Page 48 of Cops and Robbers

Throwing caution to the wind, he said, “We need to talk about Midnight.”

She threw her head back. “Why now, Raz? You fear the big baddie stealing for Matsuda?”

“My team needs to know what they’re getting into.”

She pivoted on her heels, eyes deadly daggers. “And what if I am her?”

He recalled the way she killed Lukas—the efficient shot taken before Raz even knew she was there. His heart bled at the idea of Kate in that way. She shook her head in disbelief, as if reading disgust on his face.

“I don’t believe you’re Midnight,” he said. “But I believe you know her more than you’re letting on.”

Her face may have been a mask, but the link pulled tight with a kind of stunned stillness. So she did know her. But to what extent? It had to be enough that she felt she had to keep the truth from him.

“Even if I did, what would that change? You can trust me, especially with you and your team.”

Tribunal help him; he did. But that didn’t keep the fear from evoking the bloody image of his comrades killed by his best friend. She’s not Gerard. The link flared with her sincerity, her determination.

“You will get Lucifer’s Bell,” she said. “The plan is solid. I’ve given you what you need. I’ll handle the rest.”

Fear trickled, sweaty and slimy, over the link. His dragon side growled, prowling close to his mind.

“Let me help you,” he said.

She ran her hand through her hair, her voice gentling, and said, “You are doing your part. Now let’s put this aside and go.”

His hands fisted. Heat built in his diaphragm. But he dropped it, fearing he would push her away the more he asked.

Raz’s ringing phone cut off the car stereo as he and Kate drove back to the Dusted Tuck. Raz stilled when the name “Regan” flashed across his car’s caller ID screen.

“You can respond to that,” Kate said into the silence that had pressed at him since the hotel. “I won’t say anything.”

Kate wasn’t the one he worried about saying something, but since it probably concerned Kate, he decided not to hide it from her. He pressed the answer button on his steering wheel. “This is Detective Raz Malone.”

“I know who you are. You can just say hello.”

Raz chuckled. He had answered that way, knowing it would bother her. “I don’t want you to forget.”

She sighed into the phone. “Anyway. Have you detained our asset?”

The temptation to peer over at Kate beat at him. “I’m still working on it. Might take a week.”

“Well, your informant knows what they are talking about. We have Graham in custody for insurance fraud on his Super Bowl ring.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Kate watched the scenery pass by. A calm acceptance rippled across the link, as if she didn’t care that he moved forward with informing his boss about the trackers without asking her what she planned to do.

“We require the trackers soon to bring in the others, so work double on it,” Regan said.

“Are you going to pay me double, then?”

Regan hooted into the line. “When they pay me double, maybe I’ll consider it. By the way, I also found out you paid for Winston’s surgery. I won’t even ask where you obtained that kind of money, but thank you.”

Heat tickled Raz’s throat. “That’s supposed to be anonymous for a reason. It’s not a big deal.”

“We owe you. Keep me updated. We plan to raid, but our warrants might not arrive for another week.”

“Hopefully I’ll hear more before then. I’m going to let you go. Have a great Monday,” he teased, knowing it was the worst day of the week at the field office.