Family Counsel (The Samuel Collins Series Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

have known
better.  She’d had the whole thing planned. 
    “Let’s call him!” she exclaimed, and she clapped her hands
together like Oliver might.
    “Now?”  I looked at my watch.  Niki Lautrec was a bad
influence, and I really didn’t feel like talking to him right then.  If he was
in town, he’d find out that Maddie wasn’t and he’d insist that we go out
drinking.  And somehow or other, he’d get me in trouble. 
    “I don’t even know if he’s in town,” I said.  “If I leave a
message, he probably won’t call back until Monday.” It was a lie, but Felicia had
no way of knowing that.
    “Please, Sam.”
    “It’s not going to do any good.”
    “It might,” she argued.  “If we talk to him now, he can get
started on it right away.”
    She was sounding desperate and I could tell she was going to
bug me until I broke down.  I might as well spare myself from having to listen
to her whine.  I huffed audibly to express my irritation, and I picked up the
phone and dialed Niki’s number.  Felicia stood there jumping up and down, that
red hair beaming like something out of Star Trek. 
    “Settle down, Oliver,” I told her.  She laughed and took hold
of my arm, then she stood right next to me waiting.  “Go away,” I said, trying
to disentangle her with my free arm.
    She let go of my arm and shook her hands.  “I’m so nervous!”
    I pointed to the other side of the kitchen.  “Go stand over
there.” 
    She was just as disobedient as Max.  Niki’s voicemail picked up
and I left a message asking him to call me when he got a chance, hoping that
the wording would leave the impression that it could wait until Monday.  No
such luck.  He called back within five minutes.
    “Hey asshole.”
    “Niki.  How’s it going?”
    “Good.  What’s up?”
    I told him about Felicia’s brother and gave him all the
information we had, and he said he’d get someone right on it.
    “I’ll be in San Antonio for a week, starting tomorrow.  Come
over tomorrow night and we’ll barbecue.”
    “Maddie’s . . .” I considered lying, but I knew he’d bust me. 
“Maddie’s out of town for the weekend.”
    There was a conspicuous silence while he absorbed the info.  “Who’s
watching your kids?”
    “I am,” I said, only slightly offended that he’d have to ask.
    Niki laughed out loud.  “Get a baby sitter and we’ll go have a
drink.” 
    I made uhmming and ahhhing sounds.  “That’s probably not a good
idea.  If I got arrested, there’d be no one to take care of the kids.”
    “You’re not going to get arrested!” I could hear someone
telling him something in the background, then he laughed again.  “Hey, I’ve got
to go.  Stacy’s about to kick my ass.  I’ll call you tomorrow when I get in town.”
    He hung up before I could tell him not to.  Felicia didn’t even
give me a chance to relate the conversation before she bombarded me with
questions.
    “What did he say?  Is he going to do it?”
    “He said he’d get someone right on it.”
    “What do you mean someone ?  Why doesn’t he do it
himself?”
    “It’s called delegating.  He has a very capable staff,
Felicia.”
    “Are you sure this guy is good?”
    “Niki Lautrec makes MacGyver look incompetent.   If Niki can’t
find out about your brother, no one can.”
    “So how long did he say it would take?”
    “He didn’t.”
    “It took the PI that I hired to find my mother six months.”
    “Six months!  What kind of a PI was he?”  She looked blank. 
“Let me guess. He charged you a monthly fee while he conducted his
investigation.”
    “Yeah,” she said skeptically.  “Meaning what?”
    “Never mind.  It’s not going to take Niki six months.  I
guarantee it.”
    I was saved from further interrogation by sounds coming from
the baby monitor. What an ingenious invention; except you had to watch what you
said if you were by the transmitter.  It was a great way to spy on my kids. 
The sounds