Bounty Hunter (Classified K-9 Unit) Read online

  “They will.” She paused. “This is an afterthought, but I don’t suppose you got a picture of the guy you saw?”

  “Nope, but his face has been plastered all over the news and that was the guy.”

  “And he shot at you,” she murmured.

  “He did. And kept shooting even after I identified myself with my arms up and my weapon held over my head. Trust me, he wasn’t interested in being helped. The bullets he fired weren’t warning shots. They were way too close for comfort. If he could have killed me, he would have. He wanted me dead.”

  She frowned and exchanged a look of concern with the man on her left. He’d been listening to the exchange and now he nodded and stood. “Guys? Let’s do a quick introduction and get going. You all about ready?”

  A chorus of yeses answered him. One by one, each team member stepped up to introduce himself and his partner. A tall, green-eyed agent with short blond hair held out a hand. “I’m Leo Gallagher.” He gestured to the chocolate Lab at his side. “This is True. Nice to meet you.”

  Riley nodded. Next was the other pretty woman on the team. “Julianne Martinez and Thunder.” The foxhound’s ears twitched at his name and he looked up at her. She patted his head and they followed Leo out the door.

  “Max West.” He was the one who’d stood and told them all to head out. Max was tall with short blond hair and blue eyes. He had a wicked-looking scar on his left cheek and Riley couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. “This is Opal.”

  Riley shook his hand.

  Harper leaned over as Max headed out the door. “Max is the boss,” she whispered. “Everything goes through him.”

  “Right.”

  All of the agents were friendly enough, but the walls were there. Riley didn’t take it personally. He’d been in law enforcement once upon a time so he got it. They didn’t know anything about him. He could be some thrill seeker who got his kicks by calling in false leads and making everyone jump through hoops. He’d have to prove himself, or at least prove he wasn’t mistaken—or lying—about spotting Morrow.

  Another tall, muscular man stepped up and held out a hand. “Ian Slade.” He scratched the ears of the Belgian Malinois at his side. “This is King. Thanks for your help.” He moved on toward the door.

  “And last, but not least, I’m Zeke Morrow and this guy here is Cheetah.” The Australian shepherd was a gorgeous animal. All of the dogs were.

  “Morrow?” Riley asked.

  “Jake’s my brother.”

  “Okay, then. I hope we find him fast.”

  “That makes all of us.” Zeke’s lips flattened and he walked out the door.

  Harper sighed and met Riley’s gaze. “He’s having a hard time.”

  “I’m sure,” Riley murmured.

  “Now that you’ve met the team, we can get going. We’re all ready to find Jake and put this case to bed. Why don’t you ride with me? Star here has her own area in the vehicle.”

  He nodded and followed her out the door to climb into the passenger seat. Star slipped into the back and Harper slid into the driver’s seat. Leo and True walked over. “Is there room for us? There’s no reason to take all the vehicles.”

  “Of course. There’s room for True in there with Star for this ride. It’s not that long a trip according to the GPS.” They climbed in and True settled into the designated area with Star. The custom-designed vehicle came with a climate-controlled spot where the dogs had been trained to ride.

  The other agents and dogs dispersed themselves between two of the other vehicles. Harper cranked the Chevy and pulled out of the hotel parking lot.

  For the next twenty minutes, the three of them made small talk and he learned Harper had graduated from high school and then gone straight into the army. “You didn’t want to make a career of it?”

  “Nope, just wanted my degree in Criminal Justice. As soon as I had that and the loans paid off I got out and applied to the FBI. I had pretty decent grades in high school, but nothing that stood out so the army made sense for me. My dad took off when I was little and my mom found her comfort at the bottom of a bottle and eventually died from alcohol poisoning.” She slid a glance at him. “My options were pretty limited. I just knew I didn’t want to be like either of my parents.”

  “You’re pretty open about all that.”

  She shrugged and smiled. “I’ve come to grips with it. Every once in a while I’ll get asked to do a demonstration at a school and instead of just making it all about the dog, I decided that sharing about my past might help someone make better decisions for their future. Kind of a ‘you might have it bad right now at home, but that doesn’t have to define your future’ thing.”

  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.”

  Harper frowned. “But why?”

  “Maybe he was bored and passing the time. Who knows?”

  Harper squatted next to the doused fire. “Or he was burning something he didn’t want anyone else to see.” She picked up a small stick and separated the ashes. Bits of white paper were noticeable. “A note?”

  “Again...maybe,” Riley responded.

