Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Now, he had to feed her. He’d just turned up the thermostat in the house—it was too cold for her in here.
He saw Brody’s name flash on his phone. “Hey, Brody, what’s up?”
“There’re new images on the blog,” Brody said without returning his greeting.
“Shit. Really? I thought that blog had gone quiet.” There hadn’t been anything much put on it. Of course, that could be because Rhodes had limited his appearances to those he deemed most important. “Did they put up new photos of Rhodes?”
“Uh, yeah. See, they aren’t photos of Rip this time. They’re photos of you.”
He stiffened. “Me?”
Cate walked into the room and gave him a curious look. He smiled at her as she moved to the kitchen to start the coffee.
“Why would there be photos of me on a blog about Rip?” he asked quietly as he moved into the living room.
“Can you get on your laptop and take a look at them? It would be easier than having to describe them.”
Fuck.
He didn’t like the sound of this.
Moving to his bedroom, he grabbed his laptop and found the blog.
“What the fuck?” He felt ill as he scrolled through the photos of him and Cate having lunch together last week. “How did I not notice some fucker taking photos of us?”
“Well, you look like you were busy at the time,” Brody said.
He spotted a photo of him wiping Cate’s face and hands.
“Plus, you were eating,” Brody said. “Not many men can multi-task like me and eat and do other things.”
“I can multi-task! And you’re always spilling food on yourself.”
“Yes, but at least I can eat and work.”
He sighed. “Fuck. I don’t get it though.”
“If it makes you feel better, I think they were taking these photos using a long-distance lens. There is no way you would have spotted them.”
It made him feel mildly better.
“What would they have to gain by putting photos of me and Cate up?” he asked. “They’ve never put up photos of Cate before, have they?”
“Who? What photos?” Ethan glanced up as Cate walked in carrying two cups of coffee. “Who are you talking to?”
“Brody, I’m going to put you on speaker. Cate just walked in.”
“Uh-oh,” Brody muttered. “Is she going to be upset?”
“Someone has posted photos of a private moment of ours, Brody,” he replied.
“So that’s a yes?”
He put the phone on speaker and then took both coffee mugs from her, setting them on the nightstand.
“Sit here, baby.” He patted the bed next to him.
“Baby?” Brody repeated.
“I was talking to Cate.”
“Um, okay,” Brody said.
“Hi, Brody,” Cate said. “How are you and your boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“We’re all good, thanks, Cate. My girl was so pleased you got that mark out of my top. But I got chocolate sauce on my favorite sweater yesterday.”
“Did you use stain remover and soak it for thirty minutes in cold water?”
“Uh, no.”
“Try it. Then keep doing that until the stain is gone.”
“Okay. Thanks, Cate.”
“Right, now that’s sorted, can we get back to the problem?” Ethan asked dryly.
“What problem?” Cate asked.
He turned the laptop around so she could see the screen.
“Oh no,” she said.
“Yeah,” Ethan said. “This is the blog dedicated to all things Rhodes Ripley.”
“But I don’t understand. Why post photos of me? I’m no one.”
“You’re Rip’s sister,” Brody said unhelpfully.
“She is more than just Rip’s sister,” Ethan grumbled.
“It’s because he’s not here,” Cate said suddenly, scrolling through the images.
“What?” Ethan asked.
“Well, I’m guessing it’s because Rhodes isn’t here and maybe the blogger wants him back? I mean, he’s only posted once since you guys arrived. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been watching. And maybe he likes having Rhodes here so he can spy on him.”
“He’s only been gone a day,” Brody pointed out.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” she said.
“No, you could be correct,” Ethan said. “Maybe he wants Rhodes back here. He doesn’t like him being away. But hasn’t he gone away since the blog started?” Ethan asked.
“This blog is fairly new,” Brody said. “I think it’s only been up six months.”
“Right. I have my calendar and can check. But I think the only other time he’s been away is the night the stalker tried to break in. But the next movie he has scheduled starts production in a month and he has to go to New Zealand to film parts of it. He won’t go if there is a threat to me.”
“You think he could be using this as a gauge of how much Rhodes really cares about you? Whether he’ll come running home?” Ethan asked.
“But if he was going to come running home then wouldn’t he have done it last night after you were nearly run off the road?” Brody asked.
“Yes,” she said. “He would have come back if I hadn’t talked him out of it. Is there any way of stopping Rhodes from seeing these photos?”
Ethan set the laptop down and started to pace. “Could that be the reason someone tried to run us off the road? To get Rhodes back? And then when that didn’t happen, they posted these photos?”