Deadly Intuition(5)

He wasn’t going to go after a woman who had no interest in him. That wasn’t in his wheelhouse.



SOPHIE Lane was annoyed. No, she was beyond annoyed. She’d filed seven different Freedom of Information requests with the county for personnel and financial records on various departments only to find that the county clerk said she had no record of the requests.

Typical. The county big wigs were hiding something. She just knew it. Now she had to prove it.

She settled into her desk chair and logged onto the Daily Tribune’s internal system. She jumped when she heard a voice behind her.

“How did it go?”

Conrad Malcolm, her editor, was watching her with impatient eyes when she turned back around.

“The clerk claims she didn’t receive the requests,” Sophie said.

“What are you going to do?” Conrad had served as something of a mentor to her since she’d started at the newspaper right after college three years before. Sophie often worried it was because he was interested in something else, something she wasn’t even remotely interested in giving him, but he’d proven to be a decent sounding board and boundless source of information, so she always made time for him in her day.

“I refiled all of the paperwork with the clerk watching, made her stamp the files in front of me, and then asked for physical receipts,” Sophie said.

Conrad smiled. “I’m sure Sally didn’t like that.” Conrad had been around the Macomb County political scene long enough to know all the players – including Sally Barnworth, the county clerk. They were old friends.

“She didn’t,” Sophie agreed. “She knows I’m not happy, though.”

“That starts the clock all over again,” Conrad said. “They have ten days to supply the documents.”

“I know.”

“You’re going to have to try and track this stuff down through other avenues.”

Sophie’s eyes flashed irritably. “I know.”

Conrad pursed his lips. “I know you know. I was just … stating the obvious.”

Sophie blew out a sigh. “I’m sorry. I’m just frustrated. I know I’m onto something here.”

“I think you are, too,” Conrad agreed. “You just have to be patient.”

“That’s never been one of my strong suits,” Sophie admitted.

Conrad chuckled. “Well, you’ve had a full day. Why don’t you go home, have a glass of wine, and tackle this again tomorrow.”

Sophie wanted to argue but, the truth was, she currently had no other angles to explore. She needed to think. “You’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

Sophie collected her files and got back to her feet. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll carve some time out in the afternoon and we can sit down and look at this,” Conrad said. “You’ll get it.”

“I will get it.” Sophie shot Conrad a grateful smile and then left the newsroom. She thought better on her own. A glass of wine and a hot bath sounded like a great way to brainstorm.

Once she made it to the front lobby again, she plastered a fake smile on her face when Marge glanced up at her. “Have a good night.”

“Where is Mr. Hardy?”

“Placing his ad, I would guess.”

“That family has quite the gene pool,” Marge said, her eyes swimming with appreciation.

“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Sophie said.

“Did you even look at that man?”

Sophie shrugged. “He’s not my type.”

“How can he not be your type?”

“Because he thinks he’s everyone’s type,” Sophie replied.

“What does that mean?”

“He obviously knows he’s good looking,” Sophie said. “And, because he knows that, it makes him a little too full of himself for me.”

“Oh, please,” Marge scoffed. “If he asked you out, you know you would go.”

Sophie shook her head. She didn’t have time for dating – and she certainly didn’t have the patience for trying to date someone like Grady Hardy. She had her eye on the prize – and that prize ultimately ended at a big newspaper in New York. She wasn’t about to be distracted by anything else – even if that anything resembled a Greek god.

“He’s all yours,” Sophie replied, striding out the front door of the building.

She pointed her body in the direction of her car, gasping when she felt a hand, whipping her around to face the opposite direction, on her shoulder. “Hey!”





Three


“If there’s anything else we can do, please let us know.”