“Close. But not too close.” Harper shoved away from the counter. “Come on. We’re going to hit traffic if we don’t get going.”

* * *

“Are you out of your mind? Use her as bait?” Lieutenant Mize took off his glasses and tossed them on his desk. “No way, Detective. If something happened to her,” he said, pointing at Dani, “can you imagine the negative publicity this department would have?” He shook his head. “Absolutely not. Find another way.”

“I didn’t mean to use her exactly, Lieutenant,” Harper said. “The tracking device they found on her rental has already been disabled, so he now knows we found it. But the device that was found on her bag, I told them not to disable it.” She stood up, walking behind the visitor’s chair that Dani was sitting in. “We’ll get someone to drive the rental—with her bag that has the tracking device on it—and go somewhere that we’ve already staked out. All we have to do is wait for him to show.”

“And she’s out of the picture?”

“We’ll leave her someplace safe, yes. She can sit at my desk until it’s over.”

He put his glasses back on. “Okay, Harper. That sounds almost too easy, but it might work. Unless he’s got eyes on the rental and knows it’s not her driving it.”

“I’ll drive it. I’ll wear a blond wig.”

Harper was surprised by the quick laugh he gave. “Oh, now this I’ve got to see.”

“If you’re planning to go to someplace that’s already staked out, why not just let me drive the car?” Dani asked.

“No,” she said with a shake of her head. “I don’t want to take a chance of him intercepting you en route or something.”

“Even if you wear a wig, if he gets close enough, he’ll know it’s not me.”

“We’ll go after dark. It should be fine.” She turned to Mize. “Can we find an abandoned house or building or something where we can lead him to?”

“Yeah, I’ll find something. Take Springer and Hernandez,” he said. “I’ll let Sergeant Helms know you’ll need backup. Let’s do it right at dusk.”

She nodded. “I’ll fill them in.” She turned to Dani. “Probably best if you stay here until it’s over with. You can sit at my desk. Watch the comings and goings.” She smiled. “You know, a little background for your movie.”

Dani nodded. “Okay. I guess I can’t be any safer than here, can I?”

Harper noticed her hesitation and when they walked out of Mize’s office, she nudged Dani’s arm. “What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.

“I don’t know. On the surface, it sounds like it might work.”

“But?”