Dirty Deeds Read Online Free PDF

I haven't even talked to him in years."
    She believed him. The frosty edge to his words spoke volumes. She nodded, scribbling with a quick hand in her notebook. "I'm Louie, please, and even if you don't talk with your brother, anything you can think of might help. In fact, sometimes I find that when people run, they don't run to the newest group of friends but to the oldest."
    "Trust me, I wouldn't be the one he'd come to."
    "Maybe, maybe not. I've done this long enough to discover what makes us feel safest is sometimes what's the most familiar to us, like our past. Anyone from his past who might draw him?"
    Again his eyes flashed. "Like me?" he asked.
    She met his gaze, her own brown eyes rock steady. He was sharp and she liked it about him. "Like you. After all, you're his rich, successful brother."
    "I'm telling you again, Jamie will not come here, period. He knows better."
    "You won't help him?"
    "No." There was ice in that single word.
    Ice didn't scare her. "And if the bond ends up forfeited?"
    "I don't know." He closed his eyes and sighed. He ran a hand through his thick, red hair and she watched it as it fell around his face. "It would be disastrous for the folks."
    She studied him for a moment. What about this big, successful brother? He was handsome, rich, and powerful. So what was his story?
    Louie wasn't above asking. "So, Mr. McDonald, given forfeiture would be such a financial hardship to your parents, why haven't you stepped up to at least take the burden from them?" It was a reasonable question if the financial impact was indeed that great upon his parents.
    His eyes grew dark and narrow. "Perhaps you don't fully understand me, Ms. Russell. There are reasons why my brother and I aren't close and trust me, I'd be the last person Jamie'd come to in any situation. As to my stepping up with my checkbook, that Ms. Russell is personal and none of your business." The ice in his voice had gone glacial.
    Possibly true; it didn't mean she'd give up on this particular line of questioning. If he thought she would, he had a great deal to learn about her. "But you're family."
    "Just because we're related doesn't mean we're friends and in this instance in particular, Jamie'd know better than to come to me. He wouldn't ask me for money, and he'd know in this case, I'd put him in your hands so fast, he wouldn't know what hit him. Is that clear enough for you?"
    Not really. She shrugged. "It's a logical assumption."
    "True enough, it's just an erroneous one. If I could get hold of him, right after I beat the crap out of him for what he's doing to our parents, I'd hand him over to you in a New York minute."
    "The money?" She prodded in case he forgot the little detail.
    His face relaxed a fraction and some of the flash went out of his eyes. "You don't give up, do you?"
    She shook her head. "Not a chance. I'd make a pretty piss-poor bail enforcement agent if I did. So, about the money…"
    He took a deep breath and put his hands together on the top of his desk. He leaned forward as if to get closer to her. "As far as the money goes, I'd drop a hundred grand in a heartbeat to help my parents, if I had it. Look around yourself, Ms. Russell, and you'll see my money. Every dime I made in the NHL was dumped into this facility and into the team. I look real good on paper, but as for liquidity, forget it. It's easier and quicker to find the little bastard and drag him back here than for me to come up with six figures in cash. I can do it, but I suspect it'll take more time than we have."
    The truth was deep and dark in Paul's eyes. No doubt he'd do precisely what he said. She'd gotten the hard answers she came searching for. Now she needed to coax out any little detail he might remember about his brother, something to put her on the right trail.
    Paul could hold the key without even realizing it. Even families that weren't close knew details about each other no one else did, and success was more often than not in those details. His