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“Since I said. ” He grinned. “And Jethro agreed. ”
A pout pulled at her lips. “Where’s my bat?”
“In your car. ” His gaze flicked over her as he pulled his jeans on, a smile tugging at his lips. “Want to go after it again?”
A blush stole over her cheeks, and Jethro remembered Mac relating that little tale as well. How she had stalked to her car for the bat during a summer rain shower. She had ended up bent over the hood while he took her from behind.
Anger surged through him at the thought. There would be no taking her outside, on the car, in the hot tub or the pool, or anywhere else until that crazy damned stalker was caught.
“Let’s go eat. ” Jethro anchored his holstered gun in the back of his pants before pulling a t-shirt on and slipping his feet into leather running shoes. “While we’re at it, we need to figure out how to catch that bastard fast. I want him gone, Mac. ”
“No more than I do,” Mac sighed, his gaze lingering on Keiley before he moved and pulled her beneath his arm. “No more than I do. ”
Keiley could feel the tension returning now, and the fear. For a short time she had forgotten about the man determined to destroy their lives.
Dealing with an addition to her heart was hard enough. She had thought it would never be possible to love anyone but Mac, but she was learning better. The adjustment to it was less than comfortable at times. The knowledge that everyone they knew was going to have explicit proof of it was driving her crazy.
With Mac in front of her and Jethro behind her they moved downstairs to the kitchen, and a quick meal of canned soup and sandwiches.
As she ate, Keiley couldn’t help the feeling of impending doom that rose inside her. They weren’t safe and Mac refused to leave the farm, even for a few days.
She could feel something dark, something smothering gathering in her chest as she cleaned up the dishes and listened to Mac and Jethro talk behind her.
“I want to know where that picture came from. ” Mac’s voice was too cold, too controlled.
Keiley turned from the dishwasher to face the table, seeing the anger that lit his gaze.
“The Playboy always researches his victims well,” Jethro reminded him. “He would have pinpointed Delia first thing as a weakness. I’m betting he sent her the picture. ”
“Now we have to counter the fact that she’s likely sent it to everyone she knows,” Mac growled.
“What if we hack her computer?” Jethro questioned. “Target her address book and resend the picture with a virus attached. It shuts down the computer after the e-mail downloads and wipes the hard drive. ”
Mac shook his head. “It’s gone too far. We would have to use a worm. One that goes into the address books, sends itself to each address that that particular attachment was sent to, and wipes computers out one by one as it’s found. It would take time, a week maybe, but it would take care of the attachment. ”
“What about the printouts? They can be scanned back in. Or the copies backed up on disc?” Keiley shook her head. “It’s not worth the effort or the worry. So they have a picture of us. So what? You two are buff as hell and made me look damned good between you. Why worry about it?”
She picked up her wine and sipped from it as she met their brooding looks.
“Keiley,” Jethro finally answered. “It’s not a matter of how the picture looks. It’s a territorial thing. But even more than that, it’s a matter of the insults that could be directed to you. I’d prefer not to kill over this. But I will. ”
Keiley stared at Mac, hoping for a little backup.
“Don’t look at me. ” He shook his head. “I agree with Jethro. Our home was invaded and our privacy violated. Your privacy violated. I won’t let that go. ”
“This isn’t the Middle Ages,” she snapped back. “And I don’t need either one of you protecting my honor. Would you like to know the sheer number of women who have at some point had some lowlife bastard post pictures of them? And let’s not even get into the women who post the pictures them
selves. Do you really think the fact that our picture is up there is going to be anything but a three-day wonder?”
“Do you really think I want anyone seeing my bare ass and you sandwiched between me and Mac?” Jethro bit out. “Excuse me here a minute, Keiley, but I can safely say there are no pictures of me buck naked anywhere on the Internet. ”
Oh boy. This would not be a good time to point out that she knew better. She dropped her head, staring at her bare toes intently rather than at him or Mac. Because it was definitely the first time a picture of her nudity had been displayed anywhere. But these two were another story.
Geeze, one would think with them being in the FBI, they would have checked these things. Duh! Get a clue. It was one of the first things she had checked for the night she had met Mac. Hell, she still had those pictures on one of her backup discs. She had just forgotten about them. Maybe she should have mentioned it to Mac when she started to, years ago. She just assumed that with him being in the FBI and that being his bare ass and all, he would have checked it out for himself.
Big mistake there.
“I don’t like that look on your face, Kei,” Mac suddenly growled.
