all over the news. You didn’t see it?”
“I’m not from around here. Can you fill me in?”
He hesitated and shrugged. “I can tell you what was on the news. Asher caught two bullets when a stalker went after his mother.”
Harper gasped. “That’s horrible.” Even though she’d seen a lot of awful in her line of work, she would never become numb to murder.
He nodded. “Charlotte, Asher’s mother, died almost instantly with a bullet that went through her heart. Asher pulled through. One of the bullets is lodged very near his spine and he needs some pretty tricky surgery to remove it. The one that went through his shoulder did some damage, but nothing major.”
“But he’ll be all right?”
“He’s already pretty well recovered from that one. Until we can get the bullet from his back, though, he won’t be able to walk. And yes, all of that was on the news—well, on television in a press conference, I guess you would say. After Charlotte was killed, her mother went on television and told the story. She then begged people to be on the lookout for Van Blackman and to call the police if he was spotted.”
“Did it help? Her plea?”
The doctor shrugged. “They got some leads but nothing that panned out.” His nostrils flared. “And so he’s walking around a free man while that little boy now has no mother and can’t get out of that bed.” His eyes flashed in fury at the injustice and Harper tried to process the words and push aside her shock.
“When is he supposed to have the surgery?” she asked.
“We’ve been waiting for him to heal enough to handle it. When he first got here, we didn’t think he was going to make it, but he’s pulled through like a champ.” He smiled proudly. “In fact, that’s his new nickname around here. Champ. We’re still waiting to see when we can schedule the surgery.”
“Doctor? Special Agent Prentiss?”
She froze and grimaced. Busted. She turned to find Riley staring at her. “I told you to call me Harper.”
He raised a brow. “Harper. What are you doing here?”
She opened her mouth then shut it. What could she say?
His hands went to his hips and he frowned. “Did you follow me?”
“Yes.”
“But...why?”
Harper glanced at the doctor who looked decidedly uncomfortable. She offered him a small smile. “Thank you.”
“Sure.” He escaped quickly.
Harper looked back at the glowering Riley. “I don’t blame you for being mad. I just had to make sure you weren’t meeting with Jake Morrow.”
“Meeting with Ja—” He ran a hand through his reddish blond hair. “Why would I be meeting with the man who shot at me?”
He was either truly confused or an Oscar worthy performer. “I don’t want to take you away from your nephew, but is there somewhere we can go to talk? When you’re finished?” Her phone buzzed but she ignored it for the moment.
He stared at her a moment longer then shrugged. “Let me tell my mother and Asher what I’m doing. We can go down to the cafeteria and get a sandwich. I’m starving.”
“Sure.”
He started to walk away then turned back. “Hey, do you have Star with you?”
“Yes. She’s in the car. Why?” She’d wanted to remain inconspicuous. Walking in with Star would have made her stand out like a sore thumb. The dog was fine in the temperature-controlled area of the vehicle.
“I’ll tell you in a minute.”
He was gone all of thirty seconds before he returned. “I was going to ask you to bring Star up to see Asher, but he’s sleeping deeply. I don’t want to disturb him.”
“I’m happy to bring Star to see him. Just let me know when.” They walked to the elevator. “So the doctor told me a little bit about what happened. He said Asher is your nephew.”
“Yes.”
“And Van Blackman, the man you mentioned, killed your sister. He shot your nephew, too.” The doctor had given her the information, but she wanted to hear it from Riley. Guilt pierced her. She remembered him trying to tell her why he wanted the reward money and she’d cut him off.
“Yes. He stalked her for months before he finally snapped and opened fire on them in the grocery store parking lot. She died and I now have custody of Asher.”
“I’m so sorry.”
He nodded and a muscle ticked in his jaw. “I am, too.”
Harper bit her lip. “Asher’s why you need the money, isn’t he?”
“Yeah. The medical bills are piling up. The insurance plan my sister had wasn’t a very good one and Asher needs surgery. Extensive, expensive surgery. We’ve had a few people donate to a fund that was set up, but that money’s running out and it’s getting harder and harder to pay the bills.”
Her heart went out to him. How awful.
Harper’s phone rang again and this time she pulled it from the clip on her belt. “Excuse me. Why don’t you get in line and get your food? Go ahead and eat if I’m not back in time.”
“You want anything? You didn’t have time to eat if you followed me here.”
“Get me whatever you’re having. I’m not picky.”
“Chicken salad?”
“Sure, and don’t wait on me to eat. I never know how long I’ll be when I get on the phone with Dylan.” She hit the button to answer the phone before it could go to voice mail. “Prentiss here.”
“Harper, this is Dylan.”
“What do you have?”
“Your guy, Riley Martelli, is clean. I couldn’t come up with anything that connected him with Jake Morrow or anyone else that would throw up red flags. He was actually a cop for several years before he became a bounty hunter.”
“What? He never mentioned that.” She cut her eyes to him as he stood at the counter placing his order. Yeah, she could see him in some form of law enforcement. He had that aura about him.
“Yep. A decorated officer, too.”
“Why’d he quit?”
“I don’t know. There’s nothing in his record to indicate what made him change careers. Whatever the reason, he’s still catching the bad guys and putting them away. I did find out that his sister was murdered—”
“I know that part. He told me.”
“He
