Hard Risk by Sidney Bristol
Chapter One
NOLA City Bark, New Orleans, LA.
How was it New Orleans and Washington could share a weather forecast?
Harper was tired of chilly and dreary, which was about all he’d gotten the last two weeks. To make matters worse, he’d been forced to actually get out in the weather. When this was done, he was going to his condo in the Keys, drink beer, and nothing else.
Two weeks and he only knew one thing about his target.
Robin Suleiman was a busy woman.
She was always on the move at all times of the day. It made surveilling her difficult. What was worse, he still hadn’t figured out how to get close to her since he’d arrived and begun watching her.
The initial report Zora had given him made Robin out to be some sort of partying socialite sorority girl. She was certainly on the go in style, which seemed like a socialite sorority thing to do. But that was where the assessment stopped being helpful. She hadn’t gone out once that he’d seen beyond grabbing a bottle of wine in a shop that she then took home.
That was a real missed opportunity, but he’d been busy trying to switch out batteries in his camera. A chance brush in a store would have been a nice enough meeting. But she’d been in and out so fast he hadn’t gotten the chance.
Damn it.
Zora was breathing down his neck already, wanting to know why he hadn’t made any moves on the woman.
Robin didn’t go to clubs or bars. The latest he’d seen her out was a dinner at a café, and that had looked to be a business meeting.
He wasn’t Jamie. Harper wouldn’t admit it to the guys, but he actually did get nervous around beautiful women. Jamie, on the other hand, could strike up a conversation and have a ladies’ panties in his pocket in half an hour. Harper had seen it happen and damn it, he wished he had that skill. Unfortunately, he often put his foot in his mouth.
Harper peered through the lens of his camera. Occasionally he’d snap a shot of a bird or something interesting looking just to give credit to his cover story.
Could he just walk up to her and say hi? Then what? How did he ensure she took one look at him and was interested instead of running away?
Damn it. Why was Jamie in a relationship? This was the perfect job for him, but no. It had to fall to Harper this time around.
Where the heck was Robin going?
She’d taken a bit of a detour today. He’d been surprised when she emerged from her family’s Garden District home with what looked like two cotton balls with legs.
Her stepmother’s dogs.
The file even had that sort of information for him. For all he knew, she routinely walked the dogs in the historic park, but it was the first time he’d seen her with them.
It was odd to him that a family with Muslim roots had dogs. Generally speaking, dogs were seen as an unclean animal to be avoided. Some of the worst insults in Arabic likened people to dogs. It was curious to Harper that the Suleiman's had two.
Harper eyed Robin through some trees. The little floofs were bouncing in opposite directions, yapping their adorable heads off, all while she wrestled with their leashes to pull them back to her or away from other pedestrians.
Yeah, he doubted this was normal.
The dog park was up ahead.
What were the chances he could orchestrate bumping into her?
Harper cut across the grass to close the gap between them and get a better vantage point. It meant losing sight of Robin for a few moments, but he didn’t think anything too interesting would happen.
“No!” a woman wailed.
Wait.
He jerked his head around to peer through the trees just as the same two fluffy mutts bolted away from Robin.
A tingling sensation shot down his spine.
This was it.
His feet were already moving before he realized this was his lightning strike moment.
The dog duo kept pace with each other, making a straight line across the park back the way they’d come, more or less. He seriously doubted they intended to stop at the car, though. These pooches were on a mission.
Shit.
They were really fast.
He ran, arms pumping and lungs burning with the cool air. He gripped the camera tightly and wound the strap around his wrist for good measure.
They were halfway across the park now, and Harper wasn’t any closer.
If he didn’t get his hands on them soon, they’d be out in the road. His stomach knotted up. Nothing good ever came from dogs in the road.
The two canines suddenly split, heading in two different directions around a decorative wrought-iron fence protecting some sort of flower bed.
Two almost identical yelps made him cringe as the dogs snapped the leash tight between them in their excitement to get away.
