Lynette Eason - Bounty Hunter

Riley found himself fascinated by Harper after that short snippet. Fascinated and wanting to know more about her. Which made him leery. He’d just met her so why did she hold such attraction for him? “Where’d you grow up?” he asked before he could bite his tongue on the question.

“In San Diego.”

“Any brothers and sisters?”

“No, I’m an only child.” Her lips twisted. “I was kind of sad about it when I was younger, but all things considered, it was better that way.” She shot him a glance. “What about you?”

His heart aching, he cleared his throat. “I had a sister. She was killed two months ago by Van Blackman, the guy I’m chasing.”

She snapped her head around to look at him then jerked her gaze back to the road. He heard Leo let out a slow breath in the backseat.

“I’m sorry,” Harper said softly.

Leo reached forward and patted him on the shoulder. “I am, too.”

“Thanks. She’s the reason I’m in Drum Creek. I’m originally from Denver, but I got word that my sister’s killer was spotted around this vicinity so headed over the night before last. I thought I saw Van coming out of the general store and followed him. Turned out to be your guy. He looks real similar to Jake Morrow—big build, a few inches over six feet, same hair color...” He shrugged. “Dress them in practically identical clothing and they could almost pass for twins.”

“You left out some of the story last night.”

He shrugged. “The parts I left out weren’t important at the time.” He pointed. “Turn here.”

She did and followed the dirt path around the lake and to a small area where he directed her to park. “This is where I parked the other day or I would have been able to follow him out of the park. I’m familiar with this area so knew he wasn’t going far once he got past that boulder up there. Unfortunately, he drove and was able to get away.” The trees swayed in the summer breeze and right now, the area looked like something one would see on a postcard. Harper shut off the engine and the others behind her did the same.

Once they were all out of the vehicles, they let the dogs take care of business then Harper pulled a baseball cap from a plastic bag and held it in front of Star’s nose. The dog got a good whiff and Harper replaced the hat in the bag then turned to Riley. “I see what you mean about not searching at night. The terrain is rugged. It would be pitch-black at night. Even with large lights and other equipment brought in to help with the search, there’d be no guarantee you wouldn’t miss something.”

“Exactly.”

“All right, lead the way.”

Riley made his way down the trail he’d followed Morrow on yesterday just before lunch. The others fell into step behind him, fanning out, letting their animals sniff and search along the way.

Riley finally reached the area where he’d seen Morrow. “Tell the others to stay back. You don’t want to compromise the scene.”

She lifted a brow but turned and did as he asked. The others stopped.

“Sorry,” he said. “I guess you know how to work a scene.”

“We do.”

She opened the bag and held the hat out to her shepherd again. After she got a whiff, the dog stepped forward, nose to the ground, then in the air. Star went a little ways then sat and gave a low bark right next to the remains of the small campfire. She seemed almost disappointed that it had been so easy and not a challenge to her superior skills.

Special Agent Harper Prentiss turned those electric blue eyes on him. “Well, well, what do you know?” She turned to the others. “He was here.”

“Good,” Riley said. “Because I really need that reward money.”

Harper blinked in surprise, but didn’t pursue the matter. “Okay. Well then, I guess we’ll have to see that you get it. Hopefully, between the seven of us, we’ll pinpoint Jake’s location before nightfall. And you’ll get your reward money.”

Riley grimaced. He’d sounded very greedy but he’d have to explain his reasons for his desperation later. He grasped her arm in a gentle grip. “I don’t mind staying with you and helping guide you in this area, but you need to know something.”

“What?”

“Your danger level is going to skyrocket if you hang around me.”

“Because...?”

“Van Blackman’s not only my sister’s killer, he’s vowed to kill me, too.”

TWO

Harper’s eyes widened. “Why is he gunning for you?”

“Blackman knows I won’t rest until he’s either in prison or dead. And he knows I’m the one that’s most determined to see that one of those two things happen. He’s just as insistent that they won’t. He sent me a note saying that if I continued to come after him, he’d see me dead, but if I let him go, he’d disappear and I’d never hear from him again.”

“I see. And you can’t let him go.”

“That’s not even on the radar. And not just because he killed my sister and shot my nephew, although that’s a huge part of it.”

“What’s the other part?” she asked.

Riley’s jaw clenched and his brown eyes flashed. “He’ll do it again if he isn’t stopped.”

“Yeah.” She drew in a breath. “All right, thanks for the warning. I’ll talk to Max, but I have a feeling he’ll say that we’ll take our chances. You know this area and we need someone that can help guide us.” She paused. “Why is he hanging around here? Why doesn’t he just leave?”

Riley shook his head. “Believe me, I’ve asked myself that same question. He has a vehicle, but I’m not sure how much money he has. The only thing I can figure is that he knows Denver and the park like the back of his hand. He’s comfortable here. He also knows that if he leaves, I’ll be right behind him. I think he’s tired of running and just wants to see me dead so he can get on with his life.”

She nodded slowly. “Makes sense.”

“Yeah. It actually makes things easier for me, believe it or not.” He turned to walk toward Ian and she frowned while she stared at the bounty hunter’s broad back. His blunt statement that he needed the reward money bothered her. Sure, a hundred grand was a lot of money, a fortune for some people. But still...

Disappointment streaked through her. She didn’t know why she expected Riley to be different. But she did. What was it that made her want to hold him to a higher standard? She shook her head.

Then wariness flowed through her as another thought surfaced. Could this be some sort of a setup? A distraction from what they needed to be focused on? According to Star, Jake had definitely been in the area—and recently. But what if Riley was working with Morrow? Could he be a part of the Dupree crime family himself? She pulled her phone from the clip on her belt and sent a text to Dylan O’Leary: Background on Riley Martelli needed ASAP. Dylan was the unit’s technical guru. Based in Billings, Montana, he kept the unit running smoothly. He could do anything with a computer and find just about any information needed.

She discreetly snapped a picture of Riley while he was talking with Ian then sent that to Dylan as well.

On it.

She smiled at his immediate response and knew she’d have everything she needed before too long. She turned her attention back to Riley. He was looking her way and motioned her over.

Harper clipped her phone back to her belt and went to see what they’d found. Star stayed at her side.

“Where are we?”

Ian nodded to a small area on the ground. “Someone built a fire here and Star says it was Jake.”

“He was camping out here.” It wasn’t a question.

“Maybe, but when I followed him to this spot, he didn’t have any kind of camping gear set up,” Riley replied. “He simply started a fire.”