Page 11 of In Her Sights
“Edison Zarver.”
Rearing back, Molly was shaking her head before Cara even got the last name out. “Sonny? Oh, hell no.”
“Right?” Cara gave her phone a disapproving look, as if Barney were able to see her. “There’s no amount of money in the world that’d be worth getting caught up in Sonny Z’s mess.”
Making a wordless sound of agreement, Molly pulled out the chair next to Cara’s. Even a few years ago, when their business was brand new and they’d had to scramble for every possible job just to survive, they’d known enough to stay clear of Sonny. Now that they’d established themselves and paid off the mortgage, they weren’t quite so desperate for work—and they definitely weren’t desperate enough to go after him. “What less life-threatening jobs do we have lined up for the week?”
Working a couple of files out from under her laptop, Cara handed them over. “Take your pick. Charlie’s already snagged the Nina Salas job, and Felicity’s going with her to Thornton today as backup. I have to finish a paper for school, and then I’ll take Fifi’s place, and she can pick up another job.”
Looking up from the first folder, Molly repeated, “Charlie took backup? Does she think there’ll be trouble?”
Cara made a so-so gesture with her hand before stealing Molly’s coffee mug and taking a sip. She made a yuck face. “Oh wow. That’s gross. I always forget how sweet you make it.” Despite her complaints, she took another sip and grimaced again at the taste. “No trouble expected. Since it’d take one of us a while to get there, Charlie wanted someone close by, just in case.”
Reclaiming her mug, Molly held it to her chest protectively. “It’s not gross. It’s perfect.” At Cara’s skeptical grunt, Molly waved off her sister’s criticism. “I’m glad Charlie’s thinking ahead and showing some caution. Sometimes she acts so recklessly, it makes me think she’s missing the fear gene.”
“Yeah, although I think Felicity planted the idea of her coming along.”
“Go, Fifi,” Molly said approvingly. “She may be the baby of the family, but she’s still smarter than the rest of us.”
“And the most tactful…except when she’s torturing us during workouts.”
Holding up her coffee mug in a silent toast to her diplomatic—and only occasionally sadistic—little sister, Molly turned back to the file in front of her. “What’s Norah working on?”
“She’s doing some research on Hans Miller.”
“Alone?” Molly frowned, surprised that Cara had let Norah go off by herself. Most of the time, talking to people’s friends, families, coworkers, and landlords wasn’t dangerous, but there was always a chance something might go wrong. Besides, Norah hated interacting with strangers…and acquaintances…and most people, really. Most of her contribution to their business was tech assistance.
“Settle down. It’s internet research. She walked Warrant to that coffee place she likes,” Cara said, looking a little offended. “First of all, I’d never send her out on her own to talk to people she doesn’t know, and second, she’d never do it even if I told her to.”
“True. Sorry. I should’ve known both of those things. I don’t think my brain is fully awake yet.” She took another sip of coffee to hurry it along.
“So…” Cara’s tone was tentative, and Molly’s spine stiffened, but she kept her gaze on the papers in front of her. She knew what was coming. “About Mom. Don’t you think we should find out where she’s being held?”
“No.” There was no give in her voice at all.
“Shouldn’t we at least find out what she’s done?”
With a negative grunt, Molly flipped over a sheet of paper with a little too much force. “I’m sure everyone we know will be all too gleeful to share that information. Look at how fast Carmondy ran over here to tell us she was picked up again.” As soon as the words were out, she felt a lurch of guilt.
“He wasn’t being spiteful,” Cara said, echoing Molly’s thoughts.
“I know.” Molly sighed, hating this topic of conversation almost more than the previous one. Thinking about John Carmondy made her…twitchy and warm and fidgety. Needing to do something with her hands, she turned over another sheet and stared at it without seeing any of the words. “Why do we still have paper files, anyway?”
“Charlie hates to read anything on her phone.”
Molly, relieved to be talking about something other than John Carmondy—or their mom—asked, “Why doesn’t she use her laptop?”
“She broke it.”
“No, not that one. The new one we ordered for her last month.”
Cara gave her a look. “She broke it.”
“The new one?” Molly’s voice rose, ending in an indignant squeak. “She wrecked another laptop? How? When? Why didn’t she tell me?”
“It was last week, and she didn’t tell you because she’s a chicken and didn’t want to get in trouble. The only reason I know is that I saw the whole thing from my bedroom window. I tried to warn her, but she didn’t hear me until it was too late.”
“What happened?”
