He stepped to her and wrapped his arms around her. He wanted to keep her safe, wanted to protect her, but this seemed so big that she was bound to get burned in the process. "We'll see what we can do."
She nodded. “I’m probably going to have to contact a lawyer.”
Link blew out a breath. "Probably." He opened his phone and dialed Mick, who answered on the second ring.
“Hey, buddy, what’s up?”
“Calling about that email you sent. Ansley is here with me. I’m going to put you on speaker.”
“Hey, Ansley. So I did some digging. Pete paid someone to create an AI video of you on that pier, but the thing in the video doesn’t look like you. Honestly, it barely looks human. That doesn’t mean people won’t believe it. But there are laws against fraud and impersonating someone or creating deep fakes.”
Ansley shook her head. “This is bad.”
“It is,” Mick said. “But there is this guy from basic who is FBI now. He left the Army and joined them. I’ve sent him theinformation about you and about Pete. He contacted me last night and said it was right up his alley. He’s on the cyber crimes unit, and this is the type of thing they are looking into.”
“Nice.” Link had felt a little hopeless before, but now he had hope that they could stop this jerk from ruining Ansley’s life.
Learningthat Pete was trying to destroy her felt miserable, but after Link called Mick, she felt a little better knowing that they might have the help of the FBI. Maybe this would shut Pete down.
“So what do I need to do?” Ansley asked.
"My friend will probably be contacting you soon. His name is Ryan Lane. He's a good guy, a bit of a nerd. He caught hell in basic, and I stepped in when a group of guys started picking on him. He's a good buddy. Anal retentive as heck, but he's the kind of guy who will shake this down until there are zero questions unanswered."
“That sounds good,” Link said.
Ansley sighed. “Thank you, Mick. I appreciate your help.”
“Hey, you’re family now.”
His words made her smile. She glanced up and caught Link’s gaze. He flashed her a smile and pulled her closer. “Thank you for looking into this. I owe you.”
“No problem. I know you’re good for it.” Mick grunted. “Sorry, I have to head out. I’m meeting up with someone and I’ve got to get on the road.”
“Sure. We’re having everyone over for a cookout on Sunday,” Link said.
“Sounds good. See you later.”
The call ended, and Ansley blew out a breath in relief. "I feel better now."
“Good. We’ll talk to this FBI agent and see what we can do.”
“So we’re having everyone over on Sunday?”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be a good idea. You know, make sure they all know that we’re a couple before I head back into work with them.”
“They’ll all be cool with it, right? I know some guys in the Marines got jealous when their buddies got into relationships.”
Link snorted a laugh. "They will be good with us being together. They're all secure with their masculinity, and they won't feel threatened if one of us gets with a woman. They'll welcome you in like family."
“That’s good. I think I’m going to like your friends.”
Link’s gaze drifted, and he nodded. “They can be a lot. The guys are intense. Can’t make it in this job if you aren’t. But they are good guys.”
She understood what he meant. In the Marines, she knew guys who were good people but very intense. The intensity scared some people away. Not her. "I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. I want to get to know them better."
"Good. They'll want to get to know you better, too."
Ansley didn’t know how she’d gotten so lucky to find a guy like Link. He was a great guy who had really good friends. Bringing him into her life had been one of her best decisions. She hoped they kept growing closer, because losing him would be awful.
