Page 46 of Playing For Keeps
“Sounds good.” She gets to her feet, pulling her phone out of her jeans pocket.
She types something as she leaves the restaurant. I find our waitress and get Melanie’s meal.
If we can get more people involved in searching for Dori, the better chance we have of finding her. I want to hit myself for not thinking about doing something like this earlier.
I join Melanie by the elevators, handing her a to-go box. “We should ask Aiden if there’s any reason we shouldn’t do this.”
She takes the food out of my hands as the doors open. We step in.
She makes room for me. “I can’t think of a reason we wouldn’t do this, but you’re right. There could be a drawback to doing something that brings attention to the situation.”
We ascend to Hunter’s floor and go to his place. I pace back and forth as we wait for him to let us in.
He opens the door, showing us in. “Any word?”
“No, but Melanie has a great idea.” I wait for Melanie to go in first. “Where’s Aiden?”
“He’s in the kitchen with Jonah.” Hunter glances at Mel. “He’ll be better behaved.”
Mel nods and turns the corner from the foyer, heading in the direction of the kitchen. “That’s good to hear.”
Hunter faces me as we stride behind Mel. “What’s this about?”
“Melanie had an idea of getting the media involved. She thinks she can get some of her contacts to spread the story around online. If anyone has any information, they could help tremendously.” I fix my gaze on Aiden as soon as he comes into view.
He narrows his eyes on us. “What was that?”
Melanie answers. “I think we should contact the news stations and get the word out about Dori’s disappearance?—”
“No. That’s not a good idea. If Hunter’s mom thinks we’re getting close, she could hand Dori over.” Aiden folds his arms over his chest. His wary gaze slides between Hunter and Jonah.
Hunter addresses Jonah. “What’s your thought about what our mother would do?”
Jonah shakes his head. “Your guess is as good as mine.”
I slide onto a stool and lock eyes with Aiden. “What’s thereason the FBI wouldn’t already have something like that in place?”
Aiden shifts his weight from side to side. “My guess is they don’t want Hunter’s mom to know we’ve alerted anyone about Dori’s abduction.”
“Now that I think about it, my mother warned me not to get the FBI involved, so I’m inclined to agree with Aiden.” Hunter leans against the back counter, resting his palms on the top behind him. “While you were gone, she called Aiden.”
“And?” Right as I say it, my phone beeps with an incoming message.
I pull it out of my pocket and read the text. My pulse spikes.
CHAPTER 12
DORI
Heavy footsteps filterin from outside of my room.
The curtains shift, and Mort comes into view with a vile smile lifting his lips. “It seems your brother won’t help, so you’re all mine.”
My stomach squeezes in terror. “My brother would do anything to help me out of here.”
Is Aiden so angry with me he would leave me out to dry like this?
“That’s not the message I received.” Mort’s gaze travels over me. “I guess he wants to play hardball and thinks he can negotiate.”
