“Boyett,” she said easily. “Carson Boyett.”
Dalton frowned. Where had he heard that name before? He tossed the question around in his mind a few times, and then he remembered. It had come up during a conversation he’d had earlier that day with Jace and Caden. They had been discussing how to go about getting their father freed from jail. Jace had mentioned a man by the name of Carson Boyett...but this was no man. This was a very attractive woman.
“Wait a minute,” he said slowly, staring at her. “Carson Boyett is...” He found it hard to get the words out as it hit him just who she was. She took pity on him and completed what he was hesitant to say.
“Sheppard Granger’s attorney.”
He lowered his gun. Shocked. “But we...my brothers and I assumed you were a man.”
She chuckled softly. “But, as you can see, that’s not the case.”
“Hey, not so fast,” Jules spoke up, operating on the side of caution. She glared at Dalton, not surprised he was being taken in by a pretty face. “Let’s see some ID. Now!”
Carson Boyett nodded as a wry smile touched her lips. “You’re cautious. I like that. I’m going to need to stick my hand into the pocket of my jacket to get it.”
“Fine. I suggest you do it slowly and easily, or Bobby here won’t live to see tomorrow.” Jules inched her gun closer to Bobby’s skull. “And I’m warning the two of you,” she said to the men standing beside Carson. “I suggest you not try any funny business, either.”
If Dalton didn’t find it odd that his father’s attorney had two large, muscled men in tow, Jules certainly did. And what woman looked this put together in the middle of the night? Not a hair on Carson Boyett’s head was out of place. She was wearing a business suit and was well dressed, neat as a pin. It was cold outside, but she wasn’t wearing a coat. Jules wondered if that was intentional to show her toughness, her ability to endure what others might find grueling.
She figured the woman’s age to be in her midforties, if that. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw that Dalton was checking the woman out, as well...but probably for entirely different reasons.
Annoyed, she leaned over to him and whispered, “I heard you had a thing for older women, but need I remind you that something serious is going on here?”
He had the nerve to chuckle. “Jealous?” he whispered back.
“Hardly.”
“Here you are,” Carson said, breaking into their private conversation, moving forward slowly and reaching out to hand her driver’s license to Dalton.
He took it and scanned it a moment before handing it to Jules. “And who are these men with you?” Dalton wanted to know, feeling comfortable enough that he tucked his gun back inside his jeans.
Carson hesitated a minute before answering. “Roland Summers on my right and Stonewall Courson on my left. They are friends.”
Jules, who hadn’t reached that level of ease with them, kept her gun aimed on Bobby. “Friends?” she asked with a chuckle, while rolling her eyes. “Surely you can do better than that. Why would friends be hanging out at this time of night?”
A smile touched Carson’s lips. “I could ask the two of you the same thing.”
Dalton snorted. “Trust me. We aren’t friends.”
“They most certainly aren’t,” Bobby chimed in rather loudly.
Jules glared as she finally lowered her gun, ignoring Bobby’s deep sigh of relief. “You claim you can explain why this guy was following Dalton.” She decided they needed to stick to the business at hand.
“Yes, I can explain,” Carson said calmly. “But I think it would be best if we go inside. And although it’s rather late, I believe Jace and Caden Granger should be included in this conversation, as well.”