Bounty Hunter (Classified K-9 Unit)

by Lynette Eason

  And someone was lurking outside her door.

  She slipped to the window and moved the curtain enough so she could see outside.

  Nothing was visible in her line of sight. She wrapped her fingers tighter around the butt of her weapon and stood to the side of the door.

  Her phone buzzed on the nightstand and she jerked, her heart pounding in her chest.

  Star lunged at the door and barked. Harper spun back to pay attention. Someone was out there. But who? She strode to the end table, grabbed her phone, then sent both Ian and Riley a group text: Someone’s at my door. Can you see who it is?

  Looking now, came Riley’s response.

  Don’t see anything, Ian’s text read. Coming out of my room now.

  Got my door open and don’t see anything, Riley said.

  Harper snapped Star’s leash on her collar and, using the hem of her shirt, slowly opened the door. She pointed to the knob. “Find, girl.” The German shepherd sniffed the area Harper indicated then bolted from the room. Harper kept a tight grip on the leash, stepped out and shut the door behind her.

  Ian and Riley were already there.

  “Nothing here,” Ian said. He held the leash to King, the energetic Malinois. The dog was ready to work.

  Star pulled at the leash, too. “Star says differently.” She and Ian let the dogs have their lead. Harper, with Ian right beside her, followed the animals along the edge of the building, passing room after room. The men trailed behind her and she knew they had her back.

  Star came to the end of the building and rounded the corner. Harper went more cautiously, gripping the leash with her left hand and her weapon with her right. She glanced at Ian and he nodded. Star whined and headed for the bushes across the parking lot. King joined her. A man shot out from behind them.

  “Federal agent! Stop!”

  Ian gave the same command.

  The fleeing figure, dressed in jeans and a short-sleeved black shirt, ignored them both and darted toward a dark pickup truck parked at the edge of the hotel asphalt lot. Star and King gave chase, but he threw himself behind the wheel and the engine roared to life.

  Riley raced past her and reached for the passenger side door handle. The truck swerved, throwing him sideways. He lost his grip, hit the ground with a grunt and rolled. Ian flew past, chasing the truck.

  “Riley!” Harper hurried to him. He drew himself up on all fours and shook his head. “Are you all right?” she gasped.

  “Yes. I’m fine.” He got to his feet and winced.

  “Did you get the plate?” Harper asked.

  “I got part of it, but I don’t need it.”

  Ian jogged over to them. “I got it.” He pulled his phone from the clip on his belt and tapped a message. “Sent it to Dylan. We’ll know something soon enough.”

  “I know who it is,” Riley said. He bolted for his truck. Harper ran after him.

  “Who is it?”

  “Van Blackman.” He yanked open the door and threw himself into the driver’s seat.

  Harper ran around to the other side and jumped into the passenger seat. Star leaped up and settled herself in the middle as Riley was backing out of the parking spot.

  “How do you know it was Blackman?” she asked. “It looked like Jake to me.”

  “And I’m telling you, they look very similar.” He pulled out of the parking lot with a squeal of rubber on asphalt. Harper looked back to see two black SUVs in pursuit as well. Her teammates weren’t convinced it wasn’t Jake, either.

  “Open the glove box and pull out the picture there.”

  She did. A man and a woman, who had to be his sister, and a young boy about four years old grinned at her.

  “See the guy on the left holding Asher?”

  “Oh. Yeah. Wow, there really is a resemblance.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So how do you know the guy in the truck is Blackman and not Morrow?” she asked.

  “I saw his eyes. Their eyes are different colors. Van’s are green. The guy I spotted in the park had blue eyes. Very blue eyes.”

  “That sounds like Jake for sure.” She’d been the recipient of his blue-eyed laser stare more than she cared to remember.

  He drove with precision, knuckles white on the wheel, eyes scanning.

  “Do you see him?” she asked.

  “No. I’m just going in the direction he went.” Riley slapped the wheel. “I wasn’t fast enough.”

  “Keep driving and looking. We need a chopper,” she muttered. “Should have brought one in and held on to it for times like this.” She made a mental note to suggest it to Max when they got back.

  Riley drove another few miles then sighed. A sound filled with defeat. “I guess he’s gone.”

  “Looks like it. I’m sorry.” Her heart broke for him. He was working so hard to find his sister’s killer and each time it looked like he might succeed, he got slapped down. He made a three-point turn and headed back to the motel. Harper noted that the others passed them. “They’re going to keep searching.”

  “Good, I hope they find him.”

  “He’ll show up again when he’s ready.”

  He fell silent and Harper let him have the moments with his thoughts. When he pulled back into the parking lot of the motel, they climbed out of his truck and Ian jogged over to them. “Julianne and Zeke are still chasing him. They’ll be in touch if they find him.”

  Harper nodded and Ian looked at Riley. “You’re positive that it was Blackman and not Morrow?”

  Riley shot him a dark look. “I’m sure. He’s following us...me.”

  “But why would he try to get in my room?” Harper asked.

  Ian tucked his weapon away. “Might have just gotten the wrong room. After all, you guys are right next to each other.”

  “Maybe.”

