Dagger (Montana Bounty Hunters Book 2) Read online

  Brian shook his head. “I love my job. I’m printing the prom photos for the bulletin board.”

  Chapter 3

  Lacey barely had time to transfer her makeup case and the clothes from her trunk and throw them across the backseat, before Dagger hit the gas and left tread on the driveway, speeding away from Montana Bounty Hunters.

  She couldn’t believe she’d been given a job. Yeah, she understood this assignment was a trial, but she wouldn’t let down Jamie. The woman had seen through her ruse from the start, no doubt, and she’d still hired her. She wondered how much of the woman’s largesse had to do with the fact she was hiring someone to shadow Dagger. Lacey cleared her throat. “So, Jamie seemed nice.”

  Dagger grunted and hit a recessed compartment above his rearview mirror, taking out a pair of sunglasses which he slid up his nose.

  So, that’s how he wanted to play it. Fine with her. She picked up the folder of printouts he’d stuffed between his seat and the center console. As she read the description of their target’s arrest warrant, she couldn’t keep her eyebrows from rising. “Jason Jethro Butler. He sounds…scary.”

  Dagger muttered under his breath.

  Thinking of Jamie’s warning, she again cleared her throat. “I’m hoping we can put our past behind us. I forgive you for this morning.”

  “Forgive me?” he said, his voice rising. “Sweetheart, I was doing my job.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Well, you didn’t have to enjoy it quite so much.” She returned her attention to the file. “Says here that Jason-Jethro should be considered armed and dangerous.”

  Dagger tapped the steering wheel. “You seriously think I need forgiving? You’re the one who fell behind with your payments. You ignored Stuey’s calls. Did you think there wouldn’t be any consequences?”

  Dropping the papers to her lap, she sighed. “You’re not letting that go, are you?”

  His head turned her way.

  At the moment, she wished like hell he wasn’t wearing mirrored sunglasses, because she couldn’t be sure if he was as mad as he sounded.

  “First time I stop for gas, I’m calling you an Uber. My treat.”

  “Oh no, you’re not. You’ll have to pry me from my seat with a crowbar.” As if he could call an Uber or a taxi in this corner of Montana. He was just annoying her.

  “You have to pee sometime,” he said, sounding a little too cheerful. “As I remember, you have the bladder of a squirrel.”

  She wished he hadn’t mentioned peeing. Her belly cramped. Just how many miles did they have to drive to reach Libby?

  Two and a half hours later, Lacey had read through the file, noting anything that might help them track down Jason-Jethro. She’d given up on having a cordial conversation with Dagger after he’d turned from goading her about her bladder and insulted her shirt.

  “Pink camo? Where do you think you’ll blend in? A cotton candy convention?”

  “There’s no such thing.” And then she groaned, because she shouldn’t have responded to his silly comment with a silly comeback. Doing so only encouraged him, but she couldn’t let him think the shirt was actually something she liked. She had standards. “If you must know, I bought the shirt to wear to one of my side gigs. A group of hunting-season widows—”

  “Hunting-season widows?” His nose scrunched.

  “Women whose husbands disappear during hunting season—it’s a thing. Anyway, they hired me to do makeovers, so I bought the shirt to match the event…”

  “Women actually pay for that sort of thing?”

  Lacey jerked her head around to glare. She didn’t appreciate his attitude. She’d earned four hundred bucks for a day’s work. “They do. And sponsors give me free stuff—masks, makeup—to get their products out there.”

  He scrunched his nose. “So, that’s why you had that suitcase of makeup in your car?”

  “I hadn’t unpacked.”

  “What was with the goop on your face this morning?”

  Goop? Did he have a clue how much high-end cosmetics cost? “I was filming a video for my YouTube subscribers when you tried to steal my car.”

  His eyebrows shot upward. “You have YouTube subscribers who watch you put on makeup?”

  The amusement in his voice made her blood boil. Her gaze narrowed on his profile. “My YouTube is connected to my website, and I make money with ads from companies who want their makeup and hair products seen. They also send me free shit to incorporate into my videos.”

