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“At this point, anything would help. ” Jethro shrugged. “I’ll contact Dell and get him to work on the additional information. And pray he doesn’t go to the director. ”
Mac grinned. “Dell won’t go to the director. He’ll just demand credit. ”
“He can have the credit. ”
Mac glanced at Jethro sharply. The edge of frustration in Jethro’s voice was telling.
“You’ve about had it, haven’t you?” he asked his friend, seeing the signs clearly.
“I stay suspended more often than I’m at my desk. It’s becoming a pain in the ass. ”
“So stop beating the shit out of the perps,” Mac suggested.
“Might as well tell me to stop breathing. Sons of bitches. We spend months, years, working to catch them and the next thing you know some wing-tipped fancy-pants lawyer has them out on a technicality. That or a witness disappears and turns up dead or suddenly information is corrupted and the bastards are back on the streets destroying lives again. It pisses me off, Mac. ”
Yeah, it pissed Mac off, too. It was one of the reasons he had resigned and come back to the farm. Keiley and the temptation Sinclair’s Club afforded hadn’t been the only reasons. They had been prevailing reasons, but there had been others.
“Cameron’s firm is doing well,” Mac pointed out, referring to Jethro’s cousin, the investigator for Sinclair. “He’s been after you for years to join him. ”
“I’m thinking about it. ” Jethro propped his feet on the desktop as he leaned back further into the chair. “The new director doesn’t appreciate my unique abilities,” he grunted sarcastically. “Resigning beats being fired any day of the week. ”
Mac shook his head. Jethro was the bad boy of the Bureau, there had never been any doubt about that.
“I saw Keiley this afternoon before she left. ” Jethro said, changing the subject yet again. “She was nervous as hell. ”
Mac felt his body clench in sudden arousal.
“Did she mention last night?”
“She didn’t mention it, but she was remembering it. That was a hell of a chance you took last night. ”
Mac was well aware of the chances he was taking with his marriage. He didn’t need Jethro to point it out to him.
“I’ll take care of my marriage, Jethro,” Mac sighed as he slid his chair back and rose to his feet. “See what else you can pull out of Dell. I have work to do outside. ”
“Need any help?” Jethro asked instead. “I’ll get more out of Dell tonight after he goes home. That leaves the day pretty free. ”
Mac glanced at the clock. Keiley was due home anytime, unless she decided to take lunch with any of the women on the charity committee, which she sometimes she did. Her friendship with Maxine Bright seemed to be growing, and with it, Keiley had begun settling into country life much easier than he had anticipated.
Maxine was a good woman. She and her husband, Joseph, were two of the few friends from high school Mac had kept up with over the years. Joseph had kept him up with local gossip and helped with investments enough to make certain that when he made the move home, he would have the cushion he needed to make the farm thrive.
Of course, Mac hadn’t anticipated at the time that he would marry a woman whose hobby was as lucrative as Keiley’s career. The woman thought it was fun to play with computer programs, where Mac tended to pull hair when he had to mess with them overmuch.
“Come on, then,” he finally answered Jethro’s suggestion to help with the farm work. “I have to move some cattle and check on my favorite mare. The foal she’s getting ready to throw is a potential moneymaker. I like to baby her. ”
“You baby all the females,” Jethro grunted as he rose to his feet. “That’s why they all love you. ”
“And you just wash over them like a tidal wave,” Mac shot back. “Scares the hell out of them, Jethro. That bad-boy persona needs a little adjustment here and there. ”
“My adjustments are fine. ”
“I can tell. You’re currently without a steady lover. Not like you, my man. ”
“It’s just a slump. ”
“Be careful, it might become a way of life. ”
Keiley slammed the front door, kicked her sandals to the side of the entryway, and threw her purse and briefcase on the small chair that sat to the side.
