“Some people feel powerful being keyboard warriors and forget real people are on the other side. Fools like these would get off on causing you pain.” Max cursed.
She blinked, still stunned. “Can we do anything? Hell, I already asked that. I’m babbling.”
“You’re nervous. It’s scary when you’re attacked on unfamiliar turf. When you hardly pay any attention to online things it can seem overwhelming.” Rafe typed furiously. “There.”
“What?”
“I’ve set up a counterattack on Brad’s email accounts and social networks.”
Her eyes widened. “That easily?”
“Not really. I mean, I put it in motion. There are some people who owe me favors, and I’ve asked them to lend a hand, which they’ve decided would be a lot of fun. Max will help as well. The trouble with getting your gang together and going after someone is that you never know who their friends might be. Brad’s name rang a bell with them. I guess he’s as much of an asshole online as in the bar—which makes sense.”
“Will that stop it?” She clung desperately to the hope.
Max sighed. “To an extent. It should bring things to a level where you certainly won’t notice. Now the easy thing would be for us to have a chat with Brad. You don’t happen to know where he lives by any chance?”
She shuddered. “No idea. I never wanted to know.”
“And he hasn’t been around since the tire-slashing incident?” asked Max.
“No. Sam even asked me if I’d seen him—I guess his absence hurts the cash flow.”
Rafe drew a breath. “I’d almost be happy if he were coming into the bar. I’m worried about what else he’s up to.”
Simone clenched her hands on her lap. “It’s crazy how fast things escalated with him. He went from being mildly pissed off that I wouldn’t date him to trying to drug me to making these insane attacks. Does he think that he can make me like him this way?”
“He doesn’t care if you like him,” said Max with a grimace.
Rafe nodded. “I don’t think that’s the point at all now. He’s more likely worked himself up into a rage, and rage seldom makes sense. He’s at the point of needing to hurt you just to prove to himself he’s a real man.”
“And he thinks having people sending vile emails will do that?”
“He’s not thinking. Just reacting.” Max glared at Rafe’s laptop, making her wonder if he’d read something particularly hateful.
Rafe shook his head. “You’re trying to make it sensible in terms of a reasonable attack. As sophisticated as these attacks are, I don’t think he planned them. I imagine he’s thinking of various hurtful things that he knows how to do and trying them all to see what works. He’s striking out. He wants revenge on you for what he imagines you’ve done to him. He can’t believe you just never really even noticed him, beyond being an irritant.”
“Tell me the truth, Rafe, did I do something to cause this?”
“Fuck no,” said Max harshly.
“No,” said Rafe firmly a second after Max. “Not one damn thing. You got caught up in something, blasted by an explosion only because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you’d been incredibly nice to him, hell, if you’d dated him, I don’t think the end result would be any different. The guy is self-destructive but wants someone to blame it on.”
She took his hand and Max’s and felt their combined strength run through her. “Thank you, guys.”
“For what?” asked Max.
“For being here.”
“Hell, that’s easy.” Rafe gave her a crooked grin. “You’re easy to be around, Simone. I’m just pissed that most of the time we’ve had together has been to deal with such unpleasantness.”
She squeezed his hand and liked the look that the act brought to his eyes. Max had a similar reaction when she squeezed his hand too. “Well, I have to say you’ve both made it far more pleasant. Let’s get through this and take a look at how things are then.”
“We can do that,” said Max.
“And now I need to go to work. Sam’s retirement fund depends on me.”
Rafe frowned. “Fine, but be extra alert. I can’t know everything Brad has done online. My associates will find out more, but there might be more to come.”