Undone by Moonlight

“No kidding.” She glanced at their hands. “Not that I want you suspended, I just …” Snagging her tablet of notes from the coffee table, she sat on a bar stool across the room. “The guy who hit you is trying to frame you for assault, get you fired and arrested, sent to prison even. That’s a pretty serious plan for a common street thief. Does anybody stand out among your cases?”

“I haven’t arrested anybody who was happy about it.”

“But in-the-moment fury is different than this. This is cold, hard rage. Somebody planned the attack on you.” Her expression full of consideration, she propped her chin against her fist. “They planned it carefully, maybe for a long time. They turned your job against you.”

The medication must have kicked in because Devin had no idea where she was going. “How so?”

“The thief-attacker-fake victim lured you to do your job then made you pay for it the way criminals pay. It’s symbolic.”

“Most convicts aren’t deep thinkers. They look for a quick score. You’re making too much drama out of this.”

She dismissed the idea with a flick of her hand. “Probably. A writer’s prerogative.”

“You write travel articles, not mystery novels.” Still, the idea of a plan to take him out couldn’t be dismissed, since that’s exactly what had happened. “So this guy pretends to be a purse snatcher and runs by me. How did he know I’d be in that bar at that time of day? How could he be sure I’d go after him?”

“He’s watching you.”

“Nobody tails me without me knowing about it.”

“But you were distracted yesterday. Your day off, the neighbor’s ceiling fan, the dry cleaning, football, the wedding. Regular guy stuff. You weren’t in police mode.”

“Cops, even off-duty ones, never stop being cops.”

“If you say so.”

He wished he could blame his countless mistakes yesterday on “regular guy stuff.” In truth, the only thing that might have distracted him was the thought of seeing her, and he wasn’t about to admit his weakness in that particular area.

Could he have been followed? He’d been running full-out over the past few days. Paperwork and court on Wednesday. Late stakeout on Thursday night. Arrest early Friday. But his schedule wasn’t any more hectic this week than any other. He would have noticed some creep tailing him.

“So we start with career guys,” she said, scribbling on her notepad. “Those with long memories and a score to settle.”

“No.” Devin rose. He was wobbly, which he hated, but he was still a cop. It was time he started acting like one. “We start with the scene of the crime.”

CALLA WASN’T SURE how she wound up in a Midtown alley, peeking around a Dumpster, kicking her way around bits of trash and discarded food containers. The owner of the Chinese take-out joint they were lurking behind was destined to open his back door eventually, then they’d have some awkward explaining to do.

The fact that she and Devin found themselves on the opposite side of his coworkers was a development she’d never anticipated.

Since she’d known him, Devin had used his position to help people and serve the cause of justice. He found himself parted from the law now, and she honestly thought she and her friends might be his only hope. She was going to help him whether he wanted her to or not.

She owed him.

So regardless of what he wanted, she wasn’t going to give up on him. Once he got his badge back, she’d decide if anything personal was worth pursuing.

Seriously, did the man always run from women who kissed him?

Not a reaction she’d expected from Detective Badass, to say the least.

Said detective seemed to have forgotten she was there, though she found it hard to be insulted. He was no doubt reliving the assault from the night before.

She imagined him running into the alley, expecting to see the retreating back of his thief. Instead, he’d gotten clocked.

Had his cell phone flown free in the attack? Had he crawled toward it when he regained consciousness? Had he been afraid?

She looked toward him as he knelt on the pavement, running his fingertips across the ground. “Anything?” she asked as she approached.

Not looking up, he shook his head. “I remember chasing him here, then … nothing.”

“So he was the one who hit you?”

“No.” Slowly, he straightened. “He was running away from me when I got hit.”

“The accomplice, lying in wait. He clobbered you.”

“We’d figured that already, but it’s good to have confirmation.” Laying his hand on the back of his head, he winced. “Though I swear I can feel the blow all over again.”

“Meds haven’t kicked in?”

“I see two of you, so I think they have.” Though he turned away, she heard him mutter, “Not that double vision of you is a bad thing.”

She ignored the compliment. Given their unsteady relationship, she thought she’d be wiser to focus on the assault. “And you never got a sense of anybody behind you? A movement? A shadow? A smell even?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you remember what hit you? The guy didn’t strike you with his bare hand. He had to be holding something.”

“A bat, I guess.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “Some guy wandered down Ninth Avenue with a bat, then darted into an alley and nobody questioned him?”

“It was dark and chilly,” Devin said, narrowing his eyes. “Maybe the guy wore a coat.”

“Did he?” she shot back.

“How should I—” He paused, cocking his head. “Maybe I passed somebody as I was walking.”