Harper could have whooped in joy.
The leashes were attached. The dogs had no choice but to go together or get caught up. And they weren’t smart enough to know that. They struggled against each other, buying him the time to catch up he so desperately needed.
He sprinted straight into the fence, wildly grabbing at the leash. His fingers wrapped around the nylon. Hands full, there was nothing to use to cushion the impact with the fence. The pointy ends of the iron jabbed into his chest and arms. He dropped his weight, so he didn’t flip over the fence, but that only made the iron point into his stomach harder. Fuck, that was going to bruise. He grimaced and bent his knees some more, doing his best to not pitch over the fence. But damn it, he had the dogs. He had his in with Robin.
He’d take the bruises and scratches if it meant he could stop following her around at all hours of the day.
It was time to move on to the next part of the mission.
Too bad this was the part he dreaded.
A not so delicate snarl ripped through his moment of elation right before teeth sank into his sneaker.
“Ow, hey!”
Okay, it didn’t actually hurt. More like it surprised him.
He peered through the bars at the two dogs.
The second dog bounced around his heels, snarling, watching its friend try to violently shake Harper’s foot.
“A for effort, little guy,” he muttered.
Harper grabbed the fence with the hand still wrapped up in the leash. He pushed up and back, careful to not unintentionally squash any little paws.
The biter of the two clamped down harder.
“Hey, now. That’s not very nice.”
Harper slid his hand down the leash, taking in the slack until he could hold the little savages as far from his feet as he could. He twisted his foot, extracting his sneaker from the jaws of the more aggressive one. Thankfully, the little thing didn’t have an impressive bite force, otherwise, this would be a much different story. Instead, he was fairly certain the shoe was just about ruined.
“You aren’t cute at all. You’re hell hounds, aren’t you?” he asked the two dogs.
Harper rubbed his stomach. He could still feel the press of all the metal spikes, and it wasn’t pleasant.
One dog bounced into the other and they spun to face-off, tails wagging as if they were having a grand old time. He was clearly forgotten for the moment.
Movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Harper glanced up as Robin closed the distance. Her light brown eyes were wide and her face creased with worry. Breathless, she stopped and bent forward, hands on her knees. Her ponytail cascaded over one shoulder, almost to the ground.
“Oh my God. Thank you!” she said between breaths.
The little savages howled and lunged at her. Clearly, he wasn’t the only one on their shit list.
“Wow, there.” Harper quickly pulled the snapping pups back and chuckled. Crap. And these were pets? “Friendly little guys you’ve got.”
Robin straightened. Her long ponytail flipped over her shoulder and he caught the end of a dramatic eye roll. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. They’re brats, I know. They only behave for my step-mom.”
Harper grinned at her. “They must keep you on your toes.”
“Yes.” She held her hand out. “Thank you again, so very much. They tripped me up, and I lost the leash.”
Harper couldn’t think of a good reason to keep the leash. The moment he passed the dogs to her, he needed to find a new way to stay in her orbit.
He held out the leash. “Added a little excitement to my day.”
Robin’s eyes went wide. “Oh no…”
“What’s wrong?” Harper glanced about, searching for some new threat, his instincts kicking in.
“Your shirt…”
He glanced down at the nearly fist-sized hole in his Henley with relief. He’d take a hole in his shirt over someone trying to kill him any day.
“Oh, that’s nothing,” he said.
Harper tucked the camera under his arm—it was a minor miracle he hadn’t dropped it—and zipped up his coat.
That done, he held out his hands. “There. All better.”
She pressed her hand to her face. Was that a little groan? “Your shoe! He did that, didn’t he? Oh my God.”
“They’re just shoes. It’s okay. I’d rather him chew my shoe up than end up in the road.”
“I feel so bad. You were fast. I’m so grateful.” She bent and eyed the dogs. “That is not an acceptable way to say thank you.”
The dogs flopped down as if in answer.
They clearly didn’t care.
