Sighing in exasperation, Evie stretched her legs and admired one orange-painted toe peeking out of the hole in her tennis shoe. No respect, no respect at all. They talked over her head as if she were still a child instead of a grown woman who’d just single-handedly saved her cousin from...
Heck, she didn’t know what she’d saved Loretta from. A Scorpio? One twice her weight? That ought to count.
“If you were attempting to protect my ward,” a deep voice rumbled, intruding on her reverie, “then I’ll thank you and not press charges.”
He’d talked directly toherand not the sheriff. And he’d understood what she’d been doing! In surprise, Evie glanced up and immediately regretted doing so. She didn’t want to seelaughterin the eyes of a man who could make Hercules envious.
Call her crass, but from her petite standpoint, muscle-bound men werenotobjects of admiration. His shoulders alone were just way too obnoxious.
“If you’re done screaming, Evie, I’m gonna get back to work.” Troy tipped his hat. “Seeya in church?”
“If I’m not murdered in my sleep,” she called back. “You know who to blame if I wake up dead.”
Chuckling, the sheriff shooed the crowd from the yard—leaving her alone with a stranger.
“Evie?” the Magician asked with suspicion.
She should have been insulted earlier when he’d thought she was her mother. “EvangelineMalcolm,” she clarified, wishing she could read minds as her cousin Priscilla did. He certainly glared at her with the stone-cold eyes of a killer.
“Where is Loretta?” he demanded.
“Probably halfway to Hong Kong by now. Are her parents really dead?”
He hesitated one beat too long for Evie’s comfort.
Four
Jax crossedhis arms and watched the colorful madwoman scowl. He didn’t know what he’d said wrong—hell, for the sake of client confidentiality he hadn’t saidanything—but he waited with interest to see if she would jump him again. That was an experience he wouldn’t mind repeating—somewhere a hell of a lot more private. Public spectacles weren’t his beat.
His adversary’s once perfectly respectable top had slid high up her belly. He politely tried not to stare at her gaping neckline, but her cleavage revealed an eyeful.
Everything about her screamed flaky charlatan—except her crystalline glare and refusal to back down. Or perhaps she was too stupid to understand he could break her in two and still take her remains to court.
When she waited him out, Jax had to drag his mind back to the moment. “I do not discuss the personal affairs of my client with strangers.”
“I just introduced myself. Give me your name, and we won’t be strangers.” She didn’t sit still to await his answer but yanked down her top, danced up the porch stairs, and pushed a porch swing, making it clear it would be easier to catch a grasshopper.
Which meant he needed to try a firmer tactic. “Jax Jackson, of Stockton and Stockton, Loretta’s guardian.” Hadn’t she been there when he’d introduced himself earlier? He’d distinctly heard an impolite snort at the time.
“Fine, Mr. Jax Jackson. Loretta is my cousin. We trace our lineage back to my great-grandmother Letitia Post née Malcolm. And I must add, you’re doing a damned poor job of taking care of her. She said she left Savannahyesterday.”
At least she hadn’t denied knowing the kid, so half his mission was accomplished. “The fact that I found her without aid of police proves I’m more than capable of keeping up with her. Now where is she?”
Yeah, yeah, he walked right into that one—if he could keep up with the kid, he’d know where she was. He shouldn’t allow a grasshopper to distract him. Instead of waiting for the obvious retort, Jax stalked up the steps and entered the house. Rural houses were never locked. “Loretta!”
“You’re trespassing. Legally, once you’re inside, I can shoot you if I feel threatened,” she warned with deceptive nonchalance, following him inside.
Grasshoppers probably didn’t own guns. Pocket explosives and charlatans might. He hadn’t made up his mind which she was. Since he’d come straight from a role-playing game with members of his firm, he wasn’t armed, not by normal weapons anyway. That didn’t slow him down.
Finding no obvious hiding place in the cluttered front room, he continued toward the kitchen.
Trailing him,EvangelineMalcolm swung onto the Formica counter so her eyes were on a level with his. Orange curls in her eyes, she sat there with her legs crossed like a capricious genie on a magic carpet. How could someone so small have legs so long? Had to be the short-shorts.
The scent of ylang-ylang mingled with hot tar after her stint on the roof. Jax would forevermore acquaint those smells with a half-naked woman straddling his hips before they’d even been introduced. No wonder his mind was in the gutter. He was normally much more focused.
“I’m a lawyer. Shoot me and half the state bar would line up to see you fry.” The state bar in several states. He was licensed in most of the southeast. He scanned the kitchen for his missing client and nearly went cross-eyed.
A kaleidoscope would have been easier to search. Hot red, gold, and orange, striped curtains flapped in the breeze from the open window over the sink. The same theme ran through placemats, throw rugs, and dish towels. The walls were a deep, rich red, if he could see past plates painted in colorful roosters.