  “Can’t you get a real job?” He shook his head.

  She sighed. “The side gigs provided a nice supplemental income when I worked for the courthouse. But living in Podunk, Montana means making the big bucks is really hard.”

  “What happened with your real job…at the courthouse?”

  She tightened her lips and gazed out the window. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”

  “I’m surprised your daddy didn’t step in to fix whatever you did wrong.”

  Truth. Life had certainly been easier when daddy fought her battles. “I wasn’t lying when I said my daddy cut me off after I broke off my engagement to Leland Ford.”

  “Wait a second. Leland Ford?” He laughed and shot her a sideways glance. “Do you mean Pimple Ford? Seriously?”

  Her cheeks filled with heat. “Now, he’s a respected attorney. And his acne’s been clear for years.”

  “But his voice—”

  “Is deeper than it was.” She folded both arms over her chest, wishing she’d never mentioned her ex-fiancé’s name.

  “He’s got a face like a mole.”

  “Only because he was nearsighted and squinted quite a lot. He’s had Lasik.” Lacey couldn’t believe she was defending Leland. Her anger was only getting the better of her because Dagger was nailing all the reasons she’d had to call it quits—not that she’d ever let him know.

  Dagger gave an exaggerated shudder. “You kissed that?”

  She winced from the memory. The moment Leland had pressed to stay the night at her apartment, all she saw in her mind was “Pimple” Ford’s acne-covered face and his bottle-thick glasses, and she’d known there was no way she could ever be his wife.

  Yes, she was a shallow, shallow woman.

  Even after she’d angled her body to stare out the passenger window, a clear gesture to indicate their conversation was over, he continued to chuckle now and then.

  Instead of giving him more ammo to ridicule her, she studied the file and clipped her nails until they were a short, square length, which chipped her polish. She’d been about to open her polish remover when he made a clicking sound.

  “Not in my car. It’s too cold to roll down the windows.”

  What a baby. So, she filed down the clipped tips past the chipped paint. Studying her nails, she grimaced. Without long fingernails, her fingers looked stubby.

  Glancing up, she saw the sign indicating the exit for Libby was in five miles. “Are we starting with a girlfriend?”

  “His mother.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she used her deed as guarantee for his bond.”

  “Do you really think a mother would inform on her son?”

  “They do it all the time. It’s called tough love, hon.” He pulled down his sunglasses and looked over them. “Something the judge is teaching you right now.”

  His smirk made her blood boil. “Wow. You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

  “You can quit anytime you like, Cupcake.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Stop calling me that.”

  “Why? I like cupcakes.” His grin broadened.

  “But you don’t like me, Dag. You’re only calling me that to get under my skin.”

  “Who said I don’t like you?”

  She blinked. “The fact you never contacted me again after you went to boot camp spoke volumes.”

  “That’s bullshit.” His frown included brow, nose, and twisted lips. “I called. You wouldn’t bother your ass to come to the ph
one.”

  Shock sucked away the air in her lungs. Lacey drew a slow, deep breath. Her stomach soured. “I have to pee,” she said. “You have to pull over now.”

  “We’re almost to the exit.”

  “You want it all over this seat? Stop now!”

  After a glance in the rearview mirror, Dagger slowed and pulled to the side of the highway, his tires crunching in snow.

  Lacey flung open the door and jumped to the ground, icy air slapped her cheeks. Her boots sank in the deep snow in the ditch beside the highway, but she didn’t care. She pushed forward.

  “Do you even have toilet paper?” Dagger shouted after her.

  She ran for the trees, found the first one she could hide behind, and bent at the waist, gagging. You goddamn bastard! Fucking asshole. Daddy, how could you?

  Dagger entered Butler’s mother’s address in his Garmin then listened for directions with only half of his attention. He wasn’t sure what had happened back there beside the road. But he knew Lacey hadn’t had to relieve herself; the sounds of her throwing up were too distinct. Was she carsick? Ill? Was it something he’d said?

