Page 13 of Cops and Robbers

“Hmm…you should talk to Daxton. See if he knows anything about her. This feels too coincidental.”

“You’re telling me. He didn’t pick up. He’s been pretty radio silent since he mated Izzy. I just…I need some sleep. It’s been a long night.” He still didn’t want to believe she was a Fallen. Given how much his dragon was attracted to her, he didn’t need whatever happened to Daxton and his Fallen to happen to him and this thief. Raz shook his head. What would any answers get him anyway? She was going to jail for a lengthy time, so it didn’t matter. His temples pounded, his dragon battling against his ironclad cage of control.

“Do you think a jail cell will keep her?” Lewis asked.

Raz’s mouth dried. “I have no idea. When she separated into her spirit form, she avoided the cameras. That would be impossible to do from within her cell. But I can’t just sit there and watch her.”

“Hey, I will more than happily stay at the field office. Did she tell you her motive for stealing yet?”

Raz worked his hands around the wheel in a tense, restless motion. Though they all wanted to know if the Bubblegum Bandit was Matsuda’s thief Midnight, Lewis had been a pain in his ass ever since he learned Raz had joined the case. No doubt, he was sitting in bed wearing his pink hoodie with the words ‘The Bubblegum Bandit is my spirit animal’ printed on the front. Raz didn’t understand his infatuation. She might do what no one else in the world could do or dared to, but she was a felon.

“You know I won’t tell you even if I knew,” Raz said.

“A dragon can hope, okay? And now that she’s a supposed Fallen, I’m more invested. Though I guess it makes her heist record less exciting if she has any special abilities.”

Raz laughed as he pulled into the parking garage of the hotel he stayed at while working.

“Other than that spirit trick, she could have fooled me. Nothing special there at all.” Raz cleared his parched throat.

“Did I detect a crack in your voice? Are you lying to me?”

“I just got to the hotel. I’m going to get off here, Lewis.”

“I bet she’s as smoking hot as I think she is,” he murmured with a teasing tone.

“Lewis…” Raz’s voice came out hoarse when he tried to deny the allegation.

Lewis laughed. “Now I know she is.”

“I’m sure someone will leak her mug shot soon enough, and you’ll think otherwise.”

“Whatever you say, Raz,” Lewis muttered while the sound of typing echoed in his car as if his friend was already on the hunt for the photo.

Raz parked and shook his head. Though she’d been a mess, hair askew and mascara smudged, he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her. Something in her gaze, dark yet playful, attracted him, making him want to learn why she had such an entertaining personality.

“I’ll talk to you later. Night,” Raz said.

“Don’t forget to call me with any updates. Night.”

Raz sighed as he turned his car off. Grabbing the few folders he had brought with him, he headed up to his room.

The Lavish Hotel was anything but lavish, but it did the job while he was away from home. Lewis may have enjoyed city life, but Raz preferred solitude. His cabin was just too far to make the commute to Chicago every day. When he walked into his room, he threw the folders onto the made king bed and stripped down to his briefs. After he locked everything for the night, he shut off the lights and closed the blinds to try to keep out the morning light. He crawled under the covers and stared at the abstract gold and red paintings on the wall.

His gut wrenched. Kate had put up a fight today, but he still had the feeling she wanted him to capture her. They didn’t have any identification on her, which made her case tricky. The identity she gave them didn’t exist. She was a ghost. Even her pulled fingerprints had come up empty.

Who was this Fallen?

Maybe it was because she was on his home turf that bugged him. He’d joined the case, and her next target had conveniently been in Chicago, his main location. He pictured her winking at him like she’d done on the fire escape. That little motion had beckoned, “Come and get me.”

Raz woke the next morning to the impression of something caressing his cheek. He jerked fully awake. Someone had drawn back the curtain, allowing the sun to peek through. No one else was in the hotel room. He sat up and took a sharp breath.

Orris and sugar cookies.

Alert, he touched his face where a tingling sensation remained. His gaze stopped on a note stuck to the TV screen.

“Fucking hell.” He threw the covers off and raced over. A satin pink lip print stared back at him with writing below.

Catch me if you can.