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believe.
    Getting the file out of the station was another thing altogether. Deluca wasn’t too keen on Angie. Even asking would be pointless. He’d have to go in alone. The thought left a foul taste in his mouth. He hadn’t been back on his own volition since he’d been escorted out, framed for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he was working the other side, doing whatever it took to clean up the city streets, his streets.
    Standing in front of the PD, Jack slid his hat down to shade his eyes. Time to pull some strings. He threw open the front door and took a sharp right, heading straight for the records clerk, the gatekeeper of case files.
    Today was his lucky day. Tessa was on duty. He grinned, a disarming and calculated smile that managed to be seductive and sweet at the same time. A skill he’d honed during his days walking the beat. Within seconds, he could charm a witness and squeeze pertinent information out of even the most frightened of old ladies.
    He turned up the wattage and leaned against the record clerk’s counter, a woman with more hips than cleavage. Not bad on the eyes, not so young either, but what the hell. What did he care?
    The woman blushed, adjusted her top to slink even lower, and turned her admiring gaze on Jack.
    Not so innocent either.
    This could work to his advantage if he played his cards right.
    “Hiya, Jack. Long time no see.” She leaned forward. “What can I do ya for?”
    This would be easy. “Not this time, hon. Just need a bit of info, info that only you can give me access to. You see, I got this case . . . a distraught widow needs closure, and a bit of Jack’s special brand of justice. Think you can help with that?”
    “You know I can’t do that, Jack.”
    He leaned over and brushed his fingers across her hand, before taking her hand in his. “I’m not asking you to bend any rules, Tessa. Just take a quick coffee break, that’s all.” He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “I’ll make it up to you someday real soon.”
    She leaned back, her face flushed. “Promise?”
    “You betcha, babydoll.”
    She grabbed a pack of smokes and a lighter from her purse. “Lourdes,” she called out, “I’m going on my break.”
    She turned to Jack. “You got ten minutes, not a minute more. And Jack,” she said, “don’t get caught. You owe me.”
    “Just need five. And Tessa?” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Thanks.”
    It wasn’t lost on him that he’d been person non-grata in the close-knit law enforcement circles. Tessa was one of the few people who’d maintained his innocence, remaining a staunch supporter of his.
    It didn’t take long before he found the file he’d been searching for. With time being on the skinny side of life, Jack thumbed through the file, snapping photographs of each page. Before sliding the camera in his pocket, he slipped the memory card out, tucked it into his shoe, and strolled out.
    Rounding the corner, Jack stopped short. Ten feet ahead, Detective Sweeny barred his only exit from the building.
    Damn.
    “Looky who we got here, boys.”
    Three more men joined him, all menacing in their demeanor. They closed the gap between them and Jack.
    Double damn.
    “Well, I’ll be. If it ain’t former Detective Lieutenant Jack Gaines, in the flesh.”
    Detective Wallace, the scrawniest and by far the cockiest of the bunch, spoke. “I thought we done run you out of town.”
    “I’m not cruising for trouble, boys. Just came by to say hello to an old friend.”
    “You don’t got any friends here anymore, but maybe you forgot that. Let’s remind our buddy, Jack, here just what happens to dirty cops.”
    As the men closed in on him, Jack took a deep breath and balled his hands into fists. Fighting would be his only way out.

Chapter 5
    Back in the day, Jack had been in his fair share of scrapes. Gave more beatings than he took, though it had been a long time since he’d had to fend off multiple opponents, so his moves were a bit rusty.