* * *

Since Molly had been the last to finish their final sprint back to the house, she was stuck at the back of the line for the shower. By the time she was clean and dressed and walking back downstairs, the house was a lot quieter than it had been just a half hour earlier. Cara was the only one in the kitchen, sitting at the small table and talking on her cell phone, her open laptop perched on top of a stack of files.

Raising an eyebrow at Cara’s sour expression, Molly made a beeline over to the coffee maker. Finally, she thought as she poured herself a mugful, sneaking in a sip even before she added her usual sugar and creamer. Although she made a face at the bitter taste, it was worth it. She could almost feel her exhausted brain cells perking up as the caffeine hit her system.

“I’ll let her know,” Cara said into her phone, still looking annoyed. The pinched expression looked strange on her sweet, girl-next-door face, with her round dimpled cheeks, wide brown eyes, and mile-long dark lashes. “Her answer isn’t going to be any different than mine, though.”

When Cara ended the call with a dramatic poke of her finger a few moments later, Molly gave her an exaggerated double-eyebrow lift over her mug in silent question.

“Barney.” The way she said his name made it sound like it tasted bad. “One of his clients skipped, and he wants us to take the job. I’ve already told him no, but I promised I’d check with you.”

“Barney?” Molly didn’t even need to hear the details. Just knowing the name of the bail bond agent was enough. “No.”

Cara’s mouth curled up in a smug smile as she tapped out a text. From the satisfaction in her expression, she was taking great pleasure in turning Barney down. Molly didn’t blame her. Not only was Barney an amoral slug of a man who would frame his own grandma for murder if it earned him a buck, but he was also condescending enough to make Molly want to punch him in the face every time they met. Even even-keeled Cara, who found something good in almost everyone, couldn’t stand Barney.

Curiosity niggled at her, so she waited until Cara had finished her text before asking, “Who was his skip?”

“Edison Zarver.”

Rearing back, Molly was shaking her head before Cara even got the last name out. “Sonny? Oh, hell no.”

“Right?” Cara gave her phone a disapproving look, as if Barney were able to see her. “There’s no amount of money in the world that’d be worth getting caught up in Sonny Z’s mess.”

Making a wordless sound of agreement, Molly pulled out the chair next to Cara’s. Even a few years ago, when their business was brand new and they’d had to scramble for every possible job just to survive, they’d known enough to stay clear of Sonny. Now that they’d established themselves and paid off the mortgage, they weren’t quite so desperate for work—and they definitely weren’t desperate enough to go after him. “What less life-threatening jobs do we have lined up for the week?”