She tossed the covers off for the third time and crept silently into the hallway. All was quiet. She went to the spare room, the door ajar as it had been earlier. She pushed it open, listening to Dani’s even breathing. As Dani had told her when they’d gone to bed…her problem was that she slept like a log and rarely woke during the night. Harper had looked in on her three times now and she appeared to be in the same position—on her side, the extra pillow pulled to her as if she were holding a lover.

She had a sudden sense of loneliness and she turned from the sight, closing the door a bit as she went back to her own room.

Chapter Eleven

Dani leaned against the counter, then stifled a yawn, watching as Harper did the same. “Did you sleep?”

“Not much.”

“On guard?” she guessed.

Harper nodded as she poured coffee into a travel mug.

“You know, we should have just shared your bed. That way you wouldn’t have had to look in on me during the night and I wouldn’t have worried so much.”

Harper smiled. “I don’t know that worrying kept you up. You were sleeping like a baby. But how did you know I checked on you?”

Dani shrugged. “It seemed like something you would do. Did you?”

Harper nodded. “I may have looked in on you a time or two. Couldn’t sleep.”

“So you were more worried than you let on, huh? Thanks for hiding it from me.”

Harper closed the lid on her mug. “I don’t normally do breakfast, but we can pick something up if you’d like.”

“I’m okay as long as we don’t skip lunch again.” She drank the last of her coffee, then set the cup in the sink and rinsed it with water. “Do we have a plan for today?”

“I’ve got to let Lieutenant Mize know what happened last night. I really don’t want to go out until your rental has been checked and your luggage too.”

“Do you think your lieutenant will change his mind about me riding with you?”

“Afraid we’re going to send you away?”

“Yes, actually.”

Harper shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. He’ll most likely leave it up to me as to how we play this.”

“And if that’s the case, what would be your course of action?” she asked.

“I want to catch the bastard,” Harper said bluntly. “But it’s a fine line. It’s you he’s after, not me. How exposed should we leave you?”

Dani frowned. “What are you saying? Use me as bait?”

“Something like that, yeah.”

Dani chewed on her lower lip. Bait? For her stalker? The creepy clown? She met Harper’s gaze. “I’m not sure how I feel about that. You want to let him get close to me?”