Tramps and Thieves

by Rhys Ford

  “Don’t like where this conversation’s starting off, dude,” Rook interjected sourly. “Just saying.”

  “No, no. That’s not what I mean.” Dante shot Rook an off-kilter smile. “See, it’s always me demanding things from you. I’m asking you if there’s anything else you have stashed away. Anything illegal. Or I’m telling you to stay put or do this. I ask you to trust me, but I’m always poking at you, not trusting you when you tell me you’ve gone straight or at least pushing at you until I’m certain you’re telling the truth.”

  “I broke into houses and cleaned people out, Montoya.” He layered on as much sarcasm as he could, but still it didn’t seem enough to get his point across. “And I was never caught. Not exactly the model citizen you’d hoped to bring home to Manny.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. Or right. I don’t know, cuervo.” He leaned back a little, obviously studying Rook. “I knew who you were when we started this. I knew that bag was from you. I didn’t need you to tell me that. The statutes ran out on all of it, and there I was, picking at you to make sure you had nothing else. I can’t keep asking you to live by my rules and me not giving you some slack to live by yours.”

  “Once again, cat burglar.” Rook tapped his own chest, then ran a hand over Dante’s collarbone. “You’re a cop. You’ve got a shit ton of rules, and I’ve got… well, none. Your life… your rules… make things a bit sticky, but hey, like you said, I knew what I was getting into. Here and now, I am totally clean. Now, since the falcon was mine fair and square, if you guys want to hand over the shit that was inside of it, I wouldn’t say no. Because, babe, as much as I love you, handing all of that over the first time hurt as much as it felt good doing it.”

  “You’re always going to be a thief.” Dante chuckled.

  “Yeah, it’s kind of like an addiction.” He shrugged, tangling his fingers into the hair along Dante’s nape. “Or maybe it’s just who I am. I don’t know. But I’ve got other things to keep me occupied now. The store. Archie. You.”

  “I’m looking forward to keeping you occupied.” Dante’s voice went low, husky with a hint of lust. “As soon as that side of yours heals. You shouldn’t have tackled Margaret—”

  “Dante?” A woman’s voice sounded out from behind Rook, and whoever it was made Dante stiffen. “Is that you?”

  The sun was nearly gone, leaving shadows behind to swallow up the side of the house, and the faerie lights cast only a soft glow, a brush of gold on their bodies and face. Dante didn’t say a word as he carefully eased Rook off of him, gently untangling their limbs. Then he slid off of the bench to stand at Rook’s side, a silent monolith rising to face who was there.

  Rook turned, and the woman stepped into the circle of light coming from the front porch. She was short, thick-waisted, and wore a knee-length floral dress covered in orange poppies with nearly matching tangerine-and-black flats. With her long silver-streaked black hair pulled back into a ponytail, her round face was hauntingly Manny’s, round and creased with deep laugh lines bracketing her wide full mouth, her bright red lipstick a vivid slash of color against her shocked-to-pale skin.

  Her eyes, however, were Dante’s, rich with amber and honey, thickly lashed and tilted up at the corners, and when she stepped forward, she nearly stumbled, catching herself against the house with the flat of her hand. A carry-on purple suitcase sat on the cement walk behind her, matching the bag she clutched tightly in her free hand, and it trembled in her grasp, rattling until she carefully slid it between two of the porch’s slats.

  Turning back to face them, she squared her shoulders—another too familiar gesture—and asked, “Mijo, Who… who is this?”

  Dante glanced down at Rook, as if seeing him for the first time, and Rook swallowed, trapped between a rock and a hard place he’d never guessed he’d have to squirm out of. Standing up, he was ready to make an excuse—any excuse—when Dante took his hand and held it, gently pulling Rook closer to his side.

  “Hola, Mama.” His smile was sad, resigned even, but the fire in his eyes was fierce, even in the dim light. Then Dante swallowed and said, “This is Rook, the man I hope one day I will be lucky enough to call my husband.”

  More from Rhys Ford

  Murder and Mayhem: Book One

  Dead women tell no tales.

  Former cat burglar Rook Stevens stole many a priceless thing in the past, but he’s never been accused of taking a life—until now. It was one thing to find a former associate inside Potter’s Field, his pop culture memorabilia shop, but quite another to stumble across her dead body.

  Detective Dante Montoya thought he’d never see Rook Stevens again—not after his former partner falsified evidence to entrap the jewelry thief and Stevens walked off scot-free. So when he tackled a fleeing murder suspect, Dante was shocked to discover the blood-covered man was none other than the thief he’d fought to put in prison and who still makes his blood sing.

  Rook is determined to shake loose the murder charge against him, even if it means putting distance between him and the rugged Cuban-Mexican detective who brought him down. If one dead con artist wasn’t bad enough, others soon follow, and as the bodies pile up around Rook’s feet, he’s forced to reach out to the last man he’d expect to believe in his innocence—and the only man who’s ever gotten under Rook’s skin.

  Welcome to Dim Sum Asylum: a San Francisco where it’s a ho-hum kind of case when a cop has to chase down an enchanted two-foot-tall shrine god statue with an impressive Fu Manchu mustache that’s running around Chinatown, trolling sex magic and chaos in its wake.

  Senior Inspector Roku MacCormick of the Chinatown Arcane Crimes Division faces a pile of challenges far beyond his human-faerie heritage, snarling dragons guarding C-Town’s multiple gates, and exploding noodle factories. After a case goes sideways, Roku is saddled with Trent Leonard, a new partner he can’t trust, to add to the crime syndicate family he doesn’t want and a spell-casting serial killer he desperately needs to find.

