Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 669(@200wpm)___ 535(@250wpm)___ 446(@300wpm)
“You mean look into the woman his sons are dating. She’s no threat to anyone.” Heather moved across the office, clearly picking her side. She held a hand out to Grim. “And my name is Kimberly Kent. Maiden name Solomon, hence the prior nickname Solo. I went by it for years when I worked as a CIA operative. Now I work with a group that searches for missing persons. That’s how I became involved in this case. And Mr. Burch, I don’t assassinate people anymore, though I might be willing to come out of retirement for that one. He’s obnoxious. Tell me something, Mr. Dawson, how did you figure it out so quickly? From what I understood, your daughter’s only been on the case for a few days, and you for less. Did she share her intel with you?”
Harlow frowned, her arms crossed over her chest. “No. I did not. I was unaware they’d been hired. I work with a woman named Ruby Lockwood. She’s an excellent hacker and has some truly good facial recognition software. She told me she would get back to me with news today. When she hadn’t by this evening, I called her. She told me she didn’t bother to call because my dads were going to inform me. She gave them all the information. I still don’t know anything beyond the fact that there’s a warrant for Nicole’s arrest in Oregon. Ruby tried to explain the situation to me, but she was at a rave or something and I could barely hear her. I realized what my fathers would do and ran to warn Josh and Grim.”
“We didn’t want you involved,” Chase said, reaching for his daughter’s hand. “When we realized how bad the situation was, we made the decision to handle it for you. For all of you. Josh, Grim, I understand you’re upset…”
“Oh, you have no idea.” Josh strode over to his uncle, pointing a finger his way. “You could have ruined everything. Do you think I didn’t know something was wrong? I sure as hell did, and I was handling it. You tell my father he’ll be lucky if I talk to him in the next decade.”
“He was trying to protect you,” Ben insisted.
“Do I look like a child to you?” Josh asked.
“Yes,” the Dawson brothers said at the same time.
Harlow’s head fell back, and she growled. “You two are going to be the death of me.”
They started arguing amongst themselves.
It hadn’t gone unnoticed that Mia Taggart had snuck into the big office. She sat on her husband’s lap, an arm draped around his shoulders. Grim was pretty sure at some point Case had called his brother and put him on speaker to listen to what he’d called “the drama.” He wasn’t sure which Taggart, but they definitely had an audience.
He wished they didn’t, but they needed help.
Nicole was silent beside him, her eyes on the floor ahead.
He put a hand over hers. “Baby, can I get you something to drink? We can go up to the room. We don’t have to stay here.”
She shook her head. “You should know the truth. I have some questions, too. I’d like to know how Heather…I’m sorry…Mrs. Kent came to be hunting me.”
“Call me Kim, and I wasn’t hunting you.” Kim sat down on the sofa as Josh was telling off Chase and threatening bloody vengeance if the police were called in. “I’m sure it feels like it, but I was searching for you. I was hired by your in-laws. They told me the police had let the case go cold, and they wanted my company to find you and bring you to justice.”
“So you’re a bounty hunter.” Grim fought the urge to drag Nic closer. “Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll pay you more to walk away and tell them you couldn’t find her.” He had some money saved up, but it was nothing compared to Josh’s trust fund. He had a sudden thought. “Or to fake her death. Tell them she’s dead and give them evidence that will satisfy them.”
“Grim,” Nic began, and at least the blank doll look was out of her eyes. “She’s not going to do that.”
Kim shrugged. “It might be an excellent idea, but we would have to be careful. And I’m not a bounty hunter. This isn’t the type of case I normally take. My husband, Beck, and I work with a group in Colorado that tracks missing persons. Usually children or women in danger, though we’ll work with law enforcement if we feel we can help and there’s a risk to the public.”
“She’s not dangerous.” He had to convince this woman to let Nicole go.
“I know that.” Kim’s voice went soft, and she leaned toward Nic. “I took this case for reasons your in-laws don’t understand. My first instinct was to reject the job, but my son asked me to reconsider. He’s working toward a law degree, and he spends a lot of time studying criminal cases. He found some major red flags with yours.”