Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,21
backbone Ashlyn was showing under very difficult circumstances.
Eli hadn’t thought the frost in Dominick’s eyes could go up any, but he was wrong. It did. “Give the Texas Ranger access to my bank account,” Dominick snapped, speaking to the lawyers, though this time there wasn’t even a glance involved. “That’ll prove I didn’t hire anyone.”
“Thanks for that,” Eli said. “But actually it only proves that you didn’t use money from the one account that you’ll let us examine. It’s my guess that a man who wears a suit like yours probably has more than one account.”
Eli added a grin that he knew was prime fuel for a hissy fit, which he hoped Dominick would have. Heck, maybe the man would even take a swing at him, and Eli could use the assault to get a warrant to dig even deeper into financials. Goading a possible suspect was a cheap trick, but Eli wasn’t above using it to get this man behind bars.
With the pulse throbbing on his throat and his eyes narrowed to slits, Dominick certainly looked as if he wanted to throw a punch, but he finally took a step back. His attention slashed from Eli to Ashlyn.
“You know I wouldn’t do anything to harm Cora,” Dominick insisted. “I love her.”
The love part certainly sounded sincere, but Eli had seen people do all sorts of stupid things in the name of love.
“Do I need to go through a judge to get an order to force you to allow me to see my granddaughter?” Dominick added when Ashlyn didn’t say anything.
Ashlyn stared at him for a long moment. “If you truly love her, you won’t insist on visiting her when hired guns could follow you to her location. You could put her in danger, and I think any judge will agree with me about that.”
“I’d be careful,” Dominick blurted out, but then he waved that off. He turned away from them, and Eli didn’t think it was his imagination that the man was grappling with that temper of his that was simmering just beneath the surface.
When Dominick turned back around, he fastened his gaze to Eli. “I don’t know if you’re good at your job or not, but I am aware that you have a history with Ashlyn.”
It didn’t surprise Eli that this man had had him investigated, and it only proved what Eli had said to Ashlyn earlier. Dominick could have used their past to put together an attack, one that would be harder to trace back to him.
“I don’t think you’ve looked at all the possible angles about the attack at your house,” Dominick added.
“Are you about to tell me that I should be investigating Remy Sager?” Eli came out and asked.
Dominick’s glare turned to a frown. Apparently, he wasn’t happy that Eli had spoiled his big reveal.
“That’s a good start,” Dominick grumbled. Now there was some sarcasm in his voice, proving to Eli that the check Dominick had done on Ashlyn and him had gone deep. Of course, Eli hadn’t expected anything less. “But you need to look at others, because I believe what happened to Ashlyn and Cora is connected to Marta Seaver’s murder.”
“Oh?” Eli was pretty sure his sarcasm was better than Dominick’s. A small victory, but he didn’t like this jerk’s attitude.
“Oh,” Dominick repeated like profanity. “I know that Leon Taggart is in jail for his part in setting up her murder, but he might have a reach beyond prison bars. You might want to look at Leon’s old friend Oscar Cronin.”
The name was familiar to Eli. Very familiar. Oscar owned a pawnshop, and he had an extremely shady past. That past and his friendship with Leon were the reasons Eli had kept tabs on the man. However, Eli hadn’t considered that Oscar would play into this.
“You believe Oscar hired those gunmen on Leon’s behalf?” Eli asked.
Dominick shrugged. “I believe that’s something you should find out since Oscar’s paying regular visits to Leon at the prison.”
“I will find out,” Eli assured him. “And maybe while I’m checking, I’ll ask myself why you just handed me Oscar Cronin on a silver platter. I have a suspicious nature about things like that.” He turned to Ashlyn. “Are you ready to go?”
“She can’t just leave,” Dominick howled. “Not until she’s told me where Cora is.”
Ashlyn proved the man wrong when she walked out the door with Eli. Dominick might have followed them, but Kellan stepped inside the room, blocking Dominick’s way. He then closed the door behind