Robin straightened and looked at him. “You have to let me make this up to you.”
It was an opportunity leaping onto his lap.
Harper opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
What would Jamie say right now? His best friend had all the lines. He knew just what to say to a woman. Harper had listened to him a million times over. He could do this.
“You could let me take you to dinner?” he said. It even sounded smooth.
Robin’s eyes popped open, and she stared at him in surprise. Was it really that astonishing? She was a beautiful woman. Men had to hit on her often enough. Then again, with the rate at which she moved through life, she might very well not give many people the chance to ask her out.
“I should be asking you that,” she countered.
Harper held up his hands. “Hey, you don’t have to ask me twice. I don’t have any allergies or food aversions either.”
Robin opened and closed her mouth. Was it his imagination or were her cheeks pinker?
He held out his hand. “I’m Harper.”
Her lips curved into a girlish smile. Flustered looked good on her. “Robin.”
Harper squeezed her hand, holding on to it a moment longer than politely necessary. “Nice to meet you, Robin.”
She didn’t try to tug away from him, but she did take a flustered step away when he released her. The dogs at least seemed to have calmed down.
“Is your camera okay?” she asked.
He glanced down at the device, then turned it over. “Seems okay. It’s pretty sturdy.”
Surveillance cameras needed to be in his line of work.
“Taking pictures of the city?” she asked.
“Birds, mostly.” He winked. “I haven’t gotten a good shot of a robin yet.”
Now her eyes really did flutter open wide. That was a blush. He’d gotten to her.
Tuesday. NOLA City Bark, New Orleans, LA.
Robin’s thoughts were utterly jumbled. She was both frustrated with herself for feeling giddy about a man’s attention while greedy for more. It seemed like these days no one noticed her at all. Not that she’d ever been the most desirable girl. She liked tacos and curry way too much. No man was worth giving up happiness. The guys she’d been attracted to usually went for the petite white girls. Not to mention she’d always been too busy studying to spend time at a salon or shopping, which was probably why she’d graduated with no long-term boyfriend, much to her father’s chagrin.
Her mind was skittering in all directions.
What was wrong with her? Who was she? She didn’t do anxiety over a man. Hadn’t she decided that men were a bad idea right now, anyway? Why was she smiling at this one?
Okay, if the guys in her circles looked like him, she might not have been able to convince herself to swear off men.
Whoever Harper was, he looked and acted like he’d stepped out of a Hallmark Christmas movie. The neatly trimmed hair, the rugged yet casual look, the sturdy build, coming to her rescue, and finally bird watching? Was he real? Or was this a joke?
“Want to smile for the camera?” he asked, grin widening.
She glanced at the lens then him, her eyes widening. Here? Now? When she looked like this?
“You’ve got to be joking.” She reached up and smoothed a hand over her hair. There were bits of things from when she’d had to drag one of the fluff-butts out from under the hedges.
She was a mess.
These were yesterday’s workout clothes.
She hadn’t showered.
Not to mention she’d only slathered a little sunscreen on her face before leaving the house.
“I’ll never joke about documenting beautiful things,” Harper said.
Her jaw dropped.
This was completely unreal.
And yet a little part of her swooned inside. It felt like ages since anyone had noticed her, much less called her beautiful. In her parent’s world, she was merely a daughter. Second best. Nothing worth noticing.
She needed to get out more.
“Who are you and what cheesy movie set did you walk off?” she asked.
Harper tossed his head back and laughed. It was the kind of laugh that invited you to join in on it. She couldn’t help it. And damn it felt good to laugh. She’d been a bundle of stress and anxiety for days now. This moment did more for her soul than anything else she’d tried.
The man deserved more than just dinner.
“Do lines like that normally work?” she worked.
He shrugged. “I guess not.”
She wasn’t convinced. His warm brown eyes glittered with good humor. He probably had a lot of one-liners. Still, she was enjoying the attention. Most days it seemed like hardly anyone spoke to her. It was frustrating given that she’d stepped back from working on her own career to help out the family. Of course, she had her own motives for that move.
