She shook her head. “I didn’t grow up eating meatloaf. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had it outside of the military, and I’m not sure that counts.”
Link threw back his head, laughter spilling out. "I've been at a few bases where the food was terrible, but I've also been lucky enough to have eaten food so good it was like going to a high-priced restaurant."
“That’s awesome. Sometimes it was slop, other times the food was good. This burger is amazing.”
She finished her food, tiredness creeping in with the lulling effect of the beer. No doubt, she would sleep well tonight.
After eating, she helped him clean the kitchen. Luckily, both of them agreed about washing dishes before bed.
It was only eight thirty, but exhaustion hit her hard, leaving her yawning almost continuously. Link pulled her into a hug, and she closed her eyes as she rested her head against his chest.
“I don’t know how much longer I can stay awake.”
“Go ahead and get some sleep. The coffee pot will be ready in the morning. All you have to do is press brew if I’m not up before you.”
“Thank you for inviting me here.”
“Of course. I wanted to see you. I’m glad you came. If you’re up to it tomorrow, my buddies want to meet you again. The last time you weren’t in the best shape when you met them.”
She chuckled. “That’s a gross understatement. I don’t know if I remember meeting any of them.”
He leaned back and met her gaze. She wished they knew each other better because she would love to sleep in his arms tonight.
“You were kind of out of it.”
His words brought more laughter. Maybe she was giggling so much because she was tired, but she felt lighter with him, like he really was a breath of fresh air.
She stepped back and stretched before turning to the guest room. A sliver of disappointment wound through her. They had plenty of time to have sex, and she knew it would be amazing. But tonight she needed sleep, and she wanted to get to know him better. Having a solid foundation in a relationship would hopefully help it last longer. And she wanted this relationship with Link to last for a long time.
Chapter 20
Searchingfor evidence against Ansley exhausted Pete. Nothing solid had come up that would be enough to destroy her. Ansley was going to get away with killing Craig. She would live freely while Craig’s corpse rotted in the ground.
He was starting to believe Ansley had fashioned a noose and hung Craig at home, then dragged his body out to the pier and strung him up. Maybe that was what happened, and the police videos were fake.
Frustration hit hard, so he pulled out his phone and started scrolling on social media. He was watching a video, laughing at one where some movie star had been caught with their pants down in a grocery store. He caught a comment claiming the video was AI. There was no way. It looked too good to be AI.
Pete watched the video ten more times, finally seeing that the video might be fake. But it was a good fake.
The video had the movie star talking, and it sounded close to the dude’s voice. How could that be faked so well?
An idea started to form in Pete’s mind. What if he could make other people believe that Ansley had killed Craig? He could get revenge and make everyone hate Ansley all at the same time.
His focus shifted. He needed to figure out how people were faking videos. His first look brought up warnings about the problems of faking videos and legal ramifications.
He wouldn’t face any penalties because the truth was, Ansley was a vicious killer. Once the police started digging, they would find the truth. Besides, she’d joined the military, and that was proof enough for him.
Finding the perfect program and figuring out how to use it made his brain ache. He thought he had it figured out, but the video he made looked amateur. There was no way anyone would ever believe this video if he released it.
He spent another few days searching for someone who would actually help him. A few people he approached told him what he was doing was illegal. Undeterred, he kept looking for someone to produce a video that would show Ansley pushing Craig off the pier.
He was about to give up when a guy who lived not that far from him contacted him on Discord. The fee he wanted was astronomical, but the dude said he would do it for a little less money, stating that it wouldn't look as good.
Pete was desperate for help. He needed someone to help him because the videos he made looked like crap. There was no way anyone would believe the videos he made were real.
But this other guy, based on the three minutes he’d put together and shown Pete, would make something believable. It wouldn’t be unimpeachable, but it would do the job of casting doubt on her. This might just work.
With this video, he would convince people that Ansley had killed his brother and would kill again. He would make sure people understood how awful she was. There was no way she could escape this. Pete would make sure the bitch suffered.
