“I’m not sure we want to risk her safety, Harper. Can you imagine the black eye the department would take if something happened to her?”

Harper looked at her. “I think that would be up to Ms. Stevens to accept the risk, not us.”

Dani nodded quickly. “And I do.” She had known Harper Jeremiah all of a few hours but she knew without a doubt that she could trust her. Going back home, knowing this guy was following her, was not an option. Her only protection there would be to do as the police had suggested—get a bodyguard around the clock. That wasn’t something she was willing to do. Not yet anyway.

Lieutenant Mize watched her for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to Harper. “Okay. I’ll run it by the captain, but it may need to go higher. I am surprised, though, that you’re willing to do this…considering.”

Dani wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Considering what? But Harper only gave him a slight shrug and said nothing.

Chapter Seven

“Thank you. I know you could have suggested we cancel the whole deal and your lieutenant would have gone along with you.”

Harper nodded. Yeah, that’s probably what she should have done. Send Danielle Stevens back to where she came from. It was the look in her eyes, the fear—panic—she saw there that made her hesitate. She pointed to a chair beside her desk, then pulled out her own. Reid was out with Hernandez, chasing a lead on their case. And she was here, willingly babysitting a Hollywood actress with a stalker, of all things.

She looked over at Danielle Stevens, an attractive young woman, a celebrity, a star…a woman who had told her to call her “Dani.” She drew her brows together.

“Why are you tired of being Danielle Stevens?”

Dani raised her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“Earlier in the car, you said I should call you Dani, that you were tired of being Danielle Stevens.”

“Oh.” Dani glanced around them, and Harper did the same, finding a few pairs of curious eyes on them.

Harper lowered her voice. “Not something you want to share out here in the open?”

“No.”

Harper nodded. “Well, my guess is that the captain will allow your presence here to continue as we’d planned although he may have you sign off on something, just to cover our ass.”

“I signed a consent form already.”

“Yeah, they’ll probably tweak it a bit to add your clown friend and all.”

“What did Lieutenant Mize mean when he said he was surprised you’d agree to stick with the plan…considering?”

Harper smiled quickly, then it left her face. “Well, I wasn’t exactly thrilled with the assignment, as you already know. In fact, I refused to do it.”

“But?”