll tag you and let you know when I’ve got the names and addresses.”

  “I’ll be in the field.”

  Bound and determined to catch a killer, Cooper pulled his chair back up to the computer and hunkered down for what would probably be hours of work.

  TWENTY-ONE

  Jane was on her way back to her office when her cell phone rang. “Jane East.”

  “Miss East, this is Arthur Heinz from your bank. I’m the manager.”

  “Yes?” she said with apprehension. “What can I do for you, Mr. Heinz?”

  “Call me Arthur. It seems there has been some unusual activity on your bank accounts.”

  Her heart jumped inside her chest. Unusual activity? “Excuse me?”

  “Can you confirm the last four digits of your social security number for me?”

  “9909,” she told the bank manager.

  “Thank you. Do you remember the last time you made an ATM withdrawal, and for what amount?”

  “Sunday. I withdrew three hundred dollars.” She always withdrew three hundred dollars whenever she went to the ATM so she would have enough money to last a week or more, unless she ended up buying something. She withdrew the money on Sunday because she had to put gas in her car.

  “Do you recall your last check transaction amount?”

  “I, uh, wrote a check over the weekend to a woman named Caroline for a birthday present for a friend of mine.”

  “The amount?”

  “Uh, do you really need to know that? I mean, can’t you look that up?”

  “I’m looking at the transaction on the screen right now and just want to confirm that you wrote the check.”

  Jane rattled off the number and waited for the sarcastic remark she was sure would come.

  “Thanks, Miss East. I apologize for any inconvenience, but we are very cautious about fraud.”

  “I understand and that’s very reassuring. Thank you, Mr. Heinz,” she said and snapped her phone shut. “Very reassuring.” She slipped her phone back into her purse and continued her trek to her office.

  It wasn’t until she reached her assistant’s outer area to her office that she realized the bank manager had called her cell phone. She paused midstride. My cell phone? Her cell phone was unlisted. She never gave it to anyone let alone any institute. She always provided her office phone as her contact number. She glanced around to ask Tony his thought and noticed that he wasn’t there. He must have gone for coffee.

  “Nah.” She shook her head in denial. She had to have given her cell number to the bank.

  Just in case, she fished into her purse, pulled out her cell phone and opened it. A few clicks and the history of her phone calls were displayed on the screen. The last incoming number was marked private.

  “Private?” Was that normal? Why would a bank have their number marked private?

  Heart racing, she hurried into her office and went directly to her desk. After dropping her bag by her chair, she sat and logged in to her laptop. Because she did as much work from home as she did at the office she had invested in a laptop computer for business. That way she could take it with her wherever she went.

  “Be wrong,” she prayed. “Please be wrong.”

  She hit the intercom button on her desk and Tony answered right away. “Yes?”

  “Tony, can you locate the phone number to my bank please and find out the name of the manager. I believe it is a Mr. Heinz.”

  “Do you want me to connect you once I get him?”

  “No,” her voice cracked. “No,” she said more surely. “Just see if that is the manager’s name. If it isn’t then connect me to whoever the manager is.”

  “I’m on it.”

  Hands trembling, stomach churning, Jane opened up Internet Explorer, typed in the URL for her online bank and then typed in her password. After a few seconds, the home screen to her account appeared. She checked her personal checking account, verified that indeed her ATM withdrawal was listed as well as the check that Caroline had cashed first thing this morning. Jane smiled at the thought of the older woman. She really would make a great asset to her boutique.

  Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the issue at hand. She clicked the link for her savings account and confirmed that there had been no withdrawals and that the balance remained what she expected.

  At the buzz of the intercom, Jane jumped in her seat. “The manager at your bank is Mr. Heinz. He’s been the manager there for ten years, has three children, a loving wife, and is a great boss.”

  A bubble of lau
ghter escaped Jane’s lips. “How did you learn all that?”

  “I said I was looking for a bank in the area and wanted to know more about the manager of the bank before I could make a decision. I also learned that the bank is very personable and they try to learn every customer’s first name and recognize him or her on sight. Pretty impressive. I might just switch banks.”

  She giggled as much for Tony’s ingeniousness as for her relief.

  “Maybe you should. Thanks.”

