"Do you think you'll need more?"

Mac thought for a moment and shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm sticking pretty close to Raine in the house. I think

two can cover the grounds all right. This case is getting more

complicated than we'd first figured."

Considering his friend for a moment, Trey asked, "Are you sure that's all this is? A case?"

Shooting him a sharp look, Mac snapped, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Trey shrugged.

"It just seems... personal. I wondered if there was any more to this."

"It's a job, Trey,"

Mac answered caustically.

"And the sooner we get it wrapped up, the sooner I can get out of here

His friend winked lasciviously.

"The sooner you can get to that vacation and loose women you've been putting off, hmm? I can understand your hurry."

Trey's comments left Mac cold.

He should be feeling anxious to get this resolved, for his own sake as well as Raine's.

She deserved to live a life free of the kind of h.e.l.l she was being put

through right now.

She deserved to be free of a man who would make love to her and leave

her in the morning, confused and dejected.

She deserved.

a lot of things.

And he wasn't a man who could deliver any of them.

Except for one.

He could find out who was threatening her and he could stop him.

HeYd take personal satisfaction in catching the guy himself and making

him pay for turning Raine's life into a waking nightmare.

Mac walked Troy to his truck, waved him off, then jogged down to the mailbox Grabbing the stack of mail, he walked slowly to the house.

He knew the letter as soon as he saw it.

Waiting until he got into the house, he let it slide off the stack of

mail onto his desk.

He opened a drawer, pulled out some plastic gloves, put them on and picked it up, studying it closely.

Addressed to Raine Michaels with no return address, it did, indeed,

sport a postmark.

"Gotcha,"

he muttered, and opened it carefully.

His throat knotted when he read the message typed in big block

letters.

You escaped this time b.i.t.c.h but next time you won't be so lucky.

He sworn, a crooning litany of obscenities.

The intent of the message was implicit, and he crumpled the paper in

his gloved hand, fury flowing through him.

Someone was out there, still plotting to get at Raine, planning the next move against her.

Each letter she'd received had been more menacing than the last, and

this one promised another attempt on her life.

Glancing down, he noticed the way he had the paper balled up in his fist.

He laid it down and s~moothed it out, a feral smile pulling his lips.

Whoever was behind these threats had just made a huge mistake.

Raine couldn't vouch for the other envelopes, but this one had a

postmark, and that was going to help nail this b.a.s.t.a.r.d to the wall.

He picked up the phone and dialed the police.

He asked for the detective in charge of Raine's case and tersely told

him of the latest threat.

The man agreed to come by the next day and pick up the letter.

Mac hung up, grim satisfaction on his face.

At last they had something to go on.

And he was going to make d.a.m.n sure the clue would be the first step

toward freeing Raine from this siege of terror.

When Raine came downstairs to fix supper, she walked in on Mac in the midst of chopping vegetables.

She stopped short in the doorway, her eyes traveling over the pile of

dishes and empty wrappers.

He was not a neat cook.

Pieces of stray vegetables were on the floor, and her walls would

definitely need to be wiped off.

He looked up and caught her eye.

"Uh, sorry about this."

He gestured to the mess.