Page 38 of 44.1644° North
“What’s a PPO?”
“Personal Protection Order. Basically, a restraining order.”
“A PPO but no criminal record? No stalking or harassment charges?”
“Evidence of stalking and harassment was provided, though charges were never filed.”
“Okay. Well.”
Rory cocked his head, studying me. “You don’t think he’s your guy?”
I didn’t, but it wasn’t a logical deduction or anything. Davenport’s interactions, though obnoxious, didn’t have the same threatening feel as the emails. But then, they wouldn’t, would they? Tone in email is tricky. Very often an email sounds very different than the sender intended. Not that there’s a lot of nuances to IF YOU KEEP LOOKING, YOU’LL END UP LIKE HER.
I shrugged. “No clue. He’s odd, and he’s aggressive, but he hasn’t threatened me.”
“He’d have to be pretty dumb to threaten you in public.”
“True.”
He was clearly trying to cheer me up when he offered, “Also, our cyber division’s made some progress on tracking the IP on the emails you received. Your stalker is using TOR.”
“I’m not sure what that is. Some kind of VPN?”
“Open-source software that enables anonymous communication. It’s extremely effective at concealing an IP address from network surveillance or traffic analysis.”
“So that’s good news? Isn’t that technology pretty much untraceable?”
Rory did a little maybe-yes-maybe-no head bob. “Let’s just say the Bureau has certain resources we don’t advertise.”
“Right.” I finished my coffee.
“Another?”
“I don’t know. Maybe just regular coffee. I need the caffeine, but I don’t want to get plastered before the vigil.”
He nodded, but asked seriously, “Are you feeling okay? You seem a little…”
I raised my brows when he didn’t finish it.
He smiled that attractive half-smile. “I don’t know you well enough to say. You do seem tired. You also seem maybe a little…down?”
I wasn’t sure whether to be flattered or put his attentiveness down to professional vigilance.
“Yeah. That’s probably right. Well, despite the party atmosphere, it’s not a cheerful occasion. This kid’s been missing nearly twenty years. There’s no happy ending here. Local law enforcement thinks they know who’s responsible, and maybe they’re right, and maybe hearing that news eventually will bring some peace to the family. I don’t know how much comfort it’ll give them.”
“In my experience, not knowing for sure is harder on people.”
“Probably.”
He was silent for a moment, before adding, “Although, frankly,notknowing the details is sometimes a blessing.”
Our eyes met. I understood what he meant, understood he had seen some truly terrible things. And not from a safe and academic distance.
“How do you do it?” I asked.
Rory seemed to weigh and discard a couple of answers. “Some cases are harder than others. Some of them do get to you. I try to focus on the people we’re protecting, the lives we’re ultimately saving. I can’t change the past, but if I’m doing my job right, I have the power to help shape the future.”
“That seems like a healthy way to think about it.”
