That lady was out of her mind if she thought he was going to jump through hoops to investigate her. Lucas paced back and forth in the cheap motel room he’d rented as he took another sip of his beer and waited too damn long for the person on the other end of the line to pick up.

“Wade Maxium,” said the man on the other end.

“You didn’t tell me she’d be so difficult.”

Wade sighed. “So you met Harper?”

“You made it sound like I was doing her a favor by coming on. Why would you even hire me if you already had someone doing the job for you?”

“I hired you because I don’t want all my eggs in one basket. Did you tell her I sent you?”

“Yeah, I told her. I think it just made her more pissed off.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic. I’m sure she’ll warm up to you eventually. When are you two going to meet again to talk about the investigation?”

“She gave me some stupid task. She wants me to find out information about her to prove myself or something. So tell me what I need to know.”

“You’re the investigator. Why do I need to tell you anything?”

This job, this supposedly easy, well-paying job, was going to be the death of him. “You hired me to find out who was trying to frame you for murder. Not to look into information you already know.”

“Trust me, I know very little about Harper Sloan. I know that she was born and raised in Birdsville, Ohio. Her mom and dad are still local, and now she works as a corporate headhunter.”

“What does that mean? Why did you say it funny?”

“How many corporate headhunters do you know who don’t have any social media accounts?”

Wade was severely overestimating the number of corporate headhunters Lucas knew. But he could understand that they’d want to know as many people as possible, and social media was the best way to do that. “So you can’t give me anything?”

“I don’t see what the problem is. If she wants you to give her information about her, just do it.”

“Just save me time and tell me what I need to know. This isn’t what you hired me for.”

There was a short pause on the other end. “I can’t do that.”

Lucas’s grip on the phone tightened until he heard cracking. He lightened up before he broke anything. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Trust me, I’m not the type to kid around. I can tell you where she went to school and who her parents are, but I don’t know much about Harper. Besides, if she knows you got the information from me, she’s not going to be impressed.”

“It’s not my job to impress her.” Lucas bit down on the inside of his cheek to keep himself contained. He had to remember that not only was this his boss, but he was one of the most powerful men in the country. Wade wouldn’t be a good man to upset. “I want more money.”

“You’re not getting it.”

“You hired me to find out who is after you. I can do that without this girl. If you want me to be a bodyguard, that’s extra money.”

“I hired you because you came highly recommended. But I assume you know that every single person who recommended you also warned me that you’re a loose cannon and I’d be lucky if you finish the job. I took a chance on you. I’m a risk-taker, and you’re the risk. I don’t like it when my gambles don’t pay off.”

“You know this bluff only works if I don’t have fifteen other jobs lined up right now of rich people just waiting to throw their money at me?”

“Then go take their money. Until then, stop bitching to me.” And just like that, Wade had hung up.

Lucas cursed under his breath as he pulled up his voicemail. Nope, there sure as hell weren’t any customers who’d called. There was nobody lined up to throw their money at him. When Wade had hired him for this job, it had been just the break he needed. Easy money for him to keep his business running and a roof over his head.

He was such a fucking idiot. Easy money. By now he should’ve known that there was no such thing.

The hard truth was, he needed this job. And unfortunately, he also needed Harper to help him because that was a requirement of his boss.

Fuck it. He could handle this. If Harper wanted him to dig up some dirt on her, then he’d dig up dirt on her.

He already knew a few bits of information he could use. Her full name, Harper Sloan, which Wade had provided, and the fact that her hometown was Birdsville.

He opened up his laptop and entered her name into the search engine. Nothing useful. There were too many Harper Sloans that came up, and none of them were her.

Fair enough. He hadn’t thought this would be easy. He entered in Harper Sloan Birdsville in the search bar, and that got him a bit further. The articles didn’t tell him much, but when he switched it to image search, Harper’s face stared back at him.

A much younger Harper with a bright smile on her face. She stood on what looked like a football field, in full gear, with her arms around some other players, with a giant trophy in front of them.

He clicked on the picture and opened the page. It was an archived local news article. “LUCKY LIONS WIN BIG” read the headline. Some sort of state championship, it looked like. More interesting was that the article had a few paragraphs dedicated specifically to Harper.

Apparently she was the first woman ever on the team and had raised quite a fuss to get there. Though, considering the win, putting her on the team was a good call. And judging from the grass stains on her uniform, she wasn’t just a benchwarmer either.

He brought the picture up again. The other players were some guys named West, Collar, and, of course, Maxium.

Well hell. She must’ve been good enough that Wade still called her a friend.

For a few moments, he stayed where he was, just staring at the picture. What had happened to that carefree smile?

Maybe if he found out, he’d pass Harper’s little test.

All right, he’d admit it. Harper was a hard target. But just because it wasn’t easy to find information on her didn’t mean that everyone around her was also impervious to internet searches. He opened up the white pages website for Birdsville and entered in Harper’s last name. Sloan was fairly common, but Birdsville was small enough that there were only five residents listed with that surname.

He started doing his legwork. The first person he called didn’t answer, and the second one he talked to was an elderly man who could barely understand what he was saying over the phone. However, on his third phone call, he got lucky.

