Lifting the Veil Read Online Free Page B

shoulders when she entered his office. “Good to see you, squirt. You’ll have to tell me all about your trip later,” he whispered in her ear.
    She nodded and he let her go.
    “Have a seat.”
    They each sat while Max shut the door. He rounded his desk and plopped down. “Okay, Soph, I see
    you already met Love, but let me formally introduce you. Sophie, this is Jack Love. You two will be working together while you’re here.” He gestured to her and looked at Jack. “Jack, this is Sophie
    Masterson, my one and only baby sister.”
    He gave Jack the look normally reserved for her boyfriends. The same look Max had used on her
    dates back in high school.
    She took a minute to really look at her new partner. Cute, cocky, and condescending was her first
    impression. Not exactly the type of guy she would have chosen to work with, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She liked her men more refined, educated and less….barbaric.
    “Don’t worry. This is only temporary. I’ll be out of your hair before you know it.”
    “Yeah, well, let’s get you two to work.” Her brother walked out of the office and left them to
    follow.
    “Seems it’s your lucky day.” Jack wiggled his brows.
    “More like my worst nightmare. Are you always this obnoxious?” she quipped.
    “It’s a gift.” He chuckled and followed behind Max.
    They entered another side office and Max held his hands out. “Welcome to the freezer.”
    The office was a mid-sized room of black filing cabinets stacked side by side covering every square inch of wall space, along with a desk situated in the middle of the room. There were two laptops
    opened, screensavers of fields of flowers filling the screen. This was the exact same office she’d seen when her headache struck. She snuck a peek at Jack again out of the corner of her eye. Recognition dawned on her like lightning. He was the guy. How was this even possible? Had she dreamed him up?
    “Both of you have access to our online filing system. These are the files that haven’t been uploaded yet into the new database and are currently classified as cold cases. We need all of the info in those files added into the mainframe so we can start scanning the documents for cross-references between other crimes. When you’re done, the files will be secured into storage.”
    Her lips parted. Was he kidding? If those cabinets were even half as full as they were big, this job would take forever, even with help from the Neanderthal.
    Max stopped next to her on his way to the door and placed his palm on her shoulder. “Sorry, kiddo.
    I know it’s tedious, but we really need to get it done.”
    She snapped her mouth closed and nodded. “This is a big job…but not impossible.”
    She could do this. She would do this. It was going to pay her bills. It meant she’d have food on her table without asking for help. She let out a long sigh, rounded the table, and dropped her purse.
    The stale air made her sneeze. She ran her finger over the dust on the top of the cabinets and
    wrote her name in it. “Please tell me you have cleaning supplies because this is going to kill my sinuses.”
    Her brother grinned. “Yep, let me get them for you.”
    She grabbed one of the swivel chairs from the desk and scooted it over to the cabinet before
    climbing to stand on top of it.
    “That’s not very safe, Sophie.”
    She kicked her heels off to get a better balance. “Is this better, Jack?”
    He stepped up next to her and placed his hands on her waist. “The chief’s sister isn’t falling and breaking her neck on my watch. Are you trying to get me fired or just wanting me to put my hands on you?”
    “You obviously don’t need my help getting fired if you got stuck with me, and as for your hands…I
    think I’ll pass.” She brushed at his hands.
    “What the hell is going on in here?” her brother asked from the doorway, a duster in one hand and
    a bucket full of supplies in the other.
    “She’s an accident waiting to