Deadly Intuition (Hardy Brothers Security Book 2) (10 page)

“You didn’t need to come with me,” Sophie said.

It was the next morning, and she and Grady were parked in front of the county building. Mondays were usually a chore – but Sophie was having trouble pushing the smile from her face as this workweek kicked off. The reason why was watching her placidly from the driver’s seat of his truck.

“I’m not going to argue with you,” Grady said.

“Well, that should make winning easy,” Sophie countered.

Grady smirked. “Go get your documents.”

“You’re going to wait here, right?”

“Are you asking if I’m going to follow you in there and embarrass you?”

“Maybe,” Sophie hedged.

“No, I’m not going to follow you in there,” Grady said. “I’m going to sit right here and make sure you get in – and then out – of the building safely. Then we’re going to take whatever this new stuff is and go over it with my brothers.”

“You’re really bossy,” Sophie said, jumping out of the truck. “Part of me likes it.”

Grady rolled down the window of the truck. “What about the other part of you?”

Sophie glanced back at him. “That part of me wants to smack you silly.”

Grady smiled widely as he watched her sashay up the sidewalk and disappear into the building. She returned about fifteen minutes later – and the stack of papers she was carrying was nothing short of daunting.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said when she climbed back into the truck.

“They’re trying to bury me in paper,” Sophie said. “It’s normal.”

“What is all of that?”

“It’s the stuff I requested under the Freedom of Information Act.”

“I thought you said they had ten days,” Grady said. “Why would they give it to you early?”

“They want it to look like they’re being helpful.”

“Are they being helpful?”

“We won’t know until we look,” Sophie said, smiling brightly. “We should pick up food to take back to your brothers. This is going to take a long time, and I could use some food.”

Grady cursed under his breath. “That’s going to take forever.” He had no idea why a big pile of documents made Sophie so happy – but her smile was enough to propel him to jump into the fray without complaint. “What do you want to eat?”

“I THINK
I’m going blind,” Finn said a few hours later.

The brothers had taken Sophie’s files upstairs to James’ apartment so they could spread out while sorting through them. Finn was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Grady was a few feet away, poring through an equally impressive pile of paper. James was on the couch, his long legs spread out in front of him.

Sophie was the only one not being swallowed by reams of paper. She had a system – and she knew what she was looking for. She was moving paper into separate piles on the floor in front of the television, never bothering to look up from her task.

“I think she’s a robot,” Finn said.

“She’s definitely fixated,” James agreed.

Grady enjoyed watching her work. Her face was impassive, blank, and yet he knew she was absorbing every iota of information she could glean from the documents.

After a few minutes, Sophie realized the room had fallen silent. “What did I miss?”

Grady chuckled. “Nothing. We were just marveling at your focus.”

“Sorry,” Sophie said. “There’s just a lot here.”

“Have you found anything?” James asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Sophie said. “I’ve barely gotten into it. It takes time.”

“We’ve been up here for almost six hours,” Grady said.

Sophie glanced up at the clock on the wall. She seemed surprised. “I didn’t realize how long we’d been at it.”

“Your boss doesn’t care that you didn’t come into work today?” Finn asked.

Sophie shook her head. “No. He knows I’m working on this. There’s no way I could go through a stack of paper like this at the office. We’ve been in contact via email. He told me to take my time. He knows this could be huge.”

“That sounds like a cool job,” Finn said.

“It has its moments,” Sophie said. “It can also be frustrating and fruitless.”

Grady glanced down at the stacks of paper. “I can see that.”

“I’m hungry,” Finn said. “Lunch was a long time ago.”

“Mandy is bringing dinner home,” James said. “I texted her. She should be here in a few minutes.”

“Did you yell at her for going after that guy last night?” Finn asked. “Ally was pretty proud of herself.”

“Ally is an idiot sometimes,” James said. “When Ally and Mandy get together, they like to be idiots together.”

Sophie frowned. She didn’t like the way James was talking about his girlfriend. “I think they were brave.”

James glanced over at her. “I’ll write that on her tombstone.”

Sophie sucked in a breath. “I don’t think you should say bad things about her behind her back.” She felt a sense of loyalty to the outgoing blonde.

“I’m not saying anything behind her back I didn’t say to her face last night,” James said, although his tone softened. “I’m not mad because she’s loyal and brave. I’m mad because she could’ve been hurt.”

Sophie frowned. “You called her an idiot.”

“No, I said she and my sister act like idiots on occasion,” James countered. “And they do.”

The sound of keys jangling on the other side of the door caught everyone’s attention. A few seconds later, Mandy popped into the apartment, her arms laden with takeout bags.

She pulled up short when she saw all the paper. “Wow.”

“Yeah,” Finn said. “Wow is right. What did you bring for dinner?”

“Coneys. Fries. Onion rings. Sandwiches.”

“Ah, health food,” Grady said, laughing.

“I brought a few Greek salads, too.” Mandy glanced in Sophie’s direction. “How are you feeling today? Did you sleep okay?”

“I’m fine,” Sophie said, her frame and tone stiff.

“No offense, but you don’t seem fine,” Mandy said.

“She’s mad because I said you and Ally acted like idiots last night,” James supplied. “She thinks I was talking bad about you. She’s loyal to you. It’s kind of cute.”

“You called me an idiot?”

“I said you and Ally acted like idiots. There’s a difference.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She stripped off her coat and then started pulling containers out of the bags. “Go and get some plates.”

