Page 14 of Cops and Robbers

He growled and ripped the note from the screen, stretching the Bubblegum behind it until it snapped free. How the hell did she leave the prison and get in here?

With a curse he headed for the exit where her scent lingered.

A keycard slipped to the floor when he opened the door. Adrenaline quivering in his fingertips, he strode into the hallway. The scent permeated the air. She’s close. Following the trail, he landed himself at the elevator that dinged open.

The older woman in a cleaning service outfit raised a hand to her mouth.

“Oh, my,” she muttered, looking him up and down.

Raz gave her a tight grin, feeling, for the first time, the chilly air on his half-naked body.

“Good morning,” he gritted out.

Wide-eyed, she nodded a few times, stepping from the elevator and scurrying away. Biting his lip, he stepped into the mechanical box.

No scent present.

Running his fingers through his hair, he exited the elevator and held the note up to his face. She had never left a message before, so why leave one now?

He marched to his room and slammed the door. A piano melody blared into the space. Raz fished his phone from his crumpled jeans on the floor.

“Special Agent Raz Malone,” he answered.

“We’re going to need you back at the field office pronto,” Regan said.

Sweat gathered on his palm where he held onto the piece of paper. “What happened?”

“Kate escaped along with all her belongings and someone stole the lingerie from evidence. This will be a shit show when the press catches wind.” Her voice vibrated with strain, igniting his protective instincts.

Regan may not have been a dragon, but he considered her a friend—someone to protect. Ever since he’d joined the bureau, she had his back, and he hated to disappoint her.

“I’ll be there in ten.” After packing his belongings, checking out of the hotel, and using his siren to get through traffic, he was there in five minutes.

The press was waiting at the front door, wanting to snap a picture of the woman they still believed was inside. Raz entered through the rear entrance. The field office was a clusterfuck.

Kate’s escape had led to the arrest and interrogation of one police officer, Jeff Cross, whom they’d found locked inside her cell. All Jeff could recall was doing his rounds, which included walking in front of the Bandit’s cell. A lump on the back of the officer’s head showed someone had knocked him unconscious.

What didn’t corroborate his story was the surveillance of that same officer strolling around the field office, collecting Kate’s belongings and stealing the lingerie.

“You’re positive you didn’t bargain with her?” Isak’s voice came through Raz’s headset as he listened to the interrogation and watched the surveillance from the previous night.

“No, I didn’t,” Jeff said. “I did my rounds and passed out. I don’t remember doing anything you’re accusing me of.”

Raz paused the surveillance video. Jack’s lack of extra details told Raz, who had sat through many interrogations, that Jeff wasn’t lying. But Jeff had a bad reputation at the force for a reason. Lying was his game, and he was also aware of their tactics, so he knew to keep his mouth shut. His nonverbal cues—leaning forward, conviction in his voice—were hard to fake, though.

Fallen, from his understanding, couldn’t possess people any more than the evil version of them, Archfiends, could. Mind manipulation was a possibility but that took time.

He reached for his phone again. Daxton, the only dragon knowledgeable about Fallen, hadn’t called back after five attempts, so he dropped his hand and looked back at the surveillance. Rewinding the tape, he stopped at a glitch on the screen. Something bright waved across the camera for a few seconds at the exact moment Jeff Cross walked by her cell. From behind the bars, Kate was in the far-left corner of her cell, sitting up but unmoving.

Did they speak to each other in that short time?

After that, the police officer headed to the evidence locker to gather the lingerie. His behavior didn’t seem off. He was conscious, speaking to those who had greeted him. Everyone said he’d seemed fine, in a good mood.

Jeff had signed the lingerie out to deliver it to their forensics lab. When he left the men’s restroom afterward, he wasn’t carrying any of the items. At around fourteen hundred, someone turned off the feeds and didn’t turn them back on until after they found Jeff in the Bandit’s cell.

Even after hours of intense interrogation, as far as Jeff knew, he’d been unconscious.

Raz took a sip of bitter coffee. He’d been woken around sixteen hundred, giving Kate plenty of time to leave the field office around fourteen hundred and travel to his hotel. How did she find me?