  Ian shrugged. “Or he thought you had something that he needed.”

  “Like what?”

  “I don’t know but hopefully we’ll find out once we catch up with him again,” Riley said. His gaze was locked on the direction in which the man had fled. “He’s headed toward the park,” he murmured.

  “Could be,” Harper said.

  “He’s hiding out there.”

  “Along with Jake Morrow.”

  Riley nodded. “We’ll find them.”

  She walked back to her room to shut the door and noticed a piece of paper just inside on the floor. A piece of tape held it faceup. She started to pick it up and stopped. She walked over and grabbed a pair of gloves from her bag and slid them on. Then she went back to the piece of paper and lifted it up. Martelli is a walking dead man. Stay away from him if you don’t want to end up like his sister.

  Her heart thudded.

  “What is it?” Riley asked from behind her.

  She held it up and let him read it. “Looks like you were right,” she said. “It was Blackman. It also looks like he doesn’t like us hanging out together.” She held the letter by the edge. “Threatening a federal agent. Wow, this guy wants his grave dug deeper than six feet, doesn’t he?”

  Riley’s jaw tightened and for a moment she thought she heard his molars grinding. He took a deep breath. “Well, that explains why he was at your door.” He gave her a tight smile. “But this is rather encouraging in a weird sort of way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He thinks we’re after him.” She lifted a brow and he went on. “He doesn’t know you’re really here because of Jake Morrow,” he explained. “Blackman thinks you’re here for him.” He gave a low laugh. “Oh, this is perfect. He thinks we’re working together to catch him—and it worries him. I like that.” His smile slipped into a frown as he stared at the note. “I don’t like this, though.”

  She nodded. “Sounds reasonable.”

  He planted his hands on his hips and shook his head. “This was stupid on his part. Hopefully stupid will eventually trip him up.”

  “It usually does. We just need to give him a little time to get careless.”<
br />
  “Yes. So what are you going to do with the note?”

  “Send it to Dylan.” She smiled. “He’s one of ours back in Billings and can find out just about anything and everything, but even I don’t think he’ll get anything off of this. Then again, you never know. There’s a piece of tape that was probably supposed to hold it on the door. Maybe there’ll be a print on that.” She walked into her room while Riley waited in the open door. From her black carry-on, she pulled an evidence bag and slipped the note inside. Once sealed, she placed it on the desk.

  Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen. “It’s Dylan.” She lifted the device to her ear. “What are you doing there so late?”

  “You know me. I never sleep until my work is done.” He kept his voice light, but she heard something beneath. “What do you have for me?”

  “I’ve got something off of those scraps of paper you sent in. Well, the lab got something. I volunteered to call and fill you in.”

  “Great. What is it?”

  “The last name Potter was obvious.”

  “Right. We’re going on the assumption it’s Penny.”

  “Your assumption would be correct. Looks like the rest of it is an address. I ran what I could make out through the system and it came back with several possibilities, but there was one that caught my attention. It’s an address that belongs to an old ski chalet that’s not too far from Drum Creek.”

  “Give me the address.”

  He did and she typed it into her phone. “Thanks, we’ll head that way as soon as I round up the team.”

  “Hope it pans out.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I got Ian’s license plate number. Should have something on that in the next little while.”

  “Excellent. Even though we know who was driving, maybe the plate will lead us to him. I’m also sending you a note that I found in my room.” She filled him in on their early morning adventure. “See if the lab can pull any prints if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course. I’ll be looking for it.”

  “And I’ll be looking forward to hearing from you.” She hesitated. “Hey...did Zara contact you?”

  “Nope. But I’m sure she’s fine. I hope anyway.”

  There it was again. That odd note in his voice she’d heard when she first answered.

  “What does that mean? You hope?”

  He sighed. “Just that I still haven’t heard from her. I’m getting a little worried.”

  “Not calling or being in contact doesn’t sound like her.”

  “It’s not.”

  “Let me know if you don’t hear something soon and I’ll see what I can find out,” she said.

  “Great. I’ll give her a couple of more days. I know things are pretty intense at Quantico right now.”

  “She’ll call or text when she can.”

  “I know. Thanks, Harper.”

  “Anytime.” She hung up and sent a group text to the others, asking them to gather in the lobby of the hotel in fifteen minutes.

  Once they’d assembled, Max gave her a nod and Harper brought everyone up to date on the incident in the parking lot. She also gave them the address Dylan had provided. Max motioned for her to continue taking the lead. “We think Penny Potter could be staying there. If she is, then Jake’s probably not far behind. Evidence and that anonymous text lends support to that theory. He could even be with her right now.”

  Julianne leaned forward. “Come on, Max, tell us what you think about Jake. You really think he’d turn traitor?”

  Max rubbed his eyes. “We’ve talked about this, discussed it until we’re blue in the face and I still don’t know the answer. I’m in contact on a daily basis with the director and he’s as concerned as we are about Jake. Unfortunately, at the present time, we just don’t know what’s going on with him.” He exhaled roughly. “I don’t want to believe the worst, but the fact that he shot at Riley who wanted to help him doesn’t bode well in his favor.”

  No, it doesn’t, Harper thought.

