Dominic scowled. “No. You’re going to be our guest here until we get the information we need. That was the plan, but now we have to step it up because of something your careless suitor did.”
“Me?” Law’s head shook. “Crap. The cameras in the hallway of the hotel?”
“Ding, ding, ding. Get the man a prize.” Dominic flicked on the television and quickly found one of the national cable news shows. Within five seconds, Law felt his eyes widen as a clip of grainy CCTV footage came over the television.
“Heiress Kinley Kohl was kidnapped yesterday afternoon from her hotel room in New York City. She was preparing for her four o’clock wedding to controversial tycoon, Greg Jansen…”
The news anchor went on, but Law barely heard her because he was far too busy watching the scene play out.
“That’s me,” Kinley said, watching the screen intently. “Oh, I look horrible. Is that when I asked you to marry me? No wonder you said no.”
Riley snorted. “Actually, I had a moment of insanity and said yes. Oh, here it comes.” On the screen, Law turned his face up and was captured right there for everyone in the world to see. “That’s the twenty-five-to-life shot, big brother.”
Fuck, how had he done something that sloppy? He hadn’t been thinking at all. He’d been worried about Kinley and forgotten about the cameras. Now he’d screwed everything up. “We’re on a clock.”
It could have taken the police days to realize Kinley Kohl wasn’t a runaway bride. He, Dom, and Riley should have had up to a week to really talk to her, to bring her to their side and win her help. With that one image, they were out of time.
Dominic kept his eyes on the screen. “Yep, and it started the minute you looked up at that camera. So we’re not going to play games anymore.” He turned to Kinley. “You will get up. You will dress yourself or I will do it for you. And you won’t like what I pick out for you. Are we clear?”
She moved to Law, reaching for him. “I want to go home.”
He let her take his hand. Just because he’d screwed up didn’t mean Dominic should take it out on her. “It’s going to be okay, Kinley. He’s not going to hurt you, either. Can you trust me?”
“I shouldn’t.”
“I promise you, I’ll keep you safe, baby. Just go get dressed. Then we’ll sit down and eat and have a perfectly nice talk. I know I look scary, but I won’t hurt you. Ever.”
She stepped back, and he felt the loss of her warmth. Just for a moment, she’d been looking up at him with softness in those eyes. “A-all right. Please excuse me. And you don’t look scary. You’re quite handsome, but I suspect you know that.”
Dominic stepped up, towering over Kinley. “Don’t try to run. The whole place is secure and you’ll only get hurt if you run.”
Her chin came up in a stubborn pout. “I think you would be surprised what I can do. Where are we? Upstate New York? We can’t have traveled too far. Somehow I think I could find my way to a road, Mr. Whatever your name is.”
“It’s Dominic Anthony, and this isn’t New York, honey. Welcome to Alaska.”
For the second time that morning, Kinley fainted, dropping into Law’s arms. He hoisted her up and held her to his chest before turning to Dominic. “I hope you’re fucking happy. She was starting to trust me. You just ruined all of that. I’m going to make sure she gets something to eat. She can’t give you information if she’s passed out or dead.”
Law carried her out, wondering why he’d ever agreed to this scheme in the first place.
* * * *
Dominic walked into the kitchen, well aware that he was completely unwanted there. Law had taken his damn time. An hour had passed since he’d carried her out like a fainting Southern belle’s gallant beau.
“Wow, he’s serious,” Riley had said, then gone thoughtfully silent as they both waited.
Well, Dominic was serious, too, and it was long past time that he got Law firmly on the same page as him and Riley.
He stopped as he caught sight of her. She was sitting in front of the big bay windows, staring out at the expanse of trees and grass and mountains in the distance.
“That’s a whole lot of nature. Like way too much nature.” She shook her head. “Do you think there are animals out there?”
Law laughed, the sound of a deeply amused man. “Absolutely. You wouldn’t believe how many, baby.”
He needed to rein this thing in. She was beautiful and seemed fragile, but he knew something Law didn’t. “Tell him about your charity, Kinley. Tell him about the checks you’ve been writing.”
She turned, a startled expression settling on her face. “What? You can’t have abducted me to talk about Hope House.”
Luckily, he had everything laid out. He opened the folder in his hand and set the documents Riley had dug up on the table in front of her. “Is that your handwriting?”
She set her coffee mug down, then picked up one of the copies of the checks. Her face flushed. “Yes. That looks like my signature. But why is it made out to ‘Cash’? I never need cash for the charity. Everything comes through vendors and we use our Tax ID to get exemption. These are the private checks, but they’re just for backup. I’ve never used one.”
So she was going to play dumb. “Over the last six weeks, you’ve drained almost fifty thousand dollars out of that charity.”
She put her hand to her mouth. “No, I haven’t. You’re lying!”
And now Riley came in handy. He had his laptop open and ready. “This is your bank account for the charity. As you can see, over the last six weeks, there have been five checks written for cash, each for nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine dollars and ninety-nine cents. One penny more and you would have been required to fill out forms. Someone knows their banking regulations. You’re down to almost nothing in that account.”
He saw Law’s face fall as he looked down at the evidence in front of him. Damn, Dominic knew he was to blame for this mistake. He’d allowed Law to focus fully on surveillance and hadn’t brought him into the loop during the investigative portion. All Law needed was firm proof that his honey was involved in Jansen’s organization, and he would stop thinking with his dick and be ready to roll on the mission again.
Law took a step back from Kinley. “When did the money start disappearing? What date? What time was the check cashed?”
Riley ran his hands across the computer screen. “The first date was May tenth and the time stamp on the check is two thirty-five pm.”