They just had to figure out where this exchange was happening, and then they could finally bring down the elusive—and dangerous—Sonny Zarver.

Chapter 17

Even after John ended the call, the rest of them were silent until he tossed the phone to Norah. “It’s all yours now, genius.”

Molly eyed him sharply, but there was no sarcasm in the term, just affectionate admiration. Norah, who was not the queen of activities requiring hand-eye coordination, fumbled the catch, and Molly cringed, too far away to make the save this time. By some miracle, Norah managed to hold on to the phone before it hit the floor. Holding it up in a sort of I’ve got this gesture, she rushed upstairs.

“Slippery skip?” Desmond asked.

“You could say that,” John said, greeting his friend with a handshake-hug combination as Molly ended the recording and tucked her phone into her pocket. Already, her thoughts were spinning as she tried to figure out where the “usual place” could be. Dutch’s was too busy, and she couldn’t imagine that Sonny would do anything at Mother Tick’s place, not when he lived there…or at least he had before that morning’s events. Unfortunately, those were the only two places she knew that were connected to Sonny. The “usual place” could be anywhere in Langston or Denver or…well, anywhere within an eleven-hour radius.

“Pax?” John’s voice pulled her from her thoughts to find both men looking at her.

“Sorry.” She grimaced. “Just going over the huge grab bag of possibilities in my head. Why couldn’t he have just given us an address? Easy-peasy, Sonny-handcuffy.”

Huffing a laugh, John shook his head with mock sadness. “That doesn’t flow at all. Really, Pax?”

If she was closer, she would’ve pinched his arm. Instead, she settled for a frosty look before turning to Desmond with a polite smile. “Sorry to grab you and drag you into the house just now. Thanks for coming so quickly.”

“No problem.” Desmond’s wide smile was almost as appealing as John’s. “It’s not the strangest greeting I’ve ever gotten.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and Molly instantly wanted to hear stories about the even-weirder situations he’d walked in on. Before she could ask, though, John strode over and threw one of his monster arms over her shoulders, distracting her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, baffled by the action and by the fact that she didn’t hate being tucked against John Carmondy’s side.

“Showing affection.” He cuddled her closer, sending pleasure zinging through her nerve endings. “To you.”

“Why?”

The puzzled look he gave her made her feel like she was the one out of sync. “I’m an affectionate guy?”

Desmond must’ve understood something that she was missing, because he was laughing behind his hand.

Wriggling free, she threw her arms up. “Okay! Today is only half over, and I have a shady business transaction to attend late tonight. I can’t afford to have my brain explode before then, so I’m going to go see if Norah’s having any luck. You guys”—she sketched circles in the air that encompassed the entire house—“do your security-system thing. I trust your judgment.” She paused as she headed for the stairs, glancing back at John. “Just don’t make it too expensive. I’d rather not have to sell this house to pay you for it, not after all the effort we’re going through to keep it in the family.”