Deadly Memories (Hardy Brothers Security Book 18) by Lily Harper Hart Page A

following the previous prosecutor’s decision to step down after a cancer diagnosis.
    “Hello, Mr. Humphrey,” Sophie said, rubbing the back of her neck as her heart rate returned to normal. “How are you today?”
    “Did I scare you?” Humphrey asked, offering Sophie a smarmy smirk. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”
    Sophie didn’t believe that for a second. She’d heard whisperings about Humphrey in the county courthouse since he took over his position, and she was determined to delve into his background more when she had a chance. The secretarial pool at the courthouse suggested Humphrey was something of a pervert. Sophie made a mental note to ask Mandy when she saw her next if she’d heard any interesting tidbits. The effervescent blonde was always up on courthouse gossip.
    “Your proximity caught me off guard,” Sophie clarified. “You didn’t frighten me.”
    “That’s right, you’re tough as nails,” Humphrey said. “Nothing frightens you, does it?”
    Sophie couldn’t be sure, but Humphrey appeared to be getting at something. “Meaning?”
    “Well, everyone talks about Sophie Lane,” Humphrey said, rubbing his hands together. “You’re practically famous in these here parts.” He was going for levity, but the underlying current of his tone set Sophie’s teeth on edge.
    “And what do they say?” Sophie challenged, forcing herself to maintain an air of congeniality even though the thing she wanted most to do was put distance between Humphrey and herself.
    “They say you’re tough and you always get your story,” Humphrey said. “I guess you proved that by getting the dirt on Foley before everyone else.”
    “I just lucked into that.”
    “I’m sure that’s not the case,” Humphrey said. “People also say your ties to Peter Marconi give you an edge when it comes to tracking down witnesses. Is that true?”
    Sophie balked at the suggestion. “Peter doesn’t get involved in my stories,” she said. “He has much more important things to do. His business doesn’t allow him to get involved in my life.”
    Humphrey arched a challenging eyebrow. “His business? What exactly is his business?”
    “I’m not privy to the inner workings of what he does,” Sophie replied breezily. “If you would like to ask him yourself, I’m sure I could set up a meeting.”
    Humphrey chuckled. “I don’t think that will be necessary,” he said. “Just for curiosity’s sake, though, if Mr. Marconi doesn’t help you with your stories, who does?”
    “I do most of the legwork myself,” Sophie replied.
    Humphrey pursed his lips. “Who does the rest of the legwork? Would that be your boyfriend?”
    Sophie’s relationship with Grady was hardly a secret, but Humphrey’s interest caused Sophie’s inner danger alarm to ping. “My boyfriend has his own job to do, too,” she said. “If I asked him to do a search for me, he would. I don’t like asking, though, because I believe in doing my job without outside help whenever possible. I’m funny that way.”
    “You’re a feisty thing, aren’t you?” Humphrey asked. “I can see what your boyfriend sees in you. He’s famous around the county these days, too. Well, to be fair, his entire family is famous. You guys just can’t seem to stay out of the news, can you?”
    “I guess we’re just lucky that way,” Sophie shot back, shifting her eyes toward the crowd in the hope she could find someone to draw her away from Humphrey.
    “This last little bit with Judge MacIntosh’s clerk killing Lance Pritchard and then getting framed for killing that woman her husband was having an affair with was quite the story, huh?” Humphrey clearly had no interest in letting Sophie escape.
    “James didn’t have an affair with anyone,” Sophie said. “Don’t spread rumors like that. He would never cheat on his wife.”
    “So the affair rumor bothers you, but the fact that your friend killed someone doesn’t? That’s interesting.”
    Sophie had