Free Shot in the Dark by Jennifer Conner Page A

even a date. Sorry, I over-stepped my bounds again.”
    Luci tipped a smile. “I never said it wasn’t a date. I just said bring bread…” she grinned and peered inside the grocery bag, “which I see you forgot.”
    “Shit.” Devan slapped his forehead, chastising himself. The tips of his ears turned light pink from embarrassment.
    “You should have let me write you a sticky note. Writing little notes is the only way I can keep myself organized. But I’ll forgive you this once… since you brought flowers and wine. You can bring bread next time.”
    Luci hoped this wouldn’t turn out to be just one evening. She was really starting to like Devan. And there was still so much she wanted to know about her mystery man.
    Twisting the opener into the cork, he pulled it free from the bottle and poured two glasses of red wine. Handing her a glass he said, “I spoke to the bank’s fraud department investigators. There was a thousand dollars of activity on your account today. They’ll notify me if there’s any additional activity.”
    Her eyes widened. “I called the bank and put a stop on the account. They never said that it had been used.”
    “Whoever had your card seemed to know what they’re doing. It was mainly small sales. Ten dollars here, fifty dollars there.”
    “How could they use my card when they didn’t have my account’s pin number?”
    Devan took a sip of wine and tipped the glass in her direction to make his point. “That’s where there’s a flaw in the system. If the person running the identity scam puts it through as credit they usually won’t be asked to supply the pin.”
    Luci concentrated on tossing the pasta. “I don’t have a thousand dollars.” She shook her head.
    “As long as you report the card stolen, most banks take the loss.” Devan smoothed the front of his shirt with his hand and leaned back crossing his arms.
    “It was a man who stole my purse. How could he pass as a ‘ Luci ’.” She divided the sauce on to the pasta and grated fresh parmesan on the top of the steaming dish.
    Taking his cane he took one plate and moved to the dining table. “Employers don’t take the time to train their people to request to see ID, and they should do it with every transaction. Half the time they haven’t even looked at the name on the card. How many times have you been asked for ID when you buy something?”
    “Not enough.” Luci followed him with her plate and the salad bowl. “You’re right about that.”
    He waited for her to sit then slid into the chair across from her. “Today, there were online purchases with your card. It will give me something else to track.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “I’ll do everything I can to catch him. I started comparing the crimes for the same M.O. It looks like it could be tied in with the others, though it’s early to tell. In the other robberies the man always wore a mask, and the crimes were from the drive-thru windows.”
    “Last night,” she hated thinking about it again. “He wasn’t wearing a mask.”
    “Which leads me to believe it was either a different man, or he’s become blatant and more daring.”
    “Which makes him dangerous.”
    “Yes… dangerous.” His brown eyes grew concerned. “I need to find him.”
    “I’m not worried.” Luci leaned forward on her forearms. “You’ll catch him.”

Chapter 8

    They ate in silence for a minute, until Dev finally said, “I can track him on paper.” He took a sip of wine and let it flow over his tongue. “I can’t move fast enough on foot. I need to be cleared for active duty to be back on the street, and as long as I have this damn cane, I won’t be.”
    “Bullets move fast, you have a gun. Why are you worried about a limp chasing after this bad guy?”
    Her comment surprised him. “You want me to shoot the bastard?”
    “No.” She shook her head. “I don’t like guns. But it makes me feel safe knowing you have one.”
    “Is that why I’m here