  “Later,” Tony said and buzzed off.

  Jane sat back in her high-backed chair and let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.” After a couple of minutes of collecting her breath and calming her racing heart, Jane logged off her bank and got to work. She had a busy day of trying to line up some beta shops to try their new line of all-natural lip-glosses.

  A beta shop would not only display and sell the new product before other stores, but they would reap the benefit by receiving an additional wholesale discount. The idea for beta shops to try the products had been one of her first thoughts after she had moved from just a single, tiny Not-so-plain-Jane’s boutique to providing wholesale organic cosmetics and beauty products.

  Pulling up her electronic Rolodex, Jane thumbed through the list of businesses and shops, and identifying the ones she believed would be perfect for advance showings of their new line called Glossy Gal. Glossy was a play on the word classy, but the actual packaging of the product was very classy. Glossy Gal was not your typical Lip Smackers lip-gloss packaged in a plastic tube with a sticky label on it with names like Bubblicious and made with petroleum products. No, Glossy Gal was all natural and packaged in a rectangular container, much like that of a good lipstick, but was clear and you didn’t turn the gloss or use a rollerball to get it on the lips. Instead, the wearer of Glossy Gal used a lip wand and wore colors like Take Me on the Floor Fuchsia, Just Got Me “Some” Pink, Sassy Sienna, Rock Your World Red, Kiss and Tell Crimson.

  She selected ten businesses plus her own boutiques to contact and began the calling.

  By the time Jane finished the phone calls, all of which had been successful, she was exhausted. Her throat was sore, her mouth was dry, and all she wanted was a nice tall drink, but she still had all the contracts to type up and send out. Plus, she thought she might invite a few more beta shops.

  Just then, Tony appeared in her doorway with a tray and a wide grin. “Knock-knock. Ready for something cool?”

  “You must be a mind reader,” she said as she stood and rounded the desk.

  “Sit. You need a fifteen minute breather.”

  Jane sat in one of the side chairs she had in her office for when guests showed up or when she wanted a more personal meeting with a client or a potential employee. Tony set the tray on the coffee table and took a seat in the other side chair.

  “So? How did the calls go? Did everyone agree? Are we going to start selling Glossy Gal? When will it be on the shelves?”

  Jane chuckled as she took the glass of raspberry tea Tony offered her. She nodded. “Thank you. Ten agreed, plus our own boutiques.”

  Tony wrinkled his nose. “As if there were any doubt.”

  She shrugged. “A few distributors couldn’t, but that’s to be expected. Sometimes the businesses have other investments already and can’t spend the extra funds. Or the timing is wrong because they are doing their own marketing of their own products. It happens.”

  “And you never hold it against them.” He took a swig of the tea then a bite of the cookies he brought in on the tray.

  Jane picked up a butter cookie for herself. “Why hold it against a business when the next time they will realize they made a mistake?” She winked at Tony and took a bite of her cookie. “Yum! You made these, didn’t you?”

  “I am more than just a pretty face.”

  She almost spit her tea at him. “Tony, you not only have a pretty face, but you are a master in the kitchen, a superior assistant, and can kick some serious ass when necessary.”

  He eyed her with an arched brow. “How do you know?”

  She lifted and dropped one shoulder. “You were a Marine.”

  “Am a Marine,” he corrected in a grave tone. “Once a Marine, always a Marine.”

  “Yes, sir.” Jane saluted him.

  “Shut up,” he grumbled and waved her hand away from her face. “You can’t salute.”

  “Yeah, well, I can sell organic cosmetics.”

  “And wear them well, too.”

  Now it was Jane’s turn to eye Tony with curiosity.

  “You’re a pretty woman and you wear your own products. That’s a huge selling point to all your vendors and partners, not to mention the men. There is nothing worse than a woman who wears war paint on her face instead of a subtle sheen of something that doesn’t make her look made up like a painted doll. And today you seem to have a glow about you.” He shrugged wide shoulders. “You wear your product well.”

  With that, Tony refilled her glass of tea, picked up the tray, and left the office leaving her gaping after him with her chin dropped. He had never said any such thing to her. Ever. Was it her products or was it the sex?

