Free Deadly Intuition (Hardy Brothers Security Book 2) by Lily Harper Hart Page B

from the county about four weeks ago.”
    “Was it one of your FOI requests?” James asked.
    “No, it was just in the general packet.”
    The Hardy brothers exchanged confused looks. They were slightly out of their depth here. Mandy filled in the blanks for them. “Any time something is put on the agenda there has to be some sort of notification,” she explained. “It could be as simple as a written request from one of the commissioners. When it comes to financial stuff, the subcommittees usually supply the paperwork. All that paperwork is then copied and put into a packet – and anyone, including the general public, has access to that packet.”
    “Who supplied that document?” James asked.
    Sophie shrugged. “No one signed it. There’s no committee affiliation. It’s just a random sheet of paper.”
    “It has numbers on top,” Finn pointed out.
    “Yeah, I don’t know what those are,” Sophie said.
    Mandy moved from the chair she’d been sitting in behind James’ desk and bent down so she could get a better look over Sophie’s shoulders. “These numbers?”
    Sophie nodded.
    “Those are county codes.”
    James straightened in his chair. “What do you mean?”
    “Each department in the county has codes built into their printers and fax machines,” Mandy replied. “Each department has their own code. You can’t send or print anything without the codes appearing at the top of the document.”
    “Why?” James asked.
    Mandy straightened back up. “For various reasons. Some are for budget, so the accounting department knows how much money is spent on paper and ink and stuff like that.
    “It’s also a way to track correspondence,” Mandy added. “If someone forgets to sign something, you can check the master list to find out where it came from.”
    “There’s a master list?” Sophie asked.
    “Yeah.”
    “Who has access to the list?”
    “I know Judge MacIntosh has one,” Mandy said. “It’s in his office.”
    “Will he let you look at it?” James asked.
    “I don’t see why not. I can look Monday.”
    James smiled widely, motioning for her to rejoin him. He shot Finn a triumphant look. “And you thought our team would be the slackers.”
    Finn rolled his eyes as James wrapped Mandy in his arms, pulling her into his lap. “I’m the one who found the document,” he said.
    “And my blonde angel is the one who can figure out where it came from,” James countered, rubbing his nose against her neck.
    Finn made a face, turning to Grady for support. “Can you believe this?”
    Grady shrugged. “He’s not wrong.”
     
    EVERYONE returned to their work – but that only lasted for about fifteen minutes. The constant kisses and heavy petting between James and Mandy became too much for Finn to bear at a certain point, and he sent them upstairs. Once they were gone, the three remaining members of their investigative team separated into different sections of the office to work.
    Grady settled at the laptop on James’ desk, while Finn booted up another at the counter in the lobby. Sophie wasn’t sure what to do, so she perched on the corner of the desk and watched Grady work.
    “What search engines are you using?”
    “It’s a national database,” Grady replied. “It’s broad. It’s effective, but it takes a while.”
    Sophie’s proximity to him was driving Grady to distraction. Again. Her lithe body was settled on the desk, only a few inches away – her toned, denim-clad thighs within touching distance – and yet he was forcing himself to remain focused on the computer screen.
    Just breathe. She’s not on the menu, son. She’s not interested in you in that way.
    Still, there was something about the way Sophie had been watching James and Mandy. Admittedly, the way they pawed at each other was mesmerizing in its simplicity. Even when you weren’t in their bubble, the emotion roiling off of them seeped into your very being.
    Grady wasn’t a fool for love. He never would be. Even