Maxine was outraged. Joseph was coldly furious with the Statens and had demanded to speak to Mac and Jethro. What had happened during that conversation she had no idea, but she knew Mac and Jethro had seemed particularly smug after he handed the phone back to Keiley.
She had friends. Keiley had been terrified that the few friends she had made would turn their backs on her. She would have hated that. Would have mourned it. But her friends were jumping in with both feet, giggling on several conference calls and demanding details until Keiley laughingly refused.
Not that it wasn’t tinged with a bit of embarrassment. Well, a lot of embarrassment. Maxine, the wretch, had noticed Keiley’s birthmark right off, the little strawberry on her hip, and teased her mercilessly. Her sister Fayrene had insisted her husband invite his Army buddy for the summer, which resulted in Fayrene hastily hanging up the phone amid giggles and half-hysterical reminders to her husband that she was on the phone.
Her friends were gathering around her, though. The phone had rang unceasingly throughout the day. Many of the men who had received the picture were calling Mac. They were smart enough to throw their support behind the men with the FBI rather than the witch with the pictures.
Smart of them, Keiley thought.
“Heinagen and Sheffield are watching the house tonight,” Mac told her as the truck doors closed behind them and he put the truck in gear. “We caught a transmission from inside the house. We think he’s using a remote-activated electronic bug. Those are harder to pick up. It has to actually be activated to be detected. They’re working on it while we’re out. If they don’t find it before we return home, remember, anything you say could be heard. ”
“What about the truck?” Keiley asked nervously.
“You can hide them in the house because the wires are easier to conceal. I pulled the truck into the garage earlier and went over it top to bottom. There’s nothing on it or in it. It’s safe. Going through the house would be a hell of a lot harder and damned near impossible to find without the right equipment. Director Williams is having that equipment flown in tomorrow afternoon. It’s the quickest we could get it. ”
Keiley inhaled roughly.
“It will be over soon, Kei,” Jethro assured her as he leaned back against the door and watched her with narrowed eyes.
He was doing that a lot, just watching her, as though he were drawing her into himself somehow. It was disconcerting to be probed in such a way. He was quieter than Mac in a lot of ways, still the bad boy, but the wildness she had glimpsed in his gaze when he first came to the farm wasn’t there any longer.
“How much of it will be over, Jethro?” she finally asked. “Are you going back to D. C. or staying here?”
Could she handle it if he returned to the Bureau? She had had nightmares while Mac was still an agent. The day he announced his intention to resign, she had cried for hours in relief.
“Mac and I are discussing it,” he finally said.
“You are?” She glanced back at Mac, seeing the small curl of his lips at the tone of her voice. “Interesting that you two didn’t think to discuss it with me. ”
She stared back at Jethro coolly. “None of my business?”
“All your business, beautiful. But some things men have to settle between themselves first. Get used to that. Where you’re concerned, I have a feeling, we’ll have a lot to discuss. ”
That part, she didn’t like. She bit her lip as she considered the two men who were filling every part of her heart and soul and wondered about the whole outnumbered thing.
“Two men against one defenseless woman seems like lousy odds for me. ” She pursed her lips in disapproval. “I may have to reconsider my own battle plans here. ”
Jethro looked at her warily. “How so?”
“That,” she whispered as she leaned to him and placed a butterfly kiss on his lips. “Is for me to know. ”
“And for you to worry about, Jethro. ” Mac suddenly laughed. “Damn, I won’t be tortured alone. At least I’ll have an ally now. ”
“You are so wrong, John McCoy,” she snorted. “Just so wrong. Give me a month, he’ll be all about being on my side,” she teased.
At that, pleasure tilted Jethro’s lips. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m already all about being on your side. Your back. Your front. Whichever way I can get you. I promise you that most sincerely. ”
“Perv,” she accused him as he pulled her closer, kissing her soundly before smiling back at her with devilish humor.
The drive to Casey’s was completed in the same vein, but it didn’t stop the nerves from building in her stomach. As Mac pulled the truck into the crowded parking lot, she almost demanded to go back home.
Damned near the whole county seemed to be there. She could safely say she had never seen Casey’s so packed.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have called Maxine. ” She swallowed tightly. “I think she’s told everyone I would be here. ”
Her stomach was pitching tightly as fear suddenly began to fill her. The fear of facing condemnation, of hearing the whispers behind her back.
“Too late to turn back now, darlin’. ” Mac’s voice was firm as he opened the door and stepped from the truck. “Come on. Let’s go show them how hot you are. Hot enough that it takes two of us hard cocks to keep you satisfied. ”