acechar

v. observe, watch; spy; threaten; ambush, waylay

= lurk, stalk, lie in + wait.
Ex: This is when children are not really concerned with scientific truth; they believe in Father Christmas anyway, even if there lurks the suspicion that there is something rather fishy about it all.
Ex: So Hutchins arranges her drawings in such a way that as your eye travels leftwards across the page you see the fox who is stalking the hen and trying to catch her.
Ex: The hurdles that lie in wait for us include ones called 'connectivity', 'electronic journals', 'new software', 'new computers', 'more RAM', 'local area networks' and 'more time and energy'.