The Outlaw Prince's Captive - Holly Rayner Page 0,1

had been wiped clean. It was as if he had never existed.

And that was highly suspicious behavior, in Francesca’s opinion. Lindström was a public figure, after all.

She did a quick search for his name, and sure enough, dozens of articles popped up. Dozens of pictures. He couldn’t erase himself from the internet. Why would he even try?

Maybe he posted something on social media that he didn’t want anyone to see, and then he panicked about it.

That was possible. She made a note in her file to come back to this. She would check all the other social media sites, too, and see if he had a presence there. Maybe that would help her find the answer.

She gathered the materials back into the folder and got to her feet. As she crossed to a conference room, she caught Laird’s eye, and he nodded confirmation that he had seen her signal. He would join her momentarily, she knew, but getting to the conference room first meant that she would be able to plug her computer into the projector screen. It meant that she would be able to take the lead as they reviewed the material of the case.

What must it be like, she wondered, to be a man and never have to worry about these things?

Matt Laird came wandering into the room, and Francesca watched as he stopped along the way to laugh and chat with several of their colleagues. She liked Laird, always had, but there could be no denying that life in the department was easier for him.

He doesn’t have to prove himself over and over, every single day. No one out there is questioning whether or not he belongs here in the High Profile division.

But maybe once this case was over, no one would question her anymore either. Most of the high profile crimes they dealt with involved celebrities and politicians. Francesca had never seen anyone take on a case that dealt with royalty before now.

I wonder why I got it?

Voles must have seen something in her over the past few weeks. She had been putting in extra hours, hoping to make a good impression. Maybe her hard work had finally paid off.

Laird came into the room and sat down opposite her. “Hey, Frannie. What’ve we got?”

He was the only one in the department who could get away with calling her by that nickname, and that was only because he took care not to use it in front of the others. She pushed the folder toward him.

He opened it and took a look. “Hit-and-run, huh?”

“Right. And that’s not all, Matt. Look at the suspect.”

He found the relevant piece of paper and pulled it out. She watched as his eyes grew wide. “Seriously? Viggo Lindström? He’s like…the Prince of Sweden, isn’t he?”

“Close,” she said. “Prince of some small island nation off the coast of Sweden.”

He scanned the page. “Here it is,” he said. “Konäs. Know anything about it?”

“No details,” she said. “But it should be easy enough to find out. We can research the place online.”

Laird nodded. “We should probably watch the CCTV video first, though.”

She looked up at him. “We have that?”

“Didn’t Voles mention that to you?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a thumb drive. “There was a CCTV recording taken at the site where the hit-and-run occurred, so we have video evidence to review.”

Francesca resisted the urge to roll her eyes. How very like her boss to hand the most important evidence to Laird and not even tell Francesca of its existence.

Laird seemed to know she was upset. “Sorry,” he said. “I think he just, you know…”

“You don’t have to make excuses for him,” Francesca said. “We both know he thinks you’re more competent than me.”

“Well, here’s your chance to prove him wrong,” Laird said. He slid the thumb drive across the table to her. “If you and I kick ass on this case—”

“Then he’ll just assume you did all the heavy lifting.”

“No, he won’t,” Laird said. “You’re better than I am in the field, Frannie, and you and I both know it. You’ve got great instincts, and all I’ve got is training. If we do well here, it’s going to be because of you, and I’m not going to take credit for your success.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks, Matt.”

“Don’t get mushy on me,” he said. “Put on that video, and let’s get a look at what we’re dealing with here.”

Francesca plugged the thumb drive into the computer and pulled up the video file.

They both