Light in Shadow Read Online Free PDF Page B

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    depths of the voluminous chair, trusting to fate that she would not get eaten alive by the
    monster, and smiled coolly.
    "In that case, I would like to purchase the minimum two hours," she said. "I'm sure the job
    won't take even that much time."
    "Background check on a new male acquaintance?" he asked with no inflection.
    "Good heavens, no, nothing like that." She frowned. "Do you get a lot of requests like that?"
    He shrugged. "Not yet. You're my first client here in Whispering Springs. But it was a fairly
    common request in L.A."
    "I guess that isn't so surprising." She considered the subject for a few seconds. "I mean, it
    makes a lot of sense to check out a potential date if you think things might get serious."
    "Especially in L.A." he agreed dryly.
    "All I want you to do is locate someone."
    "Who do you want me to find, Miss Luce?" He paused with an air of grave politeness. "It is
    Miss, isn't it? Or should I call you Ms. or Mrs.?"
    "I'm not married," she said very precisely. She did not want him calling her Miss or Ms. Luce. It
    sounded ridiculously formal. She also did not want him inquiring into her past marital status.
    "Make it Zoe."
    "Fine. Who do you want me to find, Zoe?"
    She breathed deeply and prepared to pick her way through the minefield. She needed to give
    him enough information to do his job but not enough to make him conclude that she was
    loony-tunes. And she definitely did not want to give him the kind of details that would arouse
    any curiosity about her personally.
    "I would like you to find a woman named Mrs. Jennifer Mason. I can give you her last address
    here in town. I believe she lived there until a few months ago."
    He unlinked his fingers, picked up the pen again, and began making more notes on the yellow
    pad.
    "Friend of yours?" he asked without looking up. "Relative?"
    "Neither. She's the wife of a man named Davis Mason. He lives in Desert View."
    Ethan did glance up at that. "The fancy gated golf-course community just outside of town?"
    "Yes. Mr. Mason recently hired me to redesign the interiors of his residence."
    "Residence," Ethan repeated neutrally. "Would that be what you interior decorators like to call
    a house?"
    Ethan Truax was becoming more irritating by the minute.
    "In the field of interior design," she said, emphasizing the last word, "the word residence is generally felt to be a more gracious term for a client's living space. The term conveys a sense
    of permanence and elegance. It implies a cultivated lifestyle. People like to associate those
    qualities with their homes."
    "A lifestyle thing, huh?" He looked amused.
    "Of course, if you have trouble with the longer word," she added sweetly, "please feel free to
    use the shorter one."
    "Thanks, I'll do that. Any idea where Mrs. Jennifer Mason may have gone?"
    "No. Davis, her husband, told me that she walked out on him a couple months ago and that
    they are in the process of getting a divorce. I just want to confirm that fact."
    Ethan raised his brows. "Are you sure this isn't a background check on a potential date?"
    "Davis Mason is a client," she said coldly.
    "If that's the case, why are you so concerned with the whereabouts of his
    not-quite-ex-wife?"
    The question worried her. "Do you need to know my reasons before you agree to take the
    job?"
    "No. Not at this point, at any rate."
    "Your ad in the phone book stresses your concern for privacy and confidentiality."
    "That was my uncle's ad, not mine."
    A whisper of uncertainty tingled through her. She rested her hands on the overstuffed arms of
    the big chair, preparing to push herself up out of its cushioned jaws.
    "If you intend to alter what I took to be the longstanding business practices of this agency,"
    she said, "I'd like to know about it before this conversation goes any further. As you pointed
    out, I do have another option."
    He put down the pen and leaned back in the chair. "There will be no change in this firm's
    concern for client