How to configure BDE to connect to an existing Paradox db with .net application?

Question

Hoping in can find someone who is familiar with this scenario. I've not touched Paradox in over 12 years, and most posts I find on the subject are 5+ years old.

I have created a C# application to read a Paradox .db file using OLEDB and the Borland Database Engine (BDE) to retrieve a transaction code. I have no control over the Paradox system, my only access to it is through a UNC path to the .db files. The original developers of the system are no long in business, so there is no support. Hence the reason I'm having to "hack" a solution to my customers problem.

For development I copied the relevant .db files locally and had no problem accessing them. However when I try to access the live files, the error I get is that they are under the control of a different .LCK file. Deleting the .LCK file solves the access issue, but obviously that is not the solution.

The existing system has the "server" a Win7 machine, and 3 clients running what I assume is the Borland / Paradox application.

Is there a way to configure BDE (or some other workaround) to allow access to the live files using the existing .LCK files? I've tried with different values in the BDE "NET DIR" setting.

My only other option that I can see is to load the entire .db file into memory, (I have code that does that without BDE) then find my transaction value, which is not ideal as that takes around 15 seconds, and as this is a Point of Sale application, it needs to be much faster. Select statements via OLEDB work perfectly in this regard.