Harper walked him to the front door. “She’s twenty-eight,” she said quietly. “Too young for you.”

He grinned. “I’m only thirty-five. Certainly not too young.”

“She’s closer to my age,” she said, baiting him.

He laughed. “Come on, Harper. Danielle Stevens? You wouldn’t stand a chance with that woman in there.” He lowered his voice. “Did you see the way she looked at me? Did you see her touch my arm?”

“Yeah, but who is she sleeping with tonight?”

“Oh, in your dreams, Harper!” Hernandez honked again and Reid jogged away. “See you tomorrow,” he called before shoving the pizza into his mouth.

She was smiling as she walked back inside. Dani was still at the kitchen table, but her glass now had a splash of amber liquid in it. Dani looked at her questioningly and Harper nodded. Dani added a bit to her glass too.

“I’m sorry I got you into all this,” Dani said as she slid the glass over to her. “I should have stayed home. I should have canceled my plans here.”

“Stayed home and done what? Dealt with it yourself?”

Dani sighed. “Continued to call the police there, I suppose. Hired a bodyguard.”

“You already said you didn’t want to live like that. And stop apologizing. It’s my job.”

“This certainly isn’t your job,” Dani said, motioning to the pizza, the whiskey. “You could have dumped me off at another hotel.”

“I could have. But I didn’t.”

Dani held the glass loosely in her hands, then ran her thumbs across the surface, back and forth. “The note…is it legit? For real? Or just an idle threat.”

“You mean the part about taking me out?”

Dani looked at her. “Yes.”

Harper shrugged. “We have to take it at face value, I suppose. But don’t worry. I can take care of myself. It’s you we’re trying to protect here, not me.”

“You think it’ll be okay tonight? You think he’ll try to break in here like he does at my house?”

Harper shook her head. “He knows I’m a cop. Surely he’s not that crazy.”

Later, however, as she was lying in bed, listening to every slight noise, Harper wasn’t so sure. This was a man bold enough to go into Dani’s house at night, while she slept. He was bold enough to come to her own house and slash the tires on her car…while she was at home. Would he try to come inside tonight?