James got to his feet and headed toward the kitchen, stopping at Mandy’s side to whisper something in her ear. She smiled – the expression catching Sophie off guard – and then she gave James a quick kiss.

“You’re not mad at him?” Sophie asked, the words escaping before she got a chance to assess the intelligence associated with uttering them.

“I’m always mad at him,” Mandy said. “I’m not mad about this, though.”

“He called you an idiot.”

“That’s because he thinks what we did was dumb,” Mandy replied. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t really think I’m an idiot. He just doesn’t like it when he thinks I’m in danger. That’s the alpha in him. He’s like a dog.”

James barked in her ear, spanking her rear for emphasis as he moved back toward the living room, causing Mandy to swat his butt in return.

James put the plates on the coffee table, watching Sophie curiously to see what her reaction would be.

Sophie shifted her gaze over to Grady. “Don’t ever call me an idiot. I’m not as forgiving as she is.”

Grady nodded. “I got it.”

Everyone took a break from the file search and focused on dinner, Mandy settling next to James on the couch.

“Did you find out about the code?” James asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Mandy said. “It’s the code for the jail at the sheriff’s department.”

James shifted his attention to Sophie. “Does that mean anything to you?”

Sophie tilted her head to the side. “Not really. It just means that someone at the sheriff’s department sent it. Not who.”

“So, did you guys find anything in here?” Mandy asked.

“There’s tons of stuff in there,” James said. “We just don’t know what’s helpful and what’s not.”

“How are you whittling this down?”

James took a bite of his Coney, not answering until he swallowed. “We’re looking at the documents and then putting them into piles.”

“How?”

“Are you trying to be difficult?”

“It must be the idiot in me,” Mandy teased.

“We’re just stacking them in ‘helpful’ and ‘not-helpful’ piles right now.”

“How do you know if it’s helpful?” Mandy asked.

James shrugged. “I think it’s easier to discover what’s not helpful.”

Mandy reached over, tugging a sheet of paper from one of the piles. “Is this helpful or not-helpful?”

James glanced at the pile. “That would be the ‘not-helpful’ pile.”

Mandy scanned the page. “You don’t think it’s helpful to know that John Madison is the primary account holder on all three of the sheriff’s department’s bank accounts?”

James frowned. “Where does it say that?”

Mandy pointed.

“Huh.”

“Yeah, I’m not such an idiot now, am I?”

James scrunched up his nose. “If I give you a massage later, will you let go of the idiot stuff?”

“I want a really long massage,” Mandy countered.

“Done.”

“I want a bath, too.”

“Done.”

“With bubbles.”

“Done.”

“And you have to watch
Jaws
with me later in the week,” Mandy pressed.

“Baby, I’ll watch
Jaws
with you every night. That movie makes your randy.”

Mandy smirked.

“What is it with you and that movie?” Grady asked. “James told me about the underwear.”

James ran his hand across his throat in silent warning, but Grady pretended he didn’t notice the gesture.

“What underwear?” Mandy asked suspiciously.

“The Jawesome ones,” Grady replied.

Mandy scowled. “You told him about my underwear?”

James bit his lower lip. “In my defense, the conversation was actually respectful to you.”

“My underwear is respectful?”

“In the context we were talking? Yes.”

“Huh.”

James fixed Grady with a scorching look. “You are going to pay for this.”

“It was respectful,” Grady said. “He told me that it was those underwear that made him realize that he was ready to settle down.”

James’ face was burning as Mandy looked him up and down. “Really?”

“If you’re wondering, I’m regretting saying it now,” James said.

“Yeah, now you’re going to have to watch the
Jaws
sequels, too.”

James blew out a sigh. “Fine. The one where the shark eats the helicopter really isn’t that bad.”

“The shark eats a helicopter?” Finn asked. “That’s cool.”

“It doesn’t get really bad until the shark follows a family from Maine to the Bahamas and then attacks a bunch of kids on a giant banana,” James said.

Finn was flummoxed. “A giant banana?”

“This time it’s personal,” Mandy said, grinning as she repeated the tagline from the movie. “That flick is awesome.”

“You mean it’s Jawesome,” Grady teased.

Mandy rolled her eyes, ignoring him. She focused on Sophie, who seemed lost in thought. “What is it?”

“Why would John Madison be the primary on the sheriff’s department’s accounts?”

Mandy shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Who is the primary on Judge MacIntosh’s accounts?”

“He is.”

“And that would be the same with all the judges, right?” Sophie asked.

“As far as I know. Why?”

“I don’t know,” Sophie said, shaking her head. “Something just doesn’t fit about this. Why would it be different at the sheriff’s department?”

“You said there was something weird about Madison’s relationship with Sheriff Morgan,” Grady said. “This is just another example of that.”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. “I need to ask the sheriff about it.”

“So, ask him,” Finn sad. “Isn’t that your job?”

“If I ask him, then he’ll know that we’re onto something,” Sophie said. “I have to ask him – but it’s more important to ask him at the right time.”

“And when is the right time?” Grady asked.

“I don’t know,” Sophie said. “Let’s see what else we can find.” Sophie paused, the overwhelming urge to be part of the family’s jocularity overtaking her. “Maybe James should let Mandy be the brains of their partnership tonight, though. He doesn’t seem up for the task.”

Grady guffawed as Finn rolled over to his side, laughing.

Sophie risked a glance at James. She was worried for a second, but then she saw the small smile playing at the corner of his mouth. “I can’t argue with your logic.”