Free Deadly Questions (Hardy Brothers Security Book 8) by Lily Harper Hart Page B

making you stay.”

Nine
    “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Emma asked, meeting Sophie’s gaze in the rearview mirror as the reporter drove them across town.
    Lily was sitting in the passenger seat, her face immovable as the fancy Grosse Pointe houses sped by in a blur. Emma was sitting in the backseat, clearly on edge.
    “Lily needs protection,” Sophie said. “If she doesn’t want to let Finn and the others provide it, we have to go to someone who knows a thing or two about protection.”
    “And your foster father knows about protection?” Lily asked.
    “He does.”
    “Is he a security expert, like the Hardys?”
    Sophie shook her head. “No. His business is more … diversified.”
    Emma snorted. “You really are masterful when it comes to words.”
    “I guess that’s why I write for a living,” Sophie replied.
    “You write? Like novels?” Lily looked interested.
    “No, I’m a reporter for the Daily Tribune,” Sophie replied. “Remember, we told you that when we came to your apartment?”
    Lily made a face and shifted in her seat so she could see Emma’s face clearly. “A reporter? What if she writes a story about me?”
    “She won’t,” Emma assured her. “Right, Sophie?”
    “I won’t write a story about you if you don’t want it,” Sophie agreed. “If you change your mind down the road, once all of this stuff is handled and the guilty individuals are locked away, I think it would make a compelling human-interest story.”
    “Maybe I don’t want to be of interest to anyone,” Lily shot back.
    “Then you don’t have to be,” Sophie said, pulling through the gate in front of Peter’s house and killing the engine of her car. “It’s completely up to you.”
    “Wow!” Lily said, opening the door and climbing out. “This place is amazing! You grew up here?”
    “After I was ten,” Sophie said.
    “But it’s like a castle,” Lily said. “I can’t believe you ever left. Did you have servants? Did you used to pretend you were a princess?”
    Sophie wrinkled her nose. “I used to pretend I was a cop.”
    Lily made a face. “A cop?”
    “I always liked to investigate things,” Sophie explained. “Even as a child.”
    “Yes, my Sophie always was an inquisitive little thing,” Peter said, moving out from the eave of the house and embracing his foster daughter. “This is a surprise, my dear.”
    “I’m sorry for just dropping in,” Sophie said. “We need your help.”
    Peter greeted Emma with a smile and hug, and then he focused on Lily. “And what happened to you?”
     
    “IT’S horrible,” Finn grumbled. “That woman is sleeping one thin wall away, and Emma is doting on her and dressing her up like she’s a child – or a doll.”
    James smirked. “So, no loving for you?”
    “Emma is worried she’ll hear and it will upset her,” Finn said. “It’s only been two nights, and yet it feels like two months.”
    The Hardys were grouped in James’ office with Jake. After another fruitless day of information gathering in the city, they were trying to decide on a new plan of attack. So far, all they’d done was listen to Finn complain.
    “You have your own apartment,” Grady reminded him. “You don’t have to spend the night at Emma’s.”
    “Oh, right, like I’m going to leave her alone with Lily,” Finn said.
    “You don’t like Lily?”
    “She’s mean,” Finn said. “She always makes fun of me.”
    “Oh, poor, baby brother,” Grady said, poking Finn in the shoulder. “Is the big bully upsetting you?”
    “She keeps calling me wholesome.”
    “Is that supposed to be an insult?” Jake asked.
    “In her eyes? Yes.”
    James pressed his lips together, fighting the urge to laugh. “Have you asked her to stop?”
    “She doesn’t care,” Finn said. “She likes it. She’s got a horrible personality.”
    “She’s been through a lot,” Grady reminded him.
    “And that’s the only reason I haven’t tossed her out on her ear.”
    “Well,