Lynette Eason: Bounty Hunter

ON A KILLER’S TRAIL

While on a mission to bring his sister’s killer to justice, bounty hunter Riley Martelli spots a missing FBI agent in a Colorado national park. When he calls in the tip, he’s joined in his search by Special Agent Harper Prentiss. Harper, aided by her faithful German shepherd, is determined to locate the missing agent...without falling for the charms of the handsome bounty hunter. Working together is the best option to find their targets, but it also doubles the danger they’re in. With a killer looming large, poised to end their search for good, can Riley and Harper unite to find both men without becoming the next victims?

“I’ll do my best to help find your sister’s killer.”

He studied her then looked away for a brief moment while he considered the idea. All of her resources at his disposal. That would be a huge help. He nodded and captured her gaze with his.

“All right,” he said and held out his hand, “if your boss agrees, I’m willing to go with that.”

She shook his hand and the feel of her soft fingers within his grasp made him wonder if his heart would survive the deal.

Riley looked up from Harper’s pretty eyes. If he stared into them for too long, she muddled his thoughts.

His eyes landed on a figure near the door and he froze for half a second then leaped to his feet.

* * *

CLASSIFIED K-9 UNIT:

These lawmen solve the toughest cases with the help of their brave canine partners

Guardian—Terri Reed, April 2017

Sheriff—Laura Scott, May 2017

Special Agent—Valerie Hansen, June 2017

Bounty Hunter—Lynette Eason, July 2017

Bodyguard—Shirlee McCoy, August 2017

Tracker—Lenora Worth, September 2017

Classified K-9 Unit Christmas—Terri Reed and Lenora Worth, December 2017

Dear Reader,

Thank you so much for joining me on Riley and Harper’s journey to catch the bad guys and find true love. Riley had a hard time with his sister’s murder (who wouldn’t?) and Harper had grown up in a tough situation. But she’d made peace with it and now trusted God to lead her. Riley was mad at God about the whole situation, but gradually sees that while on this earth, people with free will are going to make bad choices that affect other people’s lives in ways that irrevocably change them...and not always for the better. He decided he didn’t want Van to “win” and was able to move past the bitterness and anger in order to find peace and joy and a new life with Harper and Asher. I pray if there’s bitterness and anger in your life, you can find the same joy and peace, a life filled with God’s blessings and goodness. I hope you’ll look for the other books in this series. They’re all written by different, talented authors! Books 5 and 6 release after this one so be sure to tune in to find out what happens to Jake and Penny Potter! I love to hear from readers. Find me on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/lynette.easonor Twitter at @lynetteeason. My website is www.lynetteeason.com, where you can learn more about me and my books!

Blessings to you,

LYNETTE EASONis a bestselling, award-winning author who makes her home in South Carolina with her husband and two teenage children. She enjoys traveling, spending time with her family and teaching at various writing conferences around the country. She is a member of RWA (Romance Writers of America) and ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). Lynette can often be found online interacting with her readers. You can find her at Facebook.com/lynette.easonand on Twitter, @lynetteeason.

Bounty Hunter

Lynette Eason

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

—Romans 12:19

Dedicated to all of the K-9 officers, two-legged and four, who put their lives on the line on a daily basis.

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

Dear Reader

About the Author

Title Page

Bible Verse

Dedication

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

NINE

TEN

ELEVEN

TWELVE

THIRTEEN

FOURTEEN

FIFTEEN

SIXTEEN

Extract

Copyright

ONE

A simple twitch of his finger and his sister’s killer would be gone. His two-month quest to find Van Blackman would be over. Riley Martelli took one more long look at the man in his sights then lowered the weapon.

But he could never kill someone in cold blood. Not even the man who’d murdered his sister and put his six-year-old nephew, Asher, in the hospital with a bullet lodged near his spine.

Being a bounty hunter could be a dangerous line of work. Sometimes more dangerous than his days of being a beat cop.

It definitely had its ups and downs. Bringing in fugitives topped his list of things that made life worth living. But the stakes had never been higher. He just had to figure out how to capture Blackman without getting killed.

In the last year since changing professions, he’d been through some tough times and barely escaped with his life.

And yet none of that had dampened his determination to bring those fleeing the law to justice.

Especially this one. This one was personal.

Which was why he now found himself outside the small town of Drum Creek, Colorado, just as the sun was getting ready to go down. With little daylight left, Riley needed to quickly figure out how to approach the man and safely bring him in.

Van knelt, but Riley couldn’t see what he was doing. Soon, small puffs of smoke drifted from the patch of ground. Was he building a fire? Did that mean he was planning to stay for a while?

Riley settled the gun back on his shoulder and got a better look with the scope. Van crouched over the small flame, pushing the contents as though trying to encourage a larger blaze. Riley lowered the weapon.

Now, in a very secluded area of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park, Van moved to stand next to a black SUV just a few yards ahead of him. Grand Lake was calm and serene behind him. A sense of peace and satisfaction flooded Riley even as his adrenaline spiked. It might be July in Colorado, but it was cold at night, dropping into the forties. Van wore a black ski cap pulled low over his ears, but his tall height and broad shoulders were harder to disguise. Riley’s heart pounded. Finally, he was going to make his sister’s killer pay. He shifted the rifle on his shoulder for one more look through the scope. He scanned his prey’s body, watched the way he held his hands. His target kept touching his hip, which meant he probably had a gun there.

The man turned and Riley now had a full-on view of his face—and his heart stuttered.

It wasn’t Van Blackman.