B00CCYP714 EBOK by R. E. Bradshaw Read Free Book Online Page B

rang out above all the others.
    “Rainey! Rainey Bell! Is Jacquie Upshaw one of the victims of the serial killer terrorizing the Triangle? Was her mother justified in seeking attention for her disappearance?”
    Cookie Kutter. Somehow, she had managed to survive her fall from grace, after being arrested for driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident, which occurred in the parking lot of a well-known lesbian bar. She had hounded Rainey and Katie for three years. Katie had even slugged her once, on camera, which made the news and was captured on countless digital recorders around the Triangle. Rainey had her own copy of the video, which she secretly played for a laugh now and then, but always when Katie was not around.
    During a live press conference, Rainey created her own popular Cookie Kutter sound bite. She accused Cookie of being a little too interested in her personal life, hinting the reporter might be covering for her own attraction to women. Rainey had called that one correctly. Cookie suffered a very public outing and arrest not long afterward. Still, she had risen from the ashes, wrangling a reporting job with a local cable and web news organization, covering the crime beat in the greater Triangle area. They even gave her an hour-long crime show. Her brand of journalism played to the public’s taste for high drama and was regrettably quite popular.
    Rainey suspected Cookie was heavily involved in The Triangle Lesbians blog, the one that called her “Agent Sexy,” and followed her family everywhere. The blog posted pictures of the triplets, which crossed the line as far as Rainey was concerned. Molly had been trying to shut the page down legally for a while. The successful defense attorney was also a target, dubbed the “Triangle Tryster” by the author of the blog, referencing her former penchant for one-night stands. Her trysting ways mended, the blog continued to recount her every public appearance. Molly, however, had no legal standing to shut down the page. All of the photos of her were taken in public settings, but Rainey’s situation was quite different.
    As a former FBI agent, Rainey had ample reasons not to want her image on the Internet, and she stated so before a judge. Her old teammate in the Behavioral Analysis Unit, Danny McNally, testified on her behalf as well. The release of personal information and pictures of her comings and goings put Rainey’s life, and those of the people she cared about, in much more danger than the average citizen. Some of the photos of Rainey and her family were taken with long-range lenses and showed them in the yard of their highly secured home. The judge agreed the photos crossed the “expectation of privacy” line, ordering the website to cease publishing those types of images and personal information about Rainey and her family.
    The shell corporation set up to mask the identity of the website owners did shut down the page. Only to have it reappear, republished by a different entity, and with the focus now squarely on Rainey and her family. Rainey had her good friend Melatiah Brooks, a computer analyst assigned to her old FBI unit, hunting the origin of the site. So far, Brooks had no luck tracking down the source, as the page jumped from server to server around the world. Whoever was behind the blog had extensive computer experience and an unhealthy interest in all things Rainey Bell, which made her very nervous. She glared at Cookie Kutter, somehow knowing she was involved.
    “Rainey, will you make a statement? Are you actively involved in the hunt for a serial killer and rapist in the Triangle?”
    Rainey handed Maybelline off, telling her, “These officers will take care of you now. I’ll be in touch with you soon.” She turned to the uniformed men. “Don’t manhandle her. She’ll cooperate.” She looked up at the woman with whom she just spent the last half-hour, holding her hand while she cried over her lost child. “Isn’t