the law firm and is considered a shining star in litigation. Actually, a shark in the making. I couldn’t find any threads to pull. Maybe he ruffled some feathers at the law firm.”
Blaze snorted. “He’d have to do some pretty bad ruffling, I’d think. From everything I read, they love him. There were even a couple of articles about a few big cases that had been won because of him.”
“So maybe whoever was on the other side of a lawsuit was looking for revenge.”
“Possible, but mostly they aren’t really the kind of people who would run someone down in the street.”
“Okay.” Viper nodded. “We’ll take a look, anyway. But first, tell me more about our client. What’s she like as a person, besides being a hot chick and a published author, I mean.”
Blaze thought for a moment. If he described how he really saw her, Viper would be all over him. And was she really hot? Well, if the boner he’d had thinking about her was any indication, yeah. Damn hot. Not to mention his little hand job in the shower.
“Smart,” he said at last. “And desperate. Angry, too. And tied up in knots over this whole thing. Can’t say I blame her.”
Viper lifted an eyebrow. “Took you a while to come up with that description. Anything I should know?”
“Not at all.” Blaze shook his head. “No. Definitely not.”
Viper studied him for a moment. “Okay. Whatever. You said she tried looking into this herself?”
“Uh-huh.” He refilled his own mug. “Got nowhere with the cops, and three other firms turned her down. Something smells here.”
“Money and influence. The odor they leave is very sharp. Someone has a very heavy hand in this. You don’t think the law firm is involved?”
“Not sure.” Blaze shrugged. “They don’t practice criminal law, so they aren’t likely to have shady characters of whatever social status on their client list.”
“There are other types of undesirable people they could represent,” Viper pointed out. “They’re litigators. Maybe a lawsuit went south. Or maybe they rigged something and this Dane tumbled to it. The only way we’ll find out is to go over everything regarding the firm with a fine-tooth comb. And also get a first-hand look at the people there.” He looked at his watch. “Rocket and Eagle will be along shortly. They might be dragging ass a bit today.”
Blaze grinned. “A little R and R last night will do that to you.”
Viper shrugged. “Why not? We work hard for it.”
“Yes, we do. Okay, meanwhile, you and I can get started.”
They set up in the dining room and opened their laptops.
“Let’s split it up.” Viper clicked a couple of keys. “You want the firm or the guy?”
“I’ll take the firm. Let’s get to it.”
Thirty minutes later, the other two members of their team arrived. Rocket and Eagle filled their coffee mugs and joined them at the table with their own laptops.
“Peyton West gave me her copy of the police report,” Blaze told everyone. “She said they weren’t too happy about handing it over. I scanned it and moved it to our private cloud storage. Take a minute to open it and take a look.”
“This is bullshit.” Rocket clicked a few keys then stared at his computer screen. “There’s nothing here. Not even a description of the car. ‘Brown’ covers half the cars in the universe.”
Blaze nodded. “Exactly. When she tried to find out more, the cops stonewalled her.”
Eagle made a rude noise. “We all know, although we don’t like to acknowledge it, that not every cop is as standup we’d like. Bad apples are few and far between, but they happen. Money talks.”
“I promise you that’s what happened here.”
“I want to know more about our client,” Rocket told him. “Your info was pretty sketchy.”
He’d done that deliberately, not wanting them to develop any preconceived notions about her.
“Type Peyton West in the search bar and you’ll find whatever you want. Viper already checked her out last night. Then I’ll catch you up to date.”
At one o’clock, they ordered food from a local deli. When it came, they took a break to discuss whatever they’d found.
“Nobody’s that squeaky clean,” Rocket said, taking a sip of his soda. “Everyone slips sometime. It’s human nature.”
“That’s what I say,” Eagle agreed. “It’s almost too good to be true.”
“And maybe she’s just what she seems.” Blaze bit down on his temper. They were just doing the job. Vetting a client was ingrained in them. “Every once in a while, someone comes along who is.”