  Guilt over the way he’d razzed her throughout the day weighed on him. Not that she hadn’t been just as cutting, but… Well, he wasn’t sure. And now, she looked vulnerable, despite the fact she sat with her chin held high. Her skin was too pale. Her mouth tight.

  Although, he wasn’t ready to accept her as a partner, or even a trainee-ridealong, he decided he’d at least be more civil. “So, you think you want to be a bounty hunter…”

  Giving him a sheepish look, she shrugged. “The way you talked about some of your busts, you made it sound…fun.”

  Not what he wanted to hear. Dagger grimaced. “I may have glossed over the boring parts,” he said, his tone wry. “Tracking down someone who doesn’t want to be found can be tedious. Some of the work can be done via Internet—do I look like someone who loves sitting in front of a computer?” he said, giving her a quick grin. “You have to look at social media to find friends and review photos. People share way too much online about what’s important to them. Then there are the phone calls. Sometimes, you have to call people all over the country—old friends, co-workers, bosses, family members, and you have to decide how you’ll approach them. Whether you’re going to be upfront about who you are and the fact you want to haul their buddy/brother/husband/son to jail. Sometimes, you have to be tricky.” He shrugged. “I kind of prefer the latter.”

  She angled her body toward him. “And sometimes, like today, you have to knock on doors?”

  “Yeah, and that’s where you have to be quick on your feet. Because you never know how people will react once they know why you’re there.”

  “You mean, that’s when it can get dangerous…”

  “Yeah. I wear a Kevlar jacket and a sidearm. And I’ve had to use that weapon.” He gave her a quick glance. “You prepared for that?”

  She drew a deep breath. “I don’t know. Guess we’ll find out.”

  Dagger bit back his immediate rejection of the idea of her getting into any situation where she’d face someone bent on doing her harm. But since they were “making nice,” he didn’t want to spoil the mood.

  The Garmin directed him to turn into a small subdivision. He passed the house and switched off the GPS.

  Lacey turned in her seat to glance back at the house.

  When she looked at him, her gaze was questioning. He drove a little farther down, turned into a driveway then backed out onto the street again. He pulled to the curb about a hundred feet from the mother’s house, in front of another one-story ranch with an empty driveway and newspapers piled on the front step.

  “Are you parking here because no one’s home and you don’t want someone asking you to move your car?”

  He liked that she’d intuited there was thought behind his choice of places to park. “Exactly. Sometimes, I have to talk to the neighbors to let them know something’s going on. But, most times, it’s just easier—and safer—not to draw too much attention.”

  “So, I thought we came to talk to her. Why are we parked here?”

  “We will, but I like taking a few minutes to figure out who I’ll be talking to.” He lifted his chin toward the small, brown-bricked house. “What do you see?”

  Lacey glanced at the house. “From his file, I know his mom’s likely in her sixties, but her driveway and sidewalk are clear of snow. And the work was just done.”

  He nodded his approval of her observations. “So, we can’t know for sure whether she hired a neighbor, or her son dropped in to help.”

  “We also know she doesn’t have any other children…” Lacey said, her gaze still taking in the house. “I don’t think her son cleared the snow.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  “She still has Christmas decorations up.” She leaned forward. “If her son had shown up, she would have had him take down the lights. She wouldn’t ask a neighbor to do that.”

  His mouth twitched at her canny observation. “So, you think it’s okay to approach the house without backup?”

  Her head bobbed, making her ponytail swish. “Yeah, he’s not here.

  “Any thoughts about how we should approach her?”

  “I think we go with the truth. She loves that house.” She waved a hand toward the place. “The front porch is well-kept. When we passed the house, I noted a homey sign beside the door, and a flower pot that has been cleared of flowers for the season, but it has a pretty cross struck in the dirt. She’ll be devastated if she loses her home.”

  He nodded his agreement. “So, we go with the truth.”

