Double Dog Dare Read Online Free PDF

I didn’t,” I retorted, and hurried down the hall toward my office. I closed the door. Too many friendly and sympathetic faces would drive me batty. Not to mention the possibility they’d make me break down. I needed time to turn my mind in a different direction.
    And so, I picked up the breach-of-contract complaint against some of Borden’s senior citizen clients that I’d started to read yesterday. A response was due within the next few days, and I turned to the computer on my desk to start composing an answer. Soon, I was engrossed in it, a good sign that I was performing at an expert level.
    I was nearly done with a credible first swipe when my cell phone rang. Or sang. I’d had it programmed for a long time to play Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life,” but was considering tossing this aging phone against the wall. Or settling for some bland, canned ring that had come with it. I didn’t exactly feel like I was really tackling life head-on these days.
    I checked the caller ID. And swallowed hard. It was Jeff’s office.
    Had Buzz or Althea gotten more bad news?
    I answered anyway, cringing as I awaited whatever.
    “Hi, Kendra, it’s me.” Althea sounded slightly more exasperated than depressed, which allowed me to straighten my shoulders.
    “What’s the good word?” I asked.
    “Mothers!” she exclaimed.
    Now, in my background, “mother” wasn’t a word I’d consider good. My parents had divorced ages ago. My mother remained a happily divorced attorney in the Washington, D.C., area. My father had remarried and had a second family, and I didn’t exactly consider his wife a relative. In fact, of my immediate family, I felt somewhat close only to my brother, Sean, a motel magnate in Dallas. Of course, we only talked about once a month unless something mandated a more immediate conversation.
    Then again, Althea’s tone hadn’t suggested sweetness and apple pie, either.
    “Whose mother?” I asked.
    “Jeff’s. She’s been hounding me with questions.”
    I swallowed. “Does she know . . . I mean, is she aware we haven’t seen him for a while?”
    “Yes, and the cops have called his dad and her about finding his car at the bottom of the canal. She says she knows Jeff and figures it’s part of one of his cases to pretend he’s missing, but she’s insisting that I put her in touch with him anyway.”
    I’d never met Mrs. Hubbard, but I envisioned a gorgeous middle-aged woman in a G-string each time I thought of her. As I did now. Jeff had told me his mom had supported their family by exotic dancing when he was a child, without telling his dad. Jeff had found out by investigation, which had ultimately led him first into law enforcement, and then into becoming a P.I.
    Resourceful lady is how I thought of her. I’d no idea what she did these days, whether dancing exotically or another occupation. For all I knew, she could have gained eighty pounds and become more of a sumo wrestler. Did she and Jeff’s dad still live in the Chicago suburb where he had grown up?
    “What did you tell her?” I asked. Like, did you hint that she should potentially prepare for the worst?
    Well, hell, I wasn’t about to do that, so why should Jeff’s mom?
    “I tried to be tactful, but let her know that if Jeff’s on some kind of secret case, we didn’t know about it—and that we’re really worried about him. That’s when she said I should put her in touch with you.”
    I sat up straighter in my suddenly uncomfortable seat. “Me?”
    “Yes. She said Jeff has told her about the really great woman he’s dating—versatile enough to practice law, take care of people’s pets, and solve mysteries—all at once. She indicated she wants to talk to you about something.”
    Uh-oh. If Jeff told her I solve mysteries, he’d exaggerated. Well . . . maybe. But if she thought I’d be able to solve the mystery of his disappearance, she surely could figure I’d already been trying.
    Still, I put myself in her shoes. Nice, sexy