Rising Bounty by KD Jones

of some woman on the computer monitor. Isaac quickly lowered the window on the monitor.
    Abe raised his eyebrow. “Did I interrupt something?”
    “No, just doing some research.” Isaac’s voice trailed off as he pulled up something else on his monitor. “What do you need?”
    “I looked over the reports ye gave me. I wanted to see if ye had any of the financial records yet.”
    “I’m working on it. Hadley has opened multiple accounts. Two personal ones, a joined one he shared with his wife—”
    “Ex-wife.”
    “Right — ex-wife. He also has accounts for his political campaign. I take it you are looking for signs of him paying people off?”
    “Yes, especially the judge involved in the child custody case and maybe the witnesses in the trial, too.”
    “He inherited a little bit of money from his father, but his father left the company shares to the board of trustees so he has to be getting his money from his campaign funds.”
    “Let me know if ye find anything. I am going to call the hospital that treated Roxanne all those times that she was hit and needed help. Maybe the doctors will give me some information. Don’t forget to set up the alarms at Roxanne’s apartment.”
    “I’ll leave right now to take care of it.”
    “Thanks Isaac.”
    “No problem. I hate to see a good person like Roxanne treated so badly.”
    “Aye, me too.”
    *****
    A few hours later
     
    Roxanne stood outside the school, waiting for Cici to be released, when her phone vibrated. She checked it. Someone was calling her but she didn’t recognize the number. She declined to answer the call. She got the oddest feeling, as though someone was watching her. She looked around her and spotted a black van with tinted windows parked not too far away. She could make out the shadow of the driver but that was all. It gave her the creeps.
    “Hi, Mama!” Cici called as she came out of the front entrance of the school. Roxanne pushed aside her uneasy feelings and smiled widely as she bent down and swooped her daughter up in her arms.
    “Hi baby, how was your day?”
    “Great! I learned how to write my name.”
    “Really? I can’t wait to get you home so you can show me. Come on, let’s get to the bus stop.” She lowered Cici to the ground and looked up at the van. A man was getting out of the passenger’s side. He looked at them, then quickly glanced away. Every alarm in her body went off, signaling that danger was near.
    She grabbed Cici’s little hand and started walking at a quick pace. Glancing back, she saw the guy from the van was following them. Damn it! The bus wasn’t there yet. She looked around and spotted one of Cici’s teachers.
    “Mrs. Flann, could you do us a favor and give us a lift?”
    “Of course…is something wrong?” Mrs. Flann unlocked her car and reached for the back seat door.
    “No, we’re just meeting someone and didn’t want to have to wait ten minutes for the next bus.” She put Cici in the back, buckled her up, then went around to the front passenger’s side and got inside. She checked again and the guy who had been heading toward them flagged the other guy in the van to pull around.
    She put her hands on her knees and began squeezing to keep from freaking out. “You know, Mrs. Flann, I hate for you to take us all the way across town and out of your way. I have a friend who works close by. Could you drop us off at his office.”
    “No problem.”
    She took out her phone and texted Abe to let him know they were coming to the bail bonds office and that someone was following them. He responded that he was waiting for them. She kept an eye on the van as it followed them.
    About ten minutes later, Mrs. Flann pulled in front of the building. Roxanne felt relief when she spotted Abe.
    “Are you sure about this?” Mrs. Flann looked at Abe and the building with suspicion.
    “Yes, that’s Abe. He’s a bounty hunter and a good friend of mine. Cici, wait for Abe to open the door for you. Thanks for