Strong, Sleek and Sinful - By Lorie O'Clare Page 0,142

which with Perry she anticipated could be a very dangerous combination.

“Is there anything to discuss?” His question came out of nowhere.

“Well, of course,” she stammered, answering without clearly understanding what he meant.

“Then we will discuss it,” he said with firm resolution.

Kylie headed to the kitchen, feeling numb from head to toe. This was why she steered clear of relationships. If she let her guard down for a fraction of a second, the pain and anxiety would wash over her worse than a tidal wave. And she knew without a doubt her heart wouldn’t be able to handle it. Kylie gave up loving a long time ago when she lost Karen, and then her parents. She’d barely started reconciling that relationship. How in the hell would she find the strength to start another relationship? Especially one she knew without a doubt would kick her ass and inevitably break what little heart she had left. Perry would take everything she had and destroy her, unless she gave all of herself to him.

Both of them knew there wasn’t any way she could do that.

Chapter 24

Perry doubted anyone would question his being at the station at night. Hell, he’d been here around the clock more days and nights than he cared to think about. He mulled over a believable story in case questioned as he walked through the “pit” to his desk.

There wasn’t anyone in the “pit,” which was probably for the best, since his mood had gone from sour to downright pissy after he left Megan’s house earlier tonight. Kylie had hung out, spending most of her time with Dani, after he confronted her about their relationship. But she had slipped out after Megan got home, in the midst of the chaos that always followed when all the women in his family descended in one room after the end of their day. He’d driven by Kylie’s house twice, and she hadn’t been home, which damn near made him decide to stalk her until he found her, instead of coming here and doing what he had planned on doing after leaving his sister’s.

Rad’s office door was closed and no light streamed out from under it. Everyone had gone home. The evening shift were cruising their beats and would be in and out throughout the night, but mostly downstairs by the holding cells or in Booking. There wouldn’t be as many people here at their desks, although anyone who needed a computer or a space to do reports could always show up and take advantage of the space.

Or at least they could before Rad password-protected all the computers and enforced strict policy that everyone only use the computer at their own desk. Perry understood now why Rad had implemented these new precautions. The Chief was under pressure to prove none of his cops were Peter. Although it appeared from the ISPs they’d narrowed it down to that one of them was Peter. And whoever it was had used Perry’s computer to talk to those girls.

Motherfucker!

Everyone in the department who was innocent would abide by the new policy. Only Peter would go out of his way to not use his own computer when talking to the girls. When he struck again, Perry would be ready for him.

Sitting down at his desk, he glanced around the “pit” one more time, then stared at the doorway and the lit hallway beyond it. Voices echoed down the hall, probably from the stairwell. Someone was being brought in for booking. Perry doubted anyone would head up this way, but either way he needed to hurry. He didn’t feel like explaining why he was downloading a program onto his work computer.

Taking the CD he’d used to download the program he had bought online at his house, Perry slid it into the disk drive and waited for the box to pop up, introducing him to the ultimate computer protection.

Record every keystroke. Know what Web sites your loved ones go to. Read every chat conversation they have while online. The “Online Undercover Detective,” was designed to appease parents who felt a need to watch what their children were doing online and for spouses to catch each other cheating. He clicked on the button to download and then tapped the edge of his desk while the bar slowly slid across the screen, showing the extent it had downloaded so far.

Perry read each box as it popped up on the screen before clicking next. The software was undetectable once installed. No icons or programs would