Robin’s phone chimed, cutting her thoughts short.
She dug in her pocket and pulled out her phone, only to groan.
“Everything okay?” Harper asked.
“Yes.” She sighed and unlocked the phone. “Just my step-mom wanting an update about her precious babies. I swear these dogs are more important than I am.”
Crap.
Was she letting her frustration show?
Robin and Saaina didn’t have the best relationship. They’d never really been given the chance to get off on the right foot, not with everything that happened after Mom died. Back then Robin had been too young, too hurt. Now, it was history wedging them apart. Which was a shame. They shouldn’t be picking at each other like they did.
Saaina did love the dogs more than Robin.
The dogs got birthday presents. Robin did not.
Still, she couldn’t complain. Dad might not be the most present person, but he’d never forgotten a birthday or special occasion.
“I know a few parents like that,” Harper said with a conspiratorial nod of his head.
She blinked at him.
Could he get any more unreal? Was she dreaming?
She had the sudden urge to take his hand and never let go.
A man didn’t fit into her plans right now, but what was wrong with a little flirting?
It didn’t have to go anywhere.
“One moment?” She snapped a quick picture of the little trouble makers and sent it off. That should keep Saaina happy for an hour or until she realized the house was quiet for a change.
Robin really didn’t have time to fit Harper into her schedule right now, but maybe that was the problem. She’d been so focused that all the happiness in her life had been sucked out. Perhaps she needed a little distraction?
Hadn’t Dad mentioned taking Saaina out to dinner tomorrow? And Uncle Daar was coming to town. It stood to reason that all three were going out together without her. Under normal circumstances she couldn’t do anything about that besides ignore her hurt feelings about being excluded. However, Harper presented her with a new opportunity to advance her plans.
Robin tilted her head and regarded Harper with new interest.
Dad and Uncle always had been more interested in who she dated than her. But that was to be expected. To them, women were second best, who they were attached to truly mattered. That was why Dad had never really mourned Mom. She’d been an accessory and a bank to him, not a partner. And Uncle Daar?
Robin never could make herself give up on the idea that Mom’s death was Uncle Daar’s doing.
Was it possible Harper could help her out? Could she use him and not let her conscience get in the way?
It wasn’t like there was a handbook about investigating your own family’s role in a murder. She was figuring it out as she went, without a lot of hope. Mom had been dead for over fifteen years. Robin knew better than to hope she found the murder weapon. All she wanted was confirmation. Something to tell her she was right and then she could cut ties and move on with her life.
Harper clasped his hands behind him then leaned toward her. “How do you feel about coffee?”
“It’s necessary.”
“Mind if I get us some?”
She gestured down at the hellions. “Do you mind the dog park?”
“You’re going to let these two little hooligans run around a dog park with other, respectable dogs?”
She chuckled. “This time of day there’s usually only a few others around, and those are bigger dogs that can get away from them easier. If they get to be too much of a pain, I’ll just take them home and make them Saaina’s problem.”
Harper wagged a finger at her. “Beautiful and intelligent.”
Robin smiled despite inwardly cringing at the compliment. She knew she didn’t look her best, and yet it was still nice to hear. But what did she say to that?
In lieu of a good reply, she decided to ignore the compliment. “I’m a lots of cream and sugar girl.”
“Got it.” He merely nodded instead of telling her to lay off the stuff like Dad or Saaina.
Harper turned and headed toward a little café cart.
Oh, my. Look at that ass.
Tall, dark, handsome. She felt like she was hitting the jackpot here. He had to have some secret, some less than desirable quirks, otherwise why wasn’t he attached to someone already?
Shit. Was he married? She hadn’t seen a ring or a tan line. He was probably old enough to have lived a little, unlike her. She’d gone from boarding school to college to here. Every step of the path had been managed.