  While Roku would rather stay home with Bob the Cat and whiskey himself to sleep, he puts on his badge and gun every day, determined to serve and protect the city he loves. When Chinatown’s dark mystical underworld makes his life hell and the case turns deadly, Trent guards Roku’s back and, if Trent can be believed, his heart… even if from what Roku can see, Trent is as dangerous as the monsters and criminals they’re sworn to bring down.

  How do you save a drowning man when that drowning man is you?

  Jake Moore’s world fits too tightly around him. Every penny he makes as a welder goes to care for his dying father, an abusive, controlling man who’s the only family Jake has left. Because of a promise to his dead mother, Jake resists his desire for other men, but it leaves him consumed by darkness.

  It takes all of Dallas Yates’s imagination to see the possibilities in the fatigued art deco building on WeHo’s outskirts, but what seals the deal is a shy smile from the handsome metal worker across the street. Their friendship deepens while Dallas peels back the hardened layers strangling Jake’s soul. It’s easy to love the sweet, artistic man hidden behind Jake’s shattered exterior, but Dallas knows Jake needs to first learn to love himself.

  When Jake’s world crumbles, he reaches for Dallas, the man he’s learned to lean on. It’s only a matter of time before he’s left to drift in a life he never wanted to lead and while he wants more, Jake’s past haunts him, making him doubt he’s worth the love Dallas is so desperate to give him.

  Half Moon Bay: Book One

  Deacon Reid was born bad to the bone with no intention of changing. A lifetime of law-bending and living on the edge suits him just fine—until his baby sister dies and he finds himself raising her little girl.

  Staring down a family history of bad decisions and reaped consequences, Deacon cashes in everything he owns, purchases an auto shop in Half Moon Bay, and takes his niece, Zig, far away from the drug dens and murderous streets they grew up on. Zig deserves a better life than what he had, and Deacon is
determined to give it to her.

  Lang Harris is stunned when Zig, a little girl in combat boots and a purple tutu, blows into his bookstore, and then he’s left speechless when her uncle, Deacon Reid, walks in hot on her heels. Lang always played it safe, but Deacon tempts him to step over the line… just a little bit.

  More than a little bit. And Lang is willing to be tempted.

  Unfortunately, Zig isn’t the only bit of chaos dropped into Half Moon Bay. Violence and death strike, leaving Deacon scrambling to fight off a killer before he loses not only Zig but Lang too.

  Half Moon Bay: Book Two

  Angel Daniels grew up hard, one step ahead of the law and always looking over his shoulder. A grifter’s son, he’d learned every con and trick in the book but ached for a normal life. Once out on his own, Angel returns to Half Moon Bay where he once found… and then lost… love.

  Now, Angel’s life is a frantic mess of schedules and chaos. Between running his bakery and raising his troubled eleven-year-old half brother, Roman, Angel has a hectic but happy life. Then West Harris returns to Half Moon Bay and threatens to break Angel all over again by taking away the only home he and Rome ever had.

  When they were young, Angel taught West how to love and laugh, but when Angel moved on, West locked his heart up and threw away the key. Older and hardened, West returns to Half Moon Bay and finds himself face-to-face with the man he’d lost. Now West is torn between killing Angel or holding him tight.

  But rekindling their passionate relationship is jeopardized as someone wants one or both of them dead, and as the terrifying danger mounts, neither man knows if the menace will bring them together or forever tear them apart.

  Readers love Murder and Mayhem by Rhys Ford

  “Once again Rhys Ford takes readers on a wild, adrenaline filled ride in her newest romantic suspense offering, Murder and Mayhem.”

  —Fiction Vixen

  “I am definitely looking forward to more in this series. Ex-thief and righteous cop make a fantastic detective duo.”

  —Reading Reality

  “With such imagery and twisted plot threads, I couldn’t walk away from this book. I wanted to solve the mystery, but I didn’t want it to end, either.”

  —GGR Reviews

  “There is no question that Rhys Ford goes full throttle with the first in a brand new series called Murder and Mayhem.”

  —Under the Covers Book Blog

  RHYS FORD is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series and was a 2016 LAMBDA finalist with her novel, Murder and Mayhem. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

  She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal, and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog, and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Yoshi, a grumpy tuxedo cat, and Tam, a diabetic black pygmy panther, as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.

  Rhys can be found at the following locations:

  Blog: www.rhysford.com

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/rhys.ford.author

  Twitter: @Rhys_Ford

  By Rhys Ford

  Clockwork Tangerine

  With Poppy Dennison: Creature Feature 2

  Dim Sum Asylum

  Grand Adventures (Dreamspinner Anthology)

  There’s This Guy

  COLE MCGINNIS MYSTERIES

  Dirty Kiss

  Dirty Secret

  Dirty Laundry

  Dirty Deeds

  Down and Dirty

  Dirty Heart

  Dirty Bites (Available only on Dreampsinner Press)

  HALF MOON BAY

  Fish Stick Fridays

  Hanging the Stars

  HELLSINGER

  Fish and Ghosts

  Duck Duck Ghost

  MURDER AND MAYHEM

  Murder and Mayhem

  Tramps and Thieves

  SINNERS SERIES

  Sinner’s Gin

  Whiskey and Wry

  The Devil’s Brew

  Tequila Mockingbird

  Sloe Ride

  Absinthe of Malice

  Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  Published by

  DREAMSPINNER PRESS

  5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA

  www.dreamspinnerpress.com

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Tramps and Thieves

  © 2017 Rhys Ford.

  Cover Art

  © 2017 Reece Notley.

  reece@vitaenoir.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.

  ISBN: 978-1-64080-037-3

  Digital ISBN: 978-1-64080-038-0

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017910304

  Published September 2017

  v. 1.3

  Printed in the United States of America