After a brief hello, Lucas launched into his spiel. “Hello, Mr. Sloan, I’m calling from Birdsville public schools. I’m doing a quick survey of our local residents. Do you have a minute to answer some easy questions?” Before the other man could make up a reason not to, Lucas started in. “Do you now or have you ever had any children attend Birdsville Public High School?”

“I, umm....” The man seemed to debate answering. “Yeah, we had a daughter go there.”

Lucas straightened a little bit. “I’m happy to hear that, sir. How satisfied were you with her education overall?”

“Fine, I guess.”

Well, this guy was a fountain of information. “Was your daughter involved with any sports?”

“She, umm.... She played football.”

Boom. He’d found Harper’s parents.

“Who is that?” called someone. The voice was muffled due to the distance from the phone, but it sounded like a woman’s voice. Probably Harper’s mother.

“It’s the school district. They’re asking questions about Harper.”

“It’s just a general survey, sir. Nothing specific to your daughter,” he lied.

“She did good in school and we’re satisfied with the experience,” her dad said gruffly. “Is there anything else you need? We have to get going.”

“Before you go, did your daughter end up going to college, and do you mind telling me which one and the major?”

The man let out a little laugh. “Harper was never the school-loving type.”

“I understand that, sir. What is she doing for a living now? Generally speaking, of course.” No, not generally. Please be as specific as possible.

“Sir, I appreciate the work you’re doing, but my daughter enjoys her privacy. If you have any questions to ask her, you should call her yourself.”

If only it were that easy. “I understand. You’ve already helped me out a lot and I appreciate it. You have a great day.”

The man said his good-bye, and Lucas hung up. From the short phone call, her parents seemed normal enough. What ended up making her as angry as she was? His mind raced with possibilities. Maybe the woman he heard wasn’t actually her mother? Maybe her dad had an affair? Maybe her dad was a little bit too freewheeling with his fists? All those theories would take more than a phone call to prove or disprove.

So what did he know about Harper now? Besides the fact that she had an attitude problem, she was athletic in high school, and didn’t go to college. It was also interesting that Wade trusted her to help Lucas in this investigation. An investigation that could lead to him going to prison. So she probably wasn’t waitressing at the local truck stop. If there’s one thing he knew, it was where troubled youth, especially smarter ones, tended to go after high school.

Lucas scrolled through his contact list on his phone until he found the right guy for the job. After a few rings, a man picked up on the other end. “Lucas, I told you not to call me at this number anymore.”

“When have I ever done what you asked me, Nico?”

“When I punched you in the face.”

“And did you punch me in the face when you told me not to call you? No. You didn’t. So really, it’s on you for not expecting my call any day.”

Nico let out an exasperated sigh. “Dahlia isn’t in town.”

Lucas smiled fondly at the memory of bright-blue eyes, bleach-blonde hair, her natural talent with her tongue, and some not-so-natural talents she had on her chest. “I’m not calling about Dahlia. I want you to look somebody up for me.”

“Isn’t your job to look people up?”

“You know, the most efficient people are the ones who know how to delegate. Should be easy. I have a name and a picture.” Lucas knew it was only a matter of time before Nico did what he asked. It had been about five years since Lucas had first become intimately acquainted with the lovely Dahlia. Of course, Lucas sleeping with the oh-so-charming Dahlia wasn’t a big deal, but when she’d let it slip about her previous affair with the young up-and-comer Army lieutenant, he knew he’d never be able to pay her back. Because at the time Nico and Dahlia had their fun, Dahlia was married to Nico’s superior officer. Talk about violating the rules of engagement.

“Give me the name. But if it’s not easy to look up, I’m not doing it.”

“Harper Sloan. She would’ve enlisted around—”

“Oh shit. I know her.”

“You’re kidding. Like you’ve met her before?”

“Oh no. I never met her. She was in the Marine Corps.”

“You know some random former marine?”

Nico was Sergeant First Class, soon to be Master Sergeant in the US Army. From Lucas’s experience, the Army and Marines didn’t play nice together.

“The girl was a little notorious. From what I know, and this is all rumor, she had crazy qualifying scores on the proficiency exam when she enlisted. Peak physical condition, could out-run half of the guys. But something happened in the showers early on in recruit training. Something that led to her superior officer ending up with a broken nose and two broken ribs and she was discharged soon after.”

“So she got into a fight. How did she turn into a mini celebrity?”

“The guy was a dick. Back then, we all just figured he was a dick and that was all there was to it. But now with all this #metoo shit coming out, it’s become apparent that Harper Sloan wasn’t the first woman he visited in the shower. Back then, of course, we didn’t know that. And the government was quick to label her as a crazy emotional woman with a violent streak, but her name has been coming up more and more lately. Kinda like the bogeyman for sexual deviance.”

“I swear to God. If I find out that you’re fucking with me....”

“Like I said, all of this is just rumors. Did you still want me to look her up?”

“Yeah, run a search on her for me. Message me anything interesting, but I think that’s enough for me right now.” He was about to hang up and remembered that he might need Nico later. “I appreciate your help,” he forced out.

“Yeah, whatever. Just remember, be careful in the showers.”