Page 69 of Devil's Hour

“You were?” Diego asked, sounding impressed.

Levi batted his ridiculously long eyelashes, reminding Royce of the skunk inBambi.“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“It was,” Royce countered, playing it up. “Do you know any hackers or someone familiar with navigating the dark web?” From his periphery, Royce saw a slender person suddenly rise to their feet and head toward the door. It could’ve been a coincidence, or they might’ve overheard Royce. He turned and saw it was a college-aged guy. “You know him, Levi?”

“Avery Bradford.”

Avery turned and looked back inside the café, noticed that he had Royce’s attention, and immediately bolted down the sidewalk.

“Fuck. So much for a day off,” Royce said, setting his food and drink down on the counter and sprinting after him.

Royce burst out onto the sidewalk, saw the kid had one hell of a head start and was hauling ass. “Police! Stop where you are,” he yelled as he pursued Avery. Royce heard someone approaching fast from behind and glanced over his shoulder just as Diego pulled even with him.

“Don’t chase this one into the street, yeah?” Diego asked, barely sounding winded.

“Fuck you, Fuentes.”

Diego just laughed before kicking it into a higher gear, leaving Royce in his dust.

Challenge received and accepted.

Diego might’ve been bigger, stronger, and faster, but Royce had endurance and agility on his side, which really paid off when Avery’s dashing, darting, and juking didn’t seem to slow him down a bit. While it seemed like Diego and Royce had formed a truce of sorts, Royce still wanted to beat him and make the collar. That meant he didn’t waste breath, energy, or concentration on trash talking when he closed in on, pulled up next to, or even passed by Diego. Catching Avery was his only focus, and Royce knew he’d get the chance when the kid made a sharp right turn into a dead-end alley between two buildings. Unless the fucker had a superpower to scale buildings like Spider-Man, Royce had the guy right where he wanted him.

Royce rounded the corner and had just enough time to spot the threat and duck as Avery swung a piece of lumber someone had dumped in the alley. Royce continued his forward motion, lowering his shoulder and driving it into the much thinner man’s chest, taking him down to the filthy ground.

“Get the fuck off me, man,” the kid wheezed.

Royce was winded as fuck and sucking in air too, so he was grateful when Diego stepped up beside him, calling for a black-and-white on his cell phone. Neither of them was on duty, so they were without weapons or handcuffs.

“Get off me, fat ass,” Bradford groaned. “I’m going to sue for police brutality.”

“You can use your one phone call to contact an attorney,” Royce said tersely.

“Wait? What? I didn’t do anything?”

“It’s called an attempted assault on a police officer, dumbass,” Diego said, squatting down beside them.

All the fight left the kid, and he relaxed beneath Royce’s hold. “I didn’t know you were cops.”

“Bullshit,” Diego snarled. “We both identified ourselves as police multiple times, and you just threatened to file police brutality complaints. You don’t get to have it both ways.”

Royce caught Diego’s eyes, signaling he wanted to take over the questioning. “What did you mean you didn’t realize we were cops?”

“In the café, I overheard you asking about hackers or someone who knows the dark web. I thought you—” As if he realized he’d said too much already, Avery Bradford clammed up. He didn’t speak again when they patted him down or when they put him in the back of a cruiser for transportation to Royce’s precinct.

Diego and Royce walked back to the café, where Levi replaced the salted caramel that had started to cool and looked at Fuentes like he was the next coming of Jesus. Royce thanked Diego for helping him and said goodbye to Levi and then headed toward his car, where he sent Sawyer a quick text before driving to the precinct.

I stumbled across a possible lead in the case when I went to Levi’s to get lunch and your favorite coffee. Heading to precinct for interview. Your sandwich will keep, but I owe you a coffee.

Sawyer’s reply was instant.Levi’s?

I’ll explain later. No need for you to come in. I’ll let you know if there’s a break.

Fuck that. I’m starving. I’ll eat my lunch and drink the coffee while you work.

Royce laughed.Fair enough.

Avery Bradford refused to make eye contact when Royce formally introduced himself in the interview room, and it became clear very quickly that he had no intention of saying another word. Instead of talking just to hear his own voice, Royce ate lunch with Sawyer in the tiny observation room.