Bounty and Bait

By Tiffany Allee

Sophia Scott runs away from the city after watching her boyfriend murder a man. Ending up in a small town full of farmers and a single stoplight, she has finally started to settle in. Just as she stops looking over her shoulder, a bounty hunter finds her. Her false sense of security withers away, and Sophia makes the decision to stop hiding. She will never be safe until her ex is caught and put in prison.

Nick Ward is a bounty hunter. All he wants is to catch the murderer who skipped bail and collect his money. And he’ll do whatever he has to in order to get his mark—even if that means using Sophia as bait. He is certain that she witnessed the murder, even if she won’t admit it. But solving crimes is no longer his problem—catching bail jumpers is.

Sparks ignite as Nick and Sophia work together to lure out her ex—and soon find themselves wrapped up in each other as they continue the hunt. Nick realizes that he might be wrong about Sophia, and Sophia begins to see that maybe all men aren’t bad. With lies between them and her dangerous ex still on the streets, they will have to learn to trust each other if they want to put him behind bars—and have a chance at love.

• Language: English
• Publisher: After Glows Publishing
• Release date: Mar 6, 2018
• ISBN: 9781944060749

Book preview

Publisher

Bounty & Bait

Sophia Scott runs away from the city after watching her boyfriend murder a man. Ending up in a small town full of farmers and a single stoplight, she has finally started to settle in. Just as she stops looking over her shoulder, a bounty hunter finds her. Her false sense of security withers away, and Sophia makes the decision to stop hiding. She will never be safe until her ex is caught and put in prison.

---

Nick Ward is a bounty hunter. All he wants is to catch the murderer who skipped bail and collect his money. And he’ll do whatever he has to in order to get his mark—even if that means using Sophia as bait. He is certain that she witnessed the murder, even if she won’t admit it. But solving crimes is no longer his problem—catching bail jumpers is.

---

Sparks ignite as Nick and Sophia work together to lure out her ex—and soon find themselves wrapped up in each other as they continue the hunt. Nick realizes that he might be wrong about Sophia, and Sophia begins to see that maybe all men aren’t bad. With lies between them and her dangerous ex still on the streets, they will have to learn to trust each other if they want to put him behind bars—and have a chance at love.

1

Finding Sophia Scott hadn’t been difficult. She hadn’t even bothered to change her name. Of course, there were other ways to stay below the radar. She avoided the use of credit cards, debit cards, her social security card, and anything else that would leave a paper trail to her new address. If she worked, it was under the table for cash. If she hadn’t enrolled in the local college, and Alan, his business partner, hadn’t been such an expert at tracking through computers, Nick might not have found her. Especially since she hadn’t been charged with a crime.

But her ex-boyfriend definitely had.

She didn’t look like a gangster’s girlfriend. Blonde with almost pixie-like features, she was a far cry from what he'd expected. Sophia was gorgeous. Her body had curves in all the right places and her eyes pierced into his soul. But she gave the impression to be too delicate for Nick's usual tastes. He shook his head to rid himself of such thoughts. She was only a target that he was meant to acquire, nothing more.

The wind kicked up, bringing a breeze with the slight edge of fall with it, and the heavy scent of freshly cut grass. A couple more weeks and the woman wouldn't be wearing dainty dresses anymore. Another month and the cold winter would be nipping at her heels.

Nick frowned and folded the newspaper he'd used to partially block his features from Sophia. She was shopping at the farmer's market less than twenty feet away. He stretched his arms and then folded them behind his head, wishing she'd hurry it up already so he could get off the hard bench. Hiding from her was pointless; even if she were on guard for someone like him, it wouldn't make any difference. He was going to talk to Ms. Scott. And she would be coming back to the city with him.

Whether she’d run because she was as guilty as her ex of the murder he’d skipped bail on, or because she didn’t want to live in the same town as Darrell Ferry was none of his concern. He’d catch Ferry either way. Just as soon as he secured his bait.

She didn't even look like she watched for danger. Then again, why would she? There was probably no doubt in her mind that she was completely safe here in this small town where she'd built herself quite the bona fide life over the last year. Or a life that looked crime-free. He knew better.Tigers didn't change their stripes, and attractive features and wholesome image aside, Sophia was a tiger.

She’d moved to a town so tiny and far enough away from the city that no one would think to look for her here. Sophia was a city girl, born and raised. Who would look for her in a village full of farmers and a single traffic light? She spent twenty-four years in the same crime-ridden neighborhood. It went against everything most people would have done; for her to move away to a small town where she didn’t know a soul. It had certainly surprised Nick that she would go so far out of her comfort zone when it was her ex-boyfriend being charged with a crime, and she was clear for now.

Dress waving in the wind, she moved down an aisle filled with fruit, and then selected a single plum and peach. She placed them in her basket and then glanced in his direction. He looked down at his watch as if waiting for someone. She didn't drop her basket and run. Instead, she continued with her shopping. He grinned. A shame, really. It might have been fun to chase her.

Sophia had proven herself to be good at laying low. He had to give her that.

But a couple months ago, she’d registered for classes at the local community college. His company’s computer wizard, Alan, had dug her right up. If a person hit anywhere online, they couldn’t hide from the seemingly harmless man.

Nick pushed up from the bench and walked into the small farmer’s market, trailing behind her as she made her way through the stalls. She picked up a cantaloupe and sniffed one end. Her face brightened into a smile at the scent, and guilt touched him. He locked the emotion down with ruthless efficiency. Guilt was pointless, and in this case, misplaced.

Sophia Scott might look every bit the innocent young college student in her pretty blue dress that hit just above her knee, with her hair pulled back from her nearly makeup-free face in a loose chignon, but she wasn’t. At best, she was complicit in a series of crimes that had left at least one man dead.

At worst, she was an active participant in her ex-boyfriend’s crimes.

He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. Crimes weren't his problem anymore. Neither solving them nor bringing people to justice for them. Catching people who skipped out on bond was his business. And it ended there. He couldn't care less if Sophia was the harmless waif she appeared to be or a criminal mastermind.

For him, she was just a means to an end.

She was one he’d have to charm. Nick prided himself on reading people, one of the skills he’d gained as a cop and refined as a bounty hunter. And Sophia, all alone in a small town full of people she couldn’t possibly open up to in her situation, would be lonely.

He could work with that.

She slipped some tomatoes into her basket and walked to the portable table that held a cash register. Smiling at the older woman behind the till Sophia handed her cash and took her change and receipt. For a likely criminal, she had a sweet smile.

He shook his head and followed her at a distance. She walked back toward her apartment, shooting only a single glance over her shoulder as she closed in on the building. She shoved the key in the building door and looked again in his direction. Their gazes locked, and something flashed in her expression. Fear?

He couldn’t tell. The emotion was gone too quickly, and then so was she, disappearing into the building and allowing the door to slam behind her. Probably reassuring herself that she was safe behind that locked door.

Nick rubbed the back of his neck and smirked. A door couldn’t keep him out, and that was something Sophia was about to learn.

Sophia turned the deadbolt with a shaking hand, then leaned against the door, taking in slow breaths. She was imagining things again. Imagining that someone was after her. Imagining that she was being followed.

She sighed and took her purchases to the tiny kitchen she'd made as homey as possible with her thrift store decorations. Was she ever going to quit seeing shadows in the night, or strangers following her during the day? Her state of mind had gotten better when she registered for classes at the local college, but she didn’t ever feel safe.

Determined to move forward with her life, she forced herself out of the apartment every day. Forced herself to go to the two classes she'd