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“So I’m just going to stand there like a plant? Repeatedly? No self-respecting pickpocket does that. Someone’s going to spot me.”
“Uh-uh.” Ryan shook his head. “You give the world entirely too much credit. Even Brianna didn’t remember exactly how many doors down Hanover’s office is when I asked her. She said she just kind of headed down the hall until she found it. People don’t notice things. Not unless it’s in their faces, which you won’t be. You’ll wear different clothes each day. Change the way you wear your hair. Stand in a different place in the hallway. No one will be paying attention to their surroundings except you. And you’ll have this to back up your efforts.”
He held up a pair of what looked to be small diamond studs.
“Earrings?” Emma blinked. Unable to help herself, she reached over and snatched them. “I get diamonds as a bribe? Wow, I…” She paused, studying the stones. “Wait. These are cubic zirconia. Cheap substitutes.” She shot Ryan a dirty look. “Are we taking a page out of the Ryan McKay book of seduction? You give women fake diamonds they think are real and they hop into bed with you? Boy, I’m glad this is a business bribe and that I know my real jewels from my fakes.”
Ryan was clearly not amused. “They’re not a bribe, they’re an investigative tool. To do what you get paid for. As for my sex life, that’s off-limits to you, brat.”
Emma stuck her tongue out at him.
“Now, do you want to stop acting like a two-year-old and listen to me?” he asked.
A grudging nod. “Yeah, go ahead.”
Ryan took the studs from Emma, indicating their centers. “I planted mini cameras in each of these. They’ll take a video of everything you’re seeing. I purposely picked earrings because they’re pretty close to eye level and completely inconspicuous. So the visuals between the cameras and your reports will be similar.”
“Cool.” Emma’s interest was, once again, piqued. “Okay, so I’m using these to cruise the halls and get a handle on when the traffic around there is light—and when Hanover is least apt to be in his office. What else?”
“You’re a brand-new student and you’re pretty. Good combo. Go up to Hanover and request a meeting with him to explain some material you don’t understand in his class. I want you inside that office—just once. Your job is to locate items of Hanover’s that can be used to make scent pads for Hero.”
“And what do we do with those scent pads?”
“For starters, we let Hero tell us if Hanover left those gifts for Brianna. We’ll also have him sniff outside h
er apartment to see if Hanover has recently been there. Most of all, we have him memorize Hanover’s scent. Because logic tells us that the psycho’s pursuit of Brianna will soon become more tactile.”
“You mean he’ll stop the gifts and just attack her?” Emma looked horrified.
“It won’t get that far,” Ryan assured her. “Our security team would intervene in a heartbeat. But if he so much as touches her, he’ll leave his scent behind, and Hero will recognize it. Between that and the accompanying report filed by our security guys, there’d be enough to capture the NYPD’s attention.”
“Okay.” Emma still looked a little green, but she nodded. “I’ll get into Hanover’s office and pick out the right items.”
“And if he comes on to you, just sidestep it,” Ryan said, intentionally lightening the mood. “That means no kicking him in the balls.”
Emma responded with a smile. “Gee, you take all the fun out of things.” As she spoke, she glanced back down at Ryan’s diagrams and her eyebrows knit. “Ryan, all this is very well planned. But if this is a limited summer school program, how do we know that Hanover is even teaching? He could be taking the summer months off.”
“Nope. I checked it out. He’s teaching one consumer behavior course and one digital marketing course. The first is on Monday and Wednesday nights and the second is on Saturdays. You’ll be registered in the Monday-Wednesday consumer behavior course—sizing people up is your forte. You’d drown in digital marketing. But that doesn’t mean you won’t be hanging around campus on Saturday mornings. Hanover will be there. And so will you. Go to the library, get something to eat, whatever. Just time it all with Hanover’s schedule and his comings and goings. We’re covering all bases, trying to predict all his actions—including those that involve stalking Brianna. She may not be taking summer classes, but that clearly hasn’t lessened his obsession with her. Plus, he’s a sexual predator whose targets are his students. NYU is his hunting ground. He’ll be hanging around campus even when he’s not teaching.”
Groaning, Emma dropped her head onto her folded arms. “The Saturday part’s fine. But as for the rest, do I have to remind you that I barely got through high school? No college. No interest in the classroom. No academic experience. And consumer behavior? I was a pickpocket. I sized up those consumers so I could steal from them. So, fine, you’ll get me into the class. But I’ll be tossed out on day one. I don’t know shit.”
“Ah, but Kate Lowe does.”
“Who the hell is…?” Emma’s question died on her lips, and her head came up as Ryan placed some documents on the desk: a driver’s license, credit card, college transcript, and student ID—all in the name of Kate Lowe—and all authentic, right down to the photos of Emma on the driver’s license and student ID.
“Meet your better half,” he said.
Emma picked up each item, studying them and shaking her head. “This is great,” she said dryly. “I now have a new name, a college degree, and a 4.0 GPA. Enter Kate Lowe. That’s fine. I can pull off any alias, no problem. But what happens the first time I’m asked to participate in something I don’t have the first clue about?”
Ryan grinned. “That what earbuds are for. As of today, you’ll do some speed-reading—I got you some good equivalents of Cliffs notes so you’ll know the basics. The rest I’ll feed to you during class on a need-to-speak basis. Not to worry. Like you said, I’m a genius. And whatever I don’t know, Casey will. You’ll be fine.”
“Why do I doubt that?”
“Emma.” Ryan was clearly trying to be patient. “You only have to do this for two weeks, tops. That’s four classes. Maybe less, depending on how quickly our plan moves. You already missed the first week, so coming off as being a bit lost is to be expected. Just use that sharp con-artist mind of yours to pull this off. Go into Hanover’s classroom all enthusiastic about his class and eager to understand more. Play to his ego.”
“That part’s a piece of cake. I’ll be your grad school Barbie and your Bond girl all rolled into one. Not to worry.”
“Good. In the meantime, Casey and Claire are coiled and ready to strike. Once you give us the info we need, they’ll break into Hanover’s office, get their hands on the personal items you’ve located, and make scent pads for Hero. They’ll do it right there in Hanover’s office so they can return the items to their proper places without him ever missing them.”