  Their team captain cleared his throat. “Plus, Jake’s been seen all over the country so we know he’s not in Dupree’s clutches, and yet he hasn’t reported in to let anyone know he’s safe. He also seems to be tracking Penny. I’m going to assume it’s because she has his child—which I can understand, but to not call us for help? Something definitely isn’t adding up. It goes against everything I want to believe, but it’s certainly possible that Jake is a double agent. For now,” he said slowly, “I think we need to treat Jake like he’s acting—a criminal on the run.”

  Frowns appeared on the agents’ faces and Max held up a hand before the protests could start. “I don’t like it, either, but I’m telling you, be careful if he contacts you. Don’t trust him. Until he can explain his actions, he’s an agent gone bad and wanted by the FBI. But that’s classified. The press will keep airing the cover story we’ve released to them. In the meantime, keep these suspicions under your hat.”

  Silence fell over the group and Harper’s emotions stepped onto the roller coaster. As hard as it was to admit, she’d already come to the conclusion that Jake was a bad agent herself. “We need a chopper out here, Max. That’s a lot of territory to cover and I think we need air support that can be at our fingertips in a moment’s notice.”

  He nodded. “I’ve already thought of that. One is on standby about ten minutes away at an old private airstrip.”

  “Good. The next thing on our list should be finding Penny—and fast,” she said. “For her sake.”

  The others nodded. She saw Riley rub a hand across his eyes.

  Harper drew in a breath and let it out slowly. “Which means our next stop is the address I just gave you. Dylan got the results from the lab and sent me the address from the charred piece of paper. I looked it up on Google Maps—it’s an old ski chalet not too far from here. We need to be smart and careful, there’s a child involved here. Everyone ready?”

  “Ready.”

  “All in.”

  “Let’s find her.”

  Harper nodded. “Follow me.”

  FIVE

  Riley waited until the others filed out with their dogs then touched Harper’s shoulder to get her attention. Her tension translated itself into the rock-hard muscle beneath his palm. “I’m going, too.”

  “I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

  “I won’t get in the way, but I want to be there. Jake’s my nephew’s ticket to surgery. I know it sounds bloodthirsty and I don’t mean it that way, but I just—”

  “You’re already getting credit for the tip, Riley. Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m coming.”

  Harper frowned. They were the last ones left in the lobby. “You’re just going to follow me if I say no, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged.

  She sighed. “Fine, but if you get in the way, I’ll throw you in jail, understood?”

  “Understood.”

  Harper settled Star into her spot in the vehicle and the dog quivered with the excitement of going to work. Riley could tell the canine was born for this kind of work. Harper climbed into the driver’s seat as Riley finished buckling his seat belt.

  They pulled out of the parking lot, staying behind one of the other agents. The powerful SUVs didn’t have any trouble on the winding mountainous roads that took them back to Rocky Mountain National Park so it didn’t take long to reach the ski chalet.

  Riley wasn’t as familiar with this area as he was with the place where he’d spotted Jake so he took in the surroundings with interest. Harper parked a good distance away, but he could see the house perched on the side of the mountain. It looked like one could simply walk out the back door and ski down the slope. Nice. “No cars out front, but there’s a detached garage.”

  “We’ll check it out.” She turned to him. “Stay put. Please.”

  He nodded. “I promise.”

  Harper studied him for a moment and he wondered what she was thinking. Then she blink
ed and turned to let Star out. The dog jumped to the ground and sat, her eyes on Harper, tail wagging. “Just a minute, girl. Stay.”

  Ian and King approached as well as Max and Opal. “We don’t need to go in too fast,” Max told them. “If Jake’s in there with Penny and the child, we need to approach with caution.”

  “I agree,” Harper said. Riley silently added his agreement.

  “Harper, you and I and the dogs will take the front. Ian, you and King take the back. Check the garage and let us know what you see. Let the others know we’ll signal if we need help and to go ahead and put their earpieces in.”

  “You got it,” Ian said.

  Ian and King turned away to go tell the others and Max looked at Harper. “Let’s give them a minute to get ready.”

  Max waited about sixty seconds then asked, “Everybody hear me? You got your earpieces on?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  They listened another second then their boss’s lips thinned and he drew in a breath. “That’s everyone. Ian, what do you see with the garage?”

  “No vehicles in sight. No people, either.”

  “All right. Are you ready?” he asked Harper.

  “More than.”

  Max nodded and turned to lead the way. Riley settled back into the seat to watch and wait. He itched to be there with them, but it wasn’t his place. Not this time. It might kill him, but he’d be patient and let them do their job.

  * * *

  Harper and Max approached the home with weapons ready. The dogs padded alongside them, noses twitching, ears alert to any command that might be uttered. Star alternated sniffing the ground and the air. King did the same. Max stopped at the front porch and Harper followed his lead. “Ian?”

  “It’s clear back here,” he responded, his voice sounding like he was standing right next to her. “And the door is cracked. Looks like someone left in a hurry.”

  Max reached out a gloved hand and tried the door. “Front door is locked. Harper’s coming around to back you up as you enter. I’ll stay here in case someone decides to come out this way.”