  “Some of the pieces aren’t completely burned and have writing on them.” She glanced up at him. “You might have had him running before he could finish the job.” Using the stick, she managed to flip one of the larger pieces of paper. “Potter,” she said, then gasped. “Hey, this could have something to do with Penny.”

  “Who’s Penny?” Riley asked.

  “The mother of Jake Morrow’s child.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah.” Harper sighed and stood. “We’ve been looking for her and her son, Kevin, because we figure she can lead us to Jake. He was spotted at her home near Billings just a few days ago, but ran when we got there.”

  “Wait a minute, if he was at her house—and here at the national park—then he’s definitely not a captive of the Dupree family. And if he’s not a captive and needs help—because he sure didn’t want mine yesterday—then what’s he doing? Why isn’t he reaching out to you?”

  “We’ve pondered all of that, of course, but we just don’t know.” She had her thoughts, but kept them to herself for now. “He’s not a captive,” Harper said. “That much we do know.” The question was, was he a double agent? As much as she didn’t want to believe it, she couldn’t help but think he might be working for the Duprees. She just couldn’t figure out any other reason for Jake to be acting the way he was.

  Even if he was worried about Penny and needed to find her, all he had to do was ask and they’d all join in the search for her. As a team. But he was working alone and seemed to want to keep it that way.

  “So, like you said, you stay on her trail and let her lead you to Morrow—or in this case, let Morrow come to you if you catch up with Penny first,” Riley mused.

  “That’s the plan.”

  “All right,” Max said. He motioned for the team to gather round. “Let’s get this area processed. We’ll do it ourselves and make sure it’s done right.” They retrieved the necessary supplies from the vehicles, moved in and got busy working on it.

  Harper’s phone buzzed and she pulled it up to look at the screen.

  A message from Dylan. Still working on your request, but this anonymous text just came in and wanted to get it to you straightaway. Forwarding it now.

  She waited. The team had been receiving anonymous texts leading them to various places around the country. The person sending the texts seemed to want to help find Jake. However, remaining anonymous was obviously more important to the sender. And they were very skilled at making sure they stayed that way. Even Dylan hadn’t been able to track the texts.

  The buzz came again. Find Morrow’s toddler and find Jake. That simple.

  She resisted the urge to snort. Right...that simple. If only. Harper pondered the fact that Penny had run when all the trouble with Jake started and they had figured out that the missing agent was most likely looking for her. Only a month ago, they’d gone to Penny’s house and had run into Jake doing the same thing. Only he’d bolted when he saw them. Which made no sense to her.

  So if Jake was in the park, that was a good indication that Penny and her child were here as well. But where? And why Colorado? She glanced back at the pile of ashes then texted Dylan again. See if Penny has any connections h
ere in Colorado, please. Let me know ASAP.

  Sure thing.

  Thanks. So how are the wedding plans progressing? Dylan was madly in love with Zara Fielding. Zara was a former team intern who was currently training at Quantico to become an agent. She was also Dylan’s fiancée.

  Beautifully. Haven’t talked to her in a couple of days so I’m going through withdrawal. If you talk to her, tell her to call me.

  Will do.

  TTYL.

  “Hey guys,” she called, “we’ve gotten another anonymous text.” The others gathered around her and she shared the message.

  “I’d really like to know who’s sending these,” Ian muttered.

  “Dylan will figure it out eventually. Let’s finish up here and see what the lab can come up with.”

  For the next three hours, they worked the scene, but Morrow was obviously long gone and nothing else turned up that she would consider helpful. Finally, Harper sighed and walked over to Max. “I think we’re done here, what do you think?”

  “I think you’re right.” He motioned the others over. When everyone was within hearing distance, he asked, “Anyone else hungry? My breakfast wore off long ago.”

  Chimes of agreement rolled in and Harper looked at Riley. “Any place in town you can recommend?”

  “Of course. The motel opens their restaurant for lunch. Then there’s the Drum Creek Café that serves burgers, fries, shakes and salads. Or if you want something a bit fancier, there’s Twilights right on the edge of town overlooking a small lake.” His eyes held hers. “It’s a great place for a date.”

  Ian had a coughing fit. Max snorted. Harper blinked and heat invaded her cheeks. “I don’t need fancy since I don’t do dates,” she said. “The café works for me. What about you guys?”

  They swallowed their mirth and nodded. Harper could almost see Ian biting holes in his tongue to keep from commenting. She shot him a warning glare. He grinned then turned to help gather their gear and together they hiked back to the vehicles. Riley walked with Max, the two of them talking. Max would fill her in later if it was something she needed to know.