Free Brutal Obsession (The Safeguard Series, Book One) by Kennedy Layne

were set to allow pretty much anyone to erase files. I thought you should know.”
    “I appreciate that,” Agent Coulter said, surprisingly accepting of Victor’s offer to do the enhancements. Keane speculated to himself as to why, especially after having indicated he’d cleared no one as a suspect…even those who worked closely with Ashlyn. “Would you please give us a private moment with Ashlyn?”
    “Yes, yes, of course,” Victor replied, finally having comprehended why there was a slight tension in the air. “Ashlyn, you’re still okay with the changes we discussed?”
    “Yes,” Ashlyn conceded before addressing Victor. “But is there a chance you can stop by tomorrow morning, say around six-thirty? I’m going to be pulling a late night this evening and I really can’t afford to—”
    “About that,” Agent Coulter interjected before Keane could intercede and voice his own objections. There were too many variables right now and as much as Ashlyn would like to work on whatever case she was currently prosecuting, there were more important things to deal with—like her personal safety. “I think it best if Victor is able to upgrade your systems this evening.”
    Ashlyn looked as if she was going to argue, but didn’t as she took the time to study Coulter and his body language. She was used to doing so in the courtroom and Keane imagined she was fairly good at it with the suits she’d dealt with every day. She didn’t disappoint when she slowly nodded her acceptance to the change in her schedule.
    “Fine,” Ashlyn replied deliberately, adding on a strained smile. “I’ll let my staff know. Victor, what time works best for you this evening? Can I still use my network while you’re logged into my system’s preferences?”
    “I’ll need to bring one of my technicians to install some additional hardware, so it’ll be roughly in around an hour and a half.” Victor lifted an arm and looked at his watch as if to confirm. Keane was surprised Victor wasn’t sporting one of those iWatch models out on the market now. The cyber unit chief gave a nod of verification before offering his hand to Agent Coulter. “I’ll have a memorandum of what system changes we’ve done sent over to you immediately so you can forward the report to your cyber analysis team.”
    “Mr. Wright,” Keane acknowledged, shaking the man’s hand and noticing the firm grip once again. Victor was confident in himself, which wasn’t surprising given his position. There hadn’t really been anything about him in the report, but Keane would follow up with Brody to see if anything of note stood out in the man’s background or his personal habits. “We’ll see you shortly.”
    Keane didn’t miss the way Ashlyn compressed her lips in displeasure, most likely directed at him down multiple avenues. There were things they needed to discuss and he might as well set the ground rules early, but he wouldn’t do so in front of Agent Coulter. Keane would allow the agent to make his request and then try to extinguish the sparks before they ever had a chance to spread like wildfire.
    “Ms. Ellis, I’m sure you’ve already been notified by your paralegal regarding the results of today’s investigations,” Agent Coulter started out, walking closer to Ashlyn’s desk and resting his hands on the back of the guest chair. “We found nothing here in your office, which lends itself to certain conclusions.”
    “Why are you making it sound as if that’s a bad thing?” Ashlyn asked with her gaze solely on Coulter. She wasn’t ready to deal with Keane and he completely understood her motivations. He’d had the entire plane ride to come to terms with their prior personal and future professional involvement. “We spoke about this yesterday morning. I don’t think someone with this type of interest has anything to do with my work or the people I work with. It’s most likely someone I might have run across in my apartment building, the