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“Don’t call him that,” Ford growled.

“Artifice Junior then? I’m partial to Guile too.”

“Lopez—”

Andrew’s phone buzzed in his pocket.

A second later, Ford’s did too.

It was obvious they’d received similar messages once Andrew read his—one of his police notifications for anything related to his business.

Burglary in progress.

He and Ford eyed each other with a touch of their usual evasiveness.

“While working together, why don’t we agree on an honor system,” Andrew said. “We share everything we find out until this case is over. ForDalton.”

“Riley got an alert about a robbery,” Ford relented. “It seems the MO was like our mystery thief, but when they tried to leave, they tripped an alarm. After all these break-ins, they hit in the middle of the day and finally messed up.”

“Allthese break-ins?” Dalton repeated. “You mean this thief has struck before?”

So much for keeping it a secret. “Sorry, Dalton,” Andrew said, “The police have been keeping it under wraps, and Steve was being kind of a jerk about it yesterday. But it’s not my fault if you found out from someone else. The thief’s gone though, huh?” He turned to Ford.

“Justtripped the alarm, which means they could still be in the area.” That grin on Ford’s face was dangerous.

“The police—”

“Will take too long. We’re closer than the nearest precinct. The place that was hit is between here and my offices.”

“Are you suggesting…”

Ford shrugged when Andrew trailed off.

“Go! You might get a lead!” Dalton encouraged them.

They could beat the police. Andrew wasn’t an investigator anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t dabble, as long as he didn’t get in their way. And it would be so satisfying to rub a win in Steven’s face.

“Go!” Kevin agreed. “I’ll stay with Dalton. We can figure out a time to meet later.”

If even Kevin was okay with this, Andrew wouldn’t wait for further deliberation.

He and Ford shared one more calculating look, and then bolted for the elevator.

Chapter 5

ANDREW

“Car?”Andrewaskedwhenthey hit the street.

“We’ll be faster on foot.” Ford took off, and Andrew kept pace at his side, ignoring any passersby that looked at them funny for sprinting down the sidewalk.

Avalon was at the edge of the nicer parts of downtown, which led into the warehouse distract—where Ford’s offices were. They headed that direction, and Ford pulled an earpiece from his pocket.

“Riley, report,” he called, barely out of breath as they ran. Andrew wished he could listen in the way Ford had done with him the other night. “You’re sure? No one suspicious on any nearby cameras?”

Riley Sedgwick could hack into street cams that quickly? Andrew better never tell Kevin; as much as Candace hated Ford, Kevin hated Riley more.

“Keep scanning. We’re almost there.”