“Is that your real name? Harper Jeremiah?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I was just curious. I love your last name. And Harper? After Harper Lee?”

She nodded. “My grandmother was so taken by the book that she named my mother Harper Lee Monroe. Everyone calls her Lee though. Technically, I guess I was named after my mother and not the author.” Harper glanced at her. “My grandmother wanted to name me Scout.”

Dani laughed. “That would have been precious.” She tilted her head. “I was told you were hard to get along with. In fact, your lieutenant said that I might be begging for a change after today.”

“Yeah. And?”

She shrugged. “I don’t see it.”

Harper looked at her quickly. “Well, you just met me. I guess I need to try harder, huh?”

A car pulled up so close to them that Dani could have reached out and touched it had her window been down. She turned, looking at the driver. She gasped when all she saw was a clown face…an evil, creepy clown face that stared back at her. She screamed as something was thrown at her window, splashing it with a red, gooey substance, then the car sped off, turning down a side street and disappearing into traffic.

“What the hell was that?” Harper demanded as she pulled over to the curb and stopped.

Dani was shaking when she turned to look at her. “I…I guess I should have told you. I kinda have a…well…a stalker. That might have been him.”

Chapter Five

Harper stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the mess on the side of her unmarked police car. She then turned to Danielle Stevens who was standing beside her, staring at the red goo as well.

“A stalker?”

Dani nodded without looking at her.

“Are you kidding me?”

Dani turned to her then. “I wish I was.”

Harper ran a hand through her hair. “Jesus,” she muttered. She stared at her with a shake of her head. “What kind of a stalker?”

“What kind? The creepy kind.” Dani held her hands up. “What other kind is there?”

A horn honked three times. “Hey, beautiful…you look just like Danielle Stevens!”

“Jesus Christ. Get back in the car,” Harper said quickly.

She slammed the door, trying to decide what to do. She tapped the steering wheel with her thumbs. A stalker. A goddamn stalker. She turned to Danielle Stevens.

“So…who has a stalker?”

“What?”

“I mean…who…really…has a stalker?”

Dani stared at her. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

Harper shrugged. “You’re an actress. And according to Reid, the hottest thing out there.” She wasn’t sure what reaction she was expecting, but a laugh wasn’t it.

“Oh, my God. You really don’t know, do you?”

“Okay, look. In my defense, I don’t do movies. Never have. So…no.”