“Hunter? From Homicide?” Reid shook his head. “No, I don’t see it. Harper’s too nice. About the only thing they have in common is their track record with partners. They say Hunter went through like ten of them or something. Most of them got killed too. Pushed one of them out of a two-story window, I hear.”

She glared at him. “Well, you’re still alive. For now.”

He laughed. “It’s only because I’m such a good guy that I put up with your shit, Harper. I do believe since you’ve been in Assault, I’m like your fifth partner, right?”

“They’re all still alive,” she said dryly. “I think.”

She’d never met Tori Hunter, but this was the third time Lieutenant Mize had mentioned her. The first time was after she’d thrown a suspect out of a window when he spit on her.

“Seven days or so, Harper. Again, it’s not a choice.”

“Why me?”

“She’ll probably be asking herself that question after she meets you.”

“What does that mean?”

“That means she selected you from all of the files that were sent over. If it’s any consolation, I think Detective O’Connor in Homicide was a close second.” He shoved the file closer to her. “That’s her. And a briefing of what she hopes to accomplish while shadowing you.”

Harper picked up the file and she literally stopped breathing when she saw the photo.

“Wow,” she whispered.

“Uh-huh,” Reid said as he peered over her shoulder. “Wow is right.”

Jesus…no wonder he wanted this assignment. Long, blond hair, parted just off-center, dark eyebrows and…sea-green eyes? No, more deep ocean blue. The lips were turned up in a smile revealing perfect white teeth. The smile was a…a hauntingly beautiful smile, one she didn’t want to look away from. The eyes, however, weren’t quite smiling. They were guarded, shadowed. As striking as Danielle Stevens was, the somewhat pensive look in her eyes made her even more so, in Harper’s opinion. What were those eyes hiding? she wondered. She finally moved the photo out of the way and looked at the one-page directive instead.

“A car chase? She wants a car chase?” She shook her head. “And a murder scene?” She closed the file and tossed it back down. “She does know that we’re not Homicide, right? Maybe you should give Detective O’Connor a call.”

Chapter Two

“Why are you driving all the way to Dallas? That’s crazy. What if there’s a storm or something?”

Danielle impatiently closed the trunk of the car she’d rented. February in Dallas was practically spring, she’d been told. She turned to Shelly, her assistant. The fact that she wanted to drive didn’t seem to be a good enough answer. “We’ve gone over this twice already.”

“So you hate airports.”