The Outlaw Prince's Captive - Holly Rayner Page 0,12

a step too far. It was only her first day on the job.

She would just stay here for a while and wait. She would see what happened. Maybe she would get a look at him. She knew she would recognize him if she did.

The cold was starting to get to her now. Rubbing her arms for warmth, she jogged down the path that led away from Lindström’s front door and back to her car, parked on the street. She got back in. Fortunately, there was still plenty of warmth inside from when she had been driving earlier. Francesca knew enough to know that turning the engine on when she was supposed to be doing quiet surveillance would not be a good idea.

How long would she be able to stay here before it got too cold?

She fished out her phone and called Laird. He answered in two rings.

“Frannie? Where are you? Are you on your way back?”

Briefly, she relayed what she had observed at Lindström’s house. “I think he lives here,” she concluded. “It’s either him or it’s some other rich single guy.”

“What makes you think it’s him?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Just instinct, I guess.”

“Because if I was on the run from the law, I definitely wouldn’t go to any of my known addresses. And he’s a damn fool if he thinks nobody knows about that place. He’s been photographed there.”

“I know,” Francesca agreed. “You’re right. But I still have a feeling about it. And besides, we can’t rule it out until we absolutely verify that he isn’t living here.”

“So what do you want to do?” Laird asked.

“I’m going to stay here for a bit longer,” she said. “Scope out the place. See what I can find out.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Frannie,” he said. “I think you ought to come back now.”

“Did you check in with Voles?”

A hesitation. “Yes.”

“Did you tell him what I was doing?”

“Yes.”

“And what did he say?”

“Frannie…”

“What did he say, Matt?”

“He said to tell you that he admired your work ethic,” Laird admitted quietly.

Francesca felt quietly triumphant. “I’m going to stay here for a few more hours,” she said. “Just to see what I can see. And then I’ll come back to the hotel.”

Laird clearly knew he had lost the argument.

“All right. I’ll research other places in Konäs we might be able to catch him at, places he frequents,” he said. “Just be safe.”

“You got it.”

Chapter 5

Hours passed.

Francesca was on edge at first. She reclined her seat every time a car passed by, anxious that she was about to be seen. But after the first hour, she stopped reacting. There were several other cars parked on this street, and it was clear that this was the kind of neighborhood where people implicitly trusted one another. No one was concerned about what she was doing there.

Except for Lindström, I suppose. It’s possible that he saw me when I went up and knocked on the door.

He couldn’t possibly know she was law enforcement, though. She was in plain clothes. Her car was unmarked.

Then again, if he had come here to evade arrest, he would be suspicious of everyone. And if he had been watching her since she had knocked on the door, he would know that her car had been sitting out here. He would know that she was watching his house.

She was going to have to try something else.

She got out of the car and crossed the road, scanning as she did so to see whether anyone was watching her. Lindström didn’t seem to live on a very busy street, which wasn’t surprising to Francesca. Of course he would choose a secluded part of the island as his home. He was a billionaire. He could live wherever he wanted.

This time, rather than approach the front door, Francesca walked around to the side. There was a stone wall here, about ten feet high, with a security gate, stopping her from going further.

I could climb it. But that was a terrible idea. She was sure to attract attention if she tried to go over the wall, and not the good kind either. Likely as not, someone would contact the police and report a burglar.

Francesca didn’t know what precisely her authority was in this country. Back home, if the local police tried to interfere with an FBI investigation, she could pull rank, and they would generally back off. But she couldn’t be confident of that kind of response here.

Sneaking over his wall might just be plain old illegal