Settling an Old Score - Delores Fossen Page 0,42

to my truck. That won’t work this time, though.”

“No.” Since he could be dangerous. And also since sex should be the last thing on their minds. But Ashlyn wanted to make this moment a little lighter than spelling out those reminders. “Because we’re sensible adults now.”

The corner of his mouth lifted, causing a dimple to flash in his cheek. Yes, a dimple. It was another weapon in the arsenal of Eli Slater, hot cowboy. But the smile didn’t last long.

“Soon, we’re going to have a brief talk about this,” Eli drawled, his voice all smoke and heat. “And then we’ll deal with it. I’ve got some ideas as to how we can do that.”

Now she smiled, and even though she figured it was a mistake, Ashlyn brushed her mouth over his. Again, not a full-fledged kiss, but it could have qualified as foreplay. Short foreplay. They moved away from each other when they heard a familiar voice in the squad room.

Dominick.

Ashlyn whirled around, and the first thing she noticed was that Dominick had seen her in Eli’s arms. She silently groaned. She didn’t especially want to keep her feelings for Eli secret, but she figured it wasn’t going to please Dominick. Of course, nothing would likely please him at this point.

“I see you’ve found a way to keep yourself busy,” Dominick snapped. “And where’s Cora while you’re here with Slater?”

“Cora’s safe,” Ashlyn settled for saying.

With his lawyer right on his heels, Dominick came closer. “I want to see her, to make sure you’re not lying to me.”

“Uh, you’re here for an official interrogation,” Eli interrupted. “Not to visit a baby. So you can just cut the demands. The only rights you have are to remain silent and have your attorney present. That’s it.”

Dominick’s icy gaze cut to Eli. “I’m here because Ashlyn has talked you into harassing me. What the hell do you want this time?”

Eli stepped out and used his fingers to motion for Dominick to follow him, but Eli made sure that he was between Dominick and her. On the way to the interview, he recited Dominick his rights. That only added more steel and ice to Dominick’s expression.

“You’ll have to wait in the observation room,” Eli whispered to her. “I need to keep this official.”

She nodded, though she would have preferred to confront Dominick face-to-face. Still, she’d be able to see him and gauge his reaction. It was obvious he was more upset now than he had been during his other visit.

So was she, Ashlyn realized.

Dominick’s demand to see Cora had cut her to the bone. And also riled her. If he truly was so interested in the baby’s safety, then why would he insist on seeing her at a time like this? She’d already known Dominick was pigheaded and used to getting his way, but he had also claimed to love Cora. If that was true, he sure wasn’t putting his granddaughter first.

Ashlyn flipped the switch to get the audio, and she listened while Eli worked his way through some preliminary questions. Dominick didn’t hesitate when questioned about his alibi during the time of the latest attack. He said he was in a meeting with four other people. She didn’t doubt it, either. If he was behind this, then he would have made sure of a strong alibi.

“Tell me about your secret bank account,” Eli threw out there the moment Dominick had answered the previous question.

Dominick visibly stiffened, opened his mouth. Probably to claim there was no such account. But then he stopped and had a short whispered conversation with his lawyer.

“It’s not a secret,” Dominick said when he faced Eli again. “It’s an account I’d set up so I’d have funds to buy my wife gifts and such. That way, whatever I bought her would be a surprise. After she died, I didn’t close it. Sentimental reasons,” he added with a smirk.

“Sentimental reasons,” Eli repeated. No smirk, but he sounded plenty skeptical. “The account had a lot of layers of security on it for something that’s supposed to be legal and aboveboard.”

Dominick calmly lifted his shoulder. “My late wife was very good at snooping.”

“Yeah.” Eli’s skepticism went up a notch, but Ashlyn knew that with the woman dead it wasn’t something they could prove. “Do you use the account for things other than surprise gifts?”

Now a faint smile crossed Dominick’s lips. “Yes. Recently, I withdrew funds to do some remodeling at my house.”

“Really?” Eli challenged. “You used cash for that?”

“Yes. I thought it’d make things