  She pursed her lips then unbuckled her seatbelt and levered herself onto her knees to reach into the backseat of his car. “If we do get Jason-Jethro, how are we hauling him back? He’s a big guy. Your backseat’s tiny.”

  “He’ll fit.” Actually, if she’d noticed the metal loop on the floorboard of the passenger footwell, she’d realize she’d be sitting in the back seat. Curious about what she was searching for, he watched as she lifted her makeup case and held it sideways for him to hold. Then she pulled a fluffy white jacket from a drycleaner’s plastic bag.

  “This won’t take long,” she mumbled, then opened her “treasure chest” and selected lipstick in bubblegum pink, which she used to slick her lips. Next, she used a fat white pencil to glide shimmery eyeshadow on her lids. Then she withdrew two foil packets, which she dropped into her purse, without explaining their purpose. When she was finished, she gave him a wink. “Old ladies like me better if they think I’m really young.”

  She had a point. She did look like a college student, full of innocence. She’d be more disarming approaching an older woman than if she’d kept her more intense look. After she shrugged into the furry coat, Dagger drove to Mary Butler’s house and parked in the driveway. He reached across Lacey for the glove box and withdrew his “Fugitive Recovery Agent” badge. Before he pulled back, he noted Lacey’s narrowed gaze. “And no, you don’t get one yet.”

  She didn’t grouse, for which he was grateful. Together, they opened their doors and approached the front door.

  Lacey combed her ponytail with her fingers, fiddled with the loose tendrils that fell on either side of her face, then stood in front of the peephole before reaching to press the doorbell button.

  The bell trilled loudly inside.

  Dagger heard tapping sounds accompanying sliding steps.

  The door opened a couple of inches and a large blue eye with a wrinkled lid appeared in the slit.

  “Miz Butler?” Lacey said with a perky smile. “I’ve come a long way to talk to you, ma’am.”

  The eye stared so long it began to water, but then the space widened. In it stood a very small woman with blonde hair that sported silvery roots. Her round figure was encased in a pale pink track suit, and she leaned heavily on a bejeweled pink cane.

  Dagger glanced beyond the woman to the interior of the house. Easy to see that pink w
as her favorite color.

  An hour later, Dagger shook his head in wonder as he perched on a pink loveseat beside Lacey. She’d managed to get a list of girlfriends and their places of employment, the make and model of the car Mrs. Butler had purchased, and which her son had borrowed last year and failed to return, as well as the address to an RV park where her son kept a camping trailer.

  As she closed her notebook, Lacey gave the woman a look that conveyed her sympathy. “We’ll be sure to tell Jason that you didn’t want to give us all this information, but that Dagger here twisted your arm. He’ll believe it. And Dagger here promises not to rough up your son—too much.”

  “That sorry excuse for a human being may be my flesh and blood, but I know he doesn’t belong on the streets,” the older woman said, shaking her head. “Maybe, he’ll learn to listen to his mama after he does some time.”

  Lacey stood and waited patiently as Mrs. Butler stood with Lacey’s hand under her elbow. When she was upright, Lacey leaned in and gave her a big hug. “I’ll be sure to send you that video link and samples from my sponsor’s line. I know you’ll love what the moisturizing masks do for those fine lines around your eyes.”

  Once they were back inside the Challenger, Dagger stared for a good long moment.

  “What?” Lacey said. “You wanted information. I managed to get more than your folks in Kalispell did.”

  “No, I’m impressed. I never would have thought to give a woman a facial while I interviewed her.” And he couldn’t wait to tell the story to fellow hunter Reaper. If these were the “soft skills” Fetch was recruiting for, he and his buddy might be going the way of the dinosaurs.

  “Can you believe the time?” Lacey said, glancing around. “Will we be booking a hotel?”

  Dagger snorted. “We’ll be grabbing junk food and heading to the RV park to surveil his camper.”

  Disappointment showed in her protruding lower lip. “Oh, for how long?”

  “You better pee at the convenience store and maybe pick up some adult diapers.”