Chapter 3

Monday morning Martin and Samantha walked into the MPU hand in hand and sipping coffee. They had spent a pleasant weekend together and, by staying at Martin's, avoided any of the anonymous phone calls Sam was receiving at her place.

"What, no coffee for me?"

"Sorry, Danny," Martin replied, "I needed one hand for my coffee and the other one for Sam."

Danny just rolled his eyes, "Great! I lose out on coffee so you can hold hands! Great!"

Sam laughed, "Quit your bellyaching! I'll go get you one from the break room. Just let me set mine down first." She turned to her desk and stopped cold. On her desk was another long white flower box tied with a red bow. The coffee slipped from her numb fingers splattering onto the floor. She took two steps backwards, shaking her head and muttering, "No!" Sam would have continued backing away from her desk if Danny hadn't been there.

He held her upright and turned her gently. Once she was no longer facing the offending box, Danny changed his grip into a hug, "Shh, Sam."

Martin went to her desk in a daze. He untied the bow and opened the box. Inside were a dozen long-stemmed roses—without blooms. A few petals were left in the box, along with another card.

Vivian came into the bullpen and took in the scene before her: Danny holding Samantha, spilt coffee on the floor and Martin looking into another white flower box. She quickly went to Martin and laid a hand on his shoulder, "What does the card say this time?"

"'Hope you had a nice weekend. Nice of you to feed the ducks. See you soon!'" Martin read quietly. His head snapped up, "He followed us! Oh my god, he followed us!" He sat down heavily in the chair.

Vivian was still looking at the box and noticed something under the flowers. She opened a drawer, took out a pair of protective gloves and put them on. She carefully reached under the flowers and removed a series of photos. She went to the table and laid them over the surface.

One shot was of Martin and Samantha feeding the ducks; another showed them in a passionate kiss; one was clearly taken though an open window as Samantha was curled against Martin on a sofa; the last shot was probably the most disturbing—Samantha in a state of undress, most likely getting ready for work one morning.

"Where were you two this weekend?" Vivian asked pulling off the gloves.

Sam lifted her head from Danny's shoulder, "Central Park, Martin's apartment and Café Java. Why?"

Vivian looked with sympathy at her younger colleague, "Come see."

Danny, Martin and Samantha came closer to the table and looked at what Vivian was pointing to. Sam gasped, Martin visibly winced and Danny just stared.

"He knows where you live too, Martin," Sam stated, tapping the photo of them on his couch with a pen. "There's no escape," she added sadly.

Martin reached out and turned the photo of Sam changing over. He didn't want to think that someone else had been watching her while she dressed. "We'll stay at a hotel."

"That doesn't sound so wise," Jack entered the conversation. "It doesn't seem to matter where you are, this guy seems to be able to find you."

"So what do you suggest?" Danny asked sharply.

"I suggest," Jack's voice conveyed command, "they pick one of their apartments and we can set up counter surveillance. Try to catch this guy in the act."

Danny looked at the photos, "Oh. Ok, I guess that could work."

Jack just glared, "I guess that's why they pay me the big bucks. I'm going to go clear all this with Van Doren and make sure we don't have a more pressing case." He headed to the elevators, "And Sam? Clean up that mess, huh?"

Sam just nodded and started to move for cleaning supplies.

"Don't, Sam," Vivian said gently, "I'll call janitorial services. Something like this is their job, not yours. Jack had no right to ask you to clean."

"But I made the mess. It's my fault," Sam stammered.

Danny lay a hand on her arm, "Just drop it, Sam. Viv's right."

Martin tried to lighten her mood, "You can clean at my house later, if you want to," and he slipped an arm around her waist kissing her gently.

She pulled back from the kiss and glared, "You think I'm going to clean?"

"Maybe you'd like it better if Martin got you one of those French Maid costumes, Sam," Danny joked.

Martin and Sam exchanged a look and laughed. "Thanks, Danny," Sam grinned, "I needed that."

"I know it is probably too much to hope," Vivian started, "but maybe we should take all this over to forensics?"

"I'll take it," Danny said, "There's a cute tech I'd like to talk to again."

The three exchanged looks and shook their heads over Danny's constant search for the next romantic conquest.

Later that afternoon, Jack pulled his team together and sat them around the table. He remained standing and explained what the FBI was willing to do to catch Sam's stalker. "We're going to use Samantha's apartment, since that's the phone number this guy seems to have. Cameras are going to be placed inside your apartment looking out, to try and catch him taking pictures. A trap and trace is being placed on your home phone as we speak. You'll both have escorts to and from the apartment to here. Once you two are in the apartment, we'd like you to stay put. I could only argue escorts, not 24-7 surveillance. Weekends are going to be tricky, but I'm sure we can work something out between the five of us."

"What do you think, Sam?" Martin asked.

She looked at her team, her friends and smiled, "Sounds good. I think we'll catch him."

"Damn straight we will," Danny exclaimed.

"So, Martin," Jack leaned forward, "perhaps you and Danny could go to your place now? Get the things you'll need?"

"How long do you think I should plan for?"

Jack shrugged, "Let's start with a week. If we have to extend the surveillance, well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

Six hours later, Jack watched Martin and Samantha leave with one of the agents assigned to escort duty – a bulky man who's entire physique said 'don't mess with me. I'm armed and dangerous!' If he didn't know any better, Jack would say he was ex-military and a private bodyguard.

Vivian also watched her colleagues leave. It had been a difficult day. Tensions had run high, with Danny trying to break it up in his usual manner. The work had been tedious, but necessary. Vivian suspected that Paula Van Doren was purposely diverting cases to other teams. Not that they could really concentrate on a missing person, but something would have been a better distraction than paperwork. She hoped the surveillance they set up would yield results quickly and they could get back to what they did best—finding missing people.

He watched the two men take suitcases from his apartment to hers. He watched a tech team position small cameras facing out to the street below and rooftops above and smiled. It would be child's play to avoid their range and still accomplish what he wanted, what he needed. He went back to his place of work and pondered his next move. Perhaps he should step up the phone calls. Those always seemed to unnerve her the most. Perhaps he should start his letter campaign. They were ready to go. It would probably drive her crazy. He smiled and wondered how she reacted to the photos he sent. He especially liked the one of her putting on her bra. He preferred to have her take it off—but that could wait.