Cold Hard Steele (Daggers & Steele Book 2) Read Free Page A

six foot seven, with skin that resembled an elephant’s in both color and composition, and his mismatched buckteeth gave his smile a malicious quality, no matter how good his intentions were. He’d spent his time in goon squads on both sides of the law, but after a youth full of indiscretions, he’d eventually joined the force. Good thing, too. Our precinct’s health insurance premiums could’ve skyrocketed after a single untoward encounter with the guy.
    “Ahh, Quinto,” I said. “You’re looking fit and trim today. You been working out?”
    He stuffed his skillet-sized hands into his pockets. “Depends. Does throwing punks through walls count?”
    “I’m going to go with yes.”
    “Then sure,” he said. “I’ve been working up a sweat three, four times a week or so.”
    “Ouch.” I puckered. “Does our fair city even have that many thugs in need of pummeling?”
    “You’d be surprised,” said Quinto. “Though some repeat offenders get the old one-two on a regular basis. You’d think they’d learn after a couple smackdowns, but they keep on getting into trouble. I blame our crumbling school systems.”
    “What do you expect?” I said. “Teachers are one of the few public servants paid even worse than we are.”
    Quinto nodded. “Perhaps. So, are you going to answer my question? What took you so long? You wake up drunk again?”
    I frowned. “Why is that everyone’s first assumption today?”
    “It’s like playing the stocks,” said Quinto. “Past performance doesn’t necessarily predict future results, but at least it gives you something to go on.”
    “Fair enough,” I said. “But no. I was out with Nicole.”
    Quinto raised a questioning eyebrow.
    I shook my head. “Just spending some time with the kid.”
    “Ahh.”
    Quinto didn’t pry any further. He possessed enough wisdom not to delve into that morass of tangled emotions and bitter feelings. I’m not sure if his good sense came from simple propriety or from the fact that he’d never been in a serious relationship himself and had no idea what the hell to say. Either way worked for me.
    “So,” he said. “What’s in your pocket?”
    “Maybe I’m just happy to see you.” I grinned.
    “Seriously, Daggers.”
    I pulled a white paper bag from my right coat pocket and opened it. “I got kolaches from Tolek’s. Apricot, blueberry, and honey. Want one? Not the apricot, of course. That one’s mine.”
    “You’re kidding, right?” said Quinto. “It’s almost lunchtime.”
    A warm voice came from the far side of the room. “Oh, Quinto. You should know better than that. Daggers never kids when it comes to kolaches.”
     

4
    My partner, Detective Shay Steele, sauntered into the room, a playful smile splayed across her thin lips. Her dark chocolate-colored hair hung over her shoulder in a loose, knotted ponytail, and hints of subtle curves peeked out from underneath the bodice of her burgundy pantsuit. Her azure eyes twinkled with a quiet mirth, and her sharp nose was tilted ever so slightly toward the ceiling. I could tell I was in for some sass.
    “Let’s see, Daggers,” said Steele as she walked up. “I know for a fact you only eat kolaches for breakfast, so given that you have them on hand, you must not have eaten your first meal of the day. Given how cranky you become without food, I have to assume you recently woke up. The question is why. Can I assume—”
    I put a hand up. “I wasn’t drunk. And I’m not hungover.”
    “I wasn’t going to say that,” said Shay. “I was going to speculate that perhaps you overslept and didn’t have time to grab a bite before you met up with your ex-wife and son.”
    I nearly bit my tongue in surprise. “That’s not far from the truth. But how’d you know what I was up to this morning?”
    “Are you sure you’re not drunk, Daggers?” asked Quinto. “She can see into the past, remember?”
    Steele didn’t miss a beat. “Nothing so complex as that, Quinto. He told