  Jane gave her head a quick shake and rose, returning to her desk. She refused to think it was the sex. She refused to think of Cooper. Instead, she shut him out of her mind and went to the business of typing up the contracts until it was time to meet Amy for dinner.

  TWENTY-TWO

  Jane arrived at the restaurant for her dinner date with Amy fifteen minutes late and found Amy one drink ahead of her and, by the grim frown on her face, not in the best of moods.

  “So sorry I’m late.” She took the chair across the table from Amy. “How was your day?”

  Her answer was a grumble followed by a hiccup. “Lousy.”

  Lately, most of Amy’s days had been lousy. Jane still didn’t understand how that could be. Amy worked in the family hotel and restaurant business. After she graduated from college, her father handed her the keys to the kingdom and a vice presidency in the family business. How bad could it be?

  “What happened?” she asked after giving her drink order to the smiling waitress.

  “My father gave me grief this morning in front of the management staff for showing up late.”

  “That doesn’t seem right.”

  “I know.” Amy swallowed the rest of her gin and tonic, then raised the glass in the air signaling the server for another drink.

  “I mean it’s not like I’m late all the time. Just when I have a late night.”

  Jane raised a brow.

  “Oh, don’t you start,” she whined. “So what, I’ve been out late a little more often.” She shrugged. “Can I help it if men find me attractive and I like to have a good time?”

  Jane waited for the server to drop their drink order off and walk away before she spoke. “How many times have you been late?”

  “In the last month…about two days a week, give or take.”

  “Amy,” she answered in a scolding voice. “You should know better. You’re upper management and you have to set an example.”

  “Ugh. You sound like my tyrant of a dad.” Amy took a long swallow of her drink then set her glass down with a sigh. “How was your day? Besides winning a huge contract. Did you celebrate with David?”

  The sarcasm in Amy’s tone grated on her nerves, but determined to have a nice dinner with her friend, she chose to ignore the sarcasm. Jane sat back, crossed her legs, and sipped her margarita on the rocks. “It was good. We have our new Glossy Gal line of lip-gloss ready for debut. I contacted and arranged for the shops and businesses to unveil Kissable Coral and Romantic Raspberry.”

  Leaning over, she reached into her purse and pulled out a small package she had Tony put together for her friend. “Here.” She set the box on the table. “I brought you a care package.”

  “You did?” Amy’s face brightened as she smiled, sat up straight in her chair, and unwrapped the small gift.

  Jane sipped her margar
ita as she watched her friend open the wooden box and marvel at the full set of Glossy Gal lip-gloss.

  “This is fantastic,” Amy exclaimed and jumped up to embrace her in a big hug. “Thank you.”

  Amy selected a tube of gloss from the box and, opening it, used the attached wand to glide Passionate Pink across her lips, then pressed her lips together and smiled. “How do I look?”

  “Fabulous.”

  “You must really love what you do. I mean you get to design things like lip-glosses named Nude Delight and lavender shampoo that goes along with the lavender conditioner and body wash.”

  “Of course, I love it. That’s why I do it.”

  “You were so lucky to have met David, but why did you have to go into business with him?”

  Amy sat back in her chair with a sulky pout on her lips and drank her G&T. Jane did not need this. They had been over this ground so many times before. It never seemed to make a difference to Amy that David knew the business of plants and organics and that she knew the business of hotels. The two did not mesh.

  “I mean you work with David every day and then you have your ritual Saturday or Sunday brunch.” Amy wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Don’t you think you spend too much time with him? No wonder you can’t get a man,” she proclaimed and set her empty glass on the table with a loud thud.

  “Are you hungry?” Jane asked in an attempt to change the subject. Maybe some food would improve Amy’s foul mood. She signaled the waitress. “What are you having?”

  “The Italian steak tips are the special today, and are to die for. Or so the chef told me.” Amy shrugged. “Then again, everything is fantastic at one of the Bouchercon restaurants or hotels.”

  “Very true,” Jane agreed with a salute of her margarita. She turned to the server who approached and placed her order for the steak tips and a side of linguine with marinara sauce. Amy did the same and asked for another gin and tonic. She would have to make certain that Amy did not drive home.