Against the Law Read Online Free PDF Page A

in number thirty-two.”
    â€œGreat. Give me the address?” Chaz gave him the info and Dev repeated it back. “That’s forty-one, forty-one Dunbar. Got it. Thanks, buddy.”
    â€œI’m just getting started.”
    Dev smiled into the phone. “That’s why you’re on thepayroll.” He ended the call and shoved the phone back into his pocket.
    â€œChaz came up with an old address for the Olcotts.” He slid behind the leather-wrapped steering wheel. “Condo rentals. They moved out over a year ago, but the manager might know where they went.”
    â€œHow did Chaz find them?”
    Dev shook his head. “Better not to ask.”
    Lark smiled. “I kind of figured that.”
    She was plenty smart, he knew. Which could wind up posing a problem, since his methods didn’t always stay precisely within the letter of the law. But he also knew how much she wanted to find her sister’s little girl.
    He reached down and cranked the ignition switch, heard the satisfying roar of the powerful engine. Pulling away from the curb, he set off for the address Chaz had given him then heard his stomach growl and glanced at his watch.
    â€œIt’s way past time for lunch. You hungry?”
    She shrugged her shoulders. “I’m used to working long hours on nothing but air, but I could probably eat.”
    If she were a different woman, not one his clients, he would take her to one of the upscale Scottsdale spots he favored. But she wasn’t, so he pulled into a local 4B’s and turned off the engine.
    â€œâ€œThis okay?”
    â€œSure, it’s fine.”
    She didn’t seem offended by the casual coffee-shop atmosphere, which most of the women he dated would have been. Then again, they weren’t on a date. Their relationship was strictly business. A non-margarita lunch would keep it that way.
    They went inside and slid into a red vinyl booth, and both ordered cheeseburgers. Lark ordered a Diet Coke while he indulged himself in a chocolate milk shake. The drinks were delivered by a chunky blonde, friendly but harried as she tried to keep her orders straight.
    â€œThanks,” Dev said, moving his shake a little closer in front of him.
    â€œClive says your family lives in Wyoming.” Lark looked up at him from beneath her lashes as she took a long drink from her straw.
    His body tightened. He felt the pull of those sexy lips from his belly button to his groin.
    He cleared his throat. “My brothers and I were born in Wyoming but we all moved away as soon as we got out of high school. Jackson, he’s the oldest, bought a ranch there a few years back and moved home. Gabe’s a contractor in Dallas.”
    â€œDo you see each other often?”
    â€œAs often as we can. We kind of gather at the ranch a couple of times a year. Jackson and Gabe both recently got married. We keep in touch by phone or email.”
    Lark glanced down, toyed with the straw in her Coke. “You’re lucky to have them. I was only a teenager when my parents died. My grandparents were good people, but they were a lot older than I was. And Heather was five years younger. We didn’t really get to know each other until she was dying.”
    â€œThat’s rough.”
    â€œYeah. I miss her.”
    He caught the quick sheen of tears before she glanced away. Her parents were dead, her grandparents, now her sister. For years Lark had been mostly on her own. He admired the drive that had made her so successful.
    â€œI can’t imagine not having my brothers around—even if they are a pain in the ass sometimes.”
    She grinned. “The people I work with are my family. Scotty and Delilah, Carrie Beth and Dexter. They’ve been with me from the start. We’re really close-knit.”
    â€œSo they’re running the business while you’re away?”
    â€œWe close down the first two weeks of October every year. We use the time to