Robin tugged on the leashes and headed toward the park with the two pups.
She only did this once a week for Saaina, though she would clearly like for Robin to do it more often. Between trying to get all their business accounts in order, she couldn’t. Why her father thought it was a good idea to handle the finances himself was beyond her. He had no head for numbers and never kept his wallet organized. He was as likely to charge something personal to a business account as one of the family ones. It was a minor miracle they hadn’t gotten in trouble over such a purchase.
Robin let herself and the pups into the dog park. She recognized a Great Dane as another local and two that looked like boxers. With any luck, the two she didn’t immediately know would be able to hold their own against her brats.
“You two, behave, okay? You get into it once and we are going home,” she said.
Neither dog were paying her any mind.
They never did.
She managed to hold on to both collars at once, get the leash unclipped, then released the hellions into the enclosure.
They bolted forward, going straight for the Great Dane.
The large dog’s ears twitched and his head snapped up. For one moment he posed, front paw up, staring down the annoyances, then he was off, leading them on a merry chase.
Robin blew out a breath and ambled over to a circular bench built around a large tree.
The other owners were spread out, most looking at books or their phones, so she didn’t feel the need to be social. Besides, she had company heading her way right now.
Robin watched Harper stroll toward her, coffees in hand.
He wasn’t part of her plan.
She bit her lip and watched him navigate the entrance and close the distance between her.
“One sweet drink for a sweet lady,” he said, handing her a cup.
She chuckled. “Where do you get these one-liners from?”
“My best friend.” He sat down next to her and flashed her a grin. “I guess my delivery sucks.”
“No.” She shook her head. “No, your delivery is just fine.”
He turned to study her. “Should I grow a beard? Would that help?”
“I don’t think so.” Though she was the wrong person to ask. She’d never been fond of facial hair. She quite liked the strong line of his jaw and how chiseled his face appeared. Like a statue come to life.
He frowned. “Damn. I’ve always been curious what a beard might look like on me.”
Robin bit her lip in an effort to keep her comment inside.
Wait.
Why?
He was shamelessly flirting with her. Where was the harm in her returning the favor?
“I think it would be a crime to cover up that face,” she said. Her throat burned, and she stomach clenched. Everything inside of her wanted to grab the words and stuff them back in her mouth, but they were out there.
A slow smile spread across Harper’s face. He lifted a hand and scratched his jaw. “You think?”
“Now you’re just fishing for a compliment.”
He leaned toward her and whispered, “You see right through me.”
“Seriously, are you an actor? Are you in a Hallmark movie?”
“No.” He shook his head and held up his hands. “No way.”
“So what do you do besides take pictures of birds?” She didn’t quite believe he was birdwatching, but she’d let that slide.
He shrugged. “I’m a security consultant.”
“Security consultant? What does that mean?”
“It depends on the clients’ needs, really.”
“And if I were your client?”
She knew she’d said the wrong thing the moment he froze.
Harper turned his face toward her, one side of his mouth hitched up a tiny bit. There was no physical change, except in the way he looked at her. It was heated, wanton. “I’d say you need round the clock, personal security. I could even cut you a deal, give you a good rate and handle you myself.”
“Oh my God.” She laughed. It was that or shrivel up and die of embarrassment. It was too much. “Stop that. Be serious.”
“Alright.” He sighed and shuttered the heat. Could he turn it on and off like that? Probably. She shouldn’t let herself get that worked up about it. “It’s different depending on the client, if it’s a company or an individual. Also, is the threat physical or digital? It’s not just adding a new security system, changing the locks and telling you to make sure your windows are secure at night. It’s tailored to the client specifically. I’ll recommend different things based on the threat. And sometimes, when it’s a person, that can extend to things like self-defense training and whatnot.”
“Wow. How’d you get into that?”
“Left the military, started working in the private sector with a security company. It’s pretty typical these days.”
He was older than she’d first thought if he’d accomplished all of that.
“What about you?” he asked.
“Me? Oh, I don’t do anything.”
“Nothing? I find that hard to believe.”
She shrugged. “I’m taking a year off. I finished my Master’s and decided to focus on the family businesses for a bit.”
“Yeah? What’s your specialty?”
“Actuary,” she said, and braced for a blank look.
Instead, Harper nodded. “Risk assessment type stuff, right? Lots of projections, statistics and whatnot?”
“Yeah,” she said slowly.
“You must be really smart.”
Robin opened and closed her mouth. Her instinct was to play it down, after all that’s what Dad did. Only, this time she didn’t want to.
“Yeah. Actually, I am pretty smart,” she admitted.
It felt as though she’d popped the cork on a bottle. Bubbles of pride welled up inside of her and she grinned back at Harper.
He propped his elbow on the back of the bench. “You were totally the top of your class, weren’t you?”
Her cheeks warmed, and she licked her lips. “Which time?”
“Oh.” Harper’s brows lifted. “Listen to you, Miss Which Time? I’m going to guess all three. High school, under grad and master’s.”
“You’d be right on two accounts. I was more than a little done by the time I got through my master’s degree and I wasn’t as diligent as I should have been. I got frustrated with how people who could be the absolute worst scored the better job sometimes.” It galled her, but she’d still been at the top of her class, just not the top.
“Pretty and smart.” He lifted the cup to his lips and drank without breaking eye contact.
Maybe it was time for Robin to do something selfish. She wasn’t going to kid herself, a man like Harper wouldn’t be interested in her for long. She knew she was pretty enough, but when it came down to it, she wasn’t a party girl. She didn’t do wild, unplanned things. And besides, her priority was hunting down the man who’d orchestrated her mother’s murder. Anything else was a distraction.
But maybe what she needed right now was something just for her?
It wouldn’t hurt if he aided in her plans a little either.
“Are you free for dinner tomorrow?” she asked.
“Why wait?” he countered. “What are you doing today?”
Her heart fluttered and once more her cheeks were warm enough her eyes were about to start watering.
“I just know this really great place, but you have to make reservations. There’s never anything the day of, so tomorrow?” That was a lie. She could get in whenever she wanted, but Uncle Daar wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.
“What if we made that a second date?” Harper asked.
The nerve of this man. It was almost too much. He was starting to get to her. All these little butterflies were hard to ignore. “Are you always this forward?”
He regarded her for a moment. “I don’t see the need to play games. If I’m interested in you, why not let you know?”
Oh, boy. Hello butterfly swarm!
She swallowed. There was no arguing that point.
He was the kind of guy who probably had ten little black books. With a face and body like his, women had to be throwing themselves into his bed. But for this moment, he wanted her.
It felt good, and it had been a very long time since Robin felt anything of the kind.
“You barely know me,” she countered.
He lifted a shoulder. “Isn’t that the point though? We go out and I get to know more about you?”
“Are you married? Dating anyone?”
He held out his left hand. His very tanned hand.
No ring and no hint that there had ever been one.
“I’m not into games, Robin. I’m just a simple man who knows what he likes when he sees it.” He set the coffee cup down. “I know I can come on a little strong. I guess…”
She watched his face transform. The light in his eyes dimmed, and she knew he wasn’t here. He was reflecting on a different time and place. A darker period of his life.
“I don’t see the point in waiting for what you want. There’s no guarantee I won’t get hit by a car today, or have a heart attack, or something else. So, why play games with people?”
Robin swallowed, and she felt herself caving.
She closed her eyes and drew in a breath.
Harper was right. His logic made sense. And yet, she had a plan. She couldn’t deviate from that.
“How about a compromise?” she suggested. “Lunch today then dinner tomorrow.”
“Oh, look at you.” He grinned. “Locking in two dates? Now who is being forward?”
Robin chuckled and fanned herself. What was the point in denying that he got to her? Besides, she thought she’d rather enjoy his company.