Free Hard Days Knight: Under-Cover Knights, Book 1 by Livia Quinn Page A

opened and Mercy and Roger walked out.
    Damn . Luc just nodded, hoping they’d keep going but Mercy stopped. “Everything okay, Luc?” She put her hand on his arm—as if he wanted her support—then glanced at Delilah. “Didn’t we meet the other day?” Mercy asked Del. “Is Luc in some kind of trouble, officer?”
    Luc gritted his teeth. “I’ve got this, Mercy. Roger. Thanks for stopping, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Go away, Mercy .
    Mercy lingered, but when Roger tugged on her arm she let him drag her away to his car.
    Luc turned to Delilah. “Look Del, I didn’t even think about calling the police this morning. I thought kids had just let the air out until the tire center called to tell me they were slashed. Then I had to call my insurance agent, arrange for new tires. Besides, there’s been a string of incidents like that lately. I saw it in the paper.”
    “All the more reason.” She nodded at KPI. “The receptionist here assumed you’d called the police. She asked me if I was here to take a police report. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known that someone slashed all of your tires!” Realizing she’d raised her voice, Del looked at the sky, hands on her hips, trying to get her breathing under control.
    Luc smiled. “Thanks for worrying about me, Del.” He looked the parking lot over to see if anyone lingered, especially his irritating co-worker, but it was deserted. “Can I get a hug, sweetheart? You know the only reason I got sidelined by Mercy that day in the hallway was because I was thinking of you.” He reached for her.
    “Don’t you—keep your hands to your self, sweetheart!” She leaned back against her hood and blew out a breath. “Ohhhh. Men.”
    He eased over to her, placing his legs around hers. “I’m sorry. It didn’t occur to me that you would find out and be worried.” He kissed her briefly. “That’s sweet.”
    A frustrated sigh escaped and she bounced her forehead against his rock hard chest then looked up at him. “Luc, this is probably not the work of kids. Slashing is a personal crime, a violent act meant to send some kind of message. Whoever did that is not happy with you.” She drew her head back to look into his eyes. “If you have any idea who that could be, please, let me do my job.”
    “No. It has to be a prank.” He tried to sound as convinced as he wished he were.
    She pulled away. “Remember me telling the kids one of the things I’m good at? Well, I’d bet my next days off you’re not being straight with me. Are you married, or involved with someone and not telling me?”
    “No!” Luc pushed away from the car. “How could you think that?”
    “I just met you a few days ago.” Her temper spiked.
    “Yeah, but you got the benefit of a background check. I don’t know nearly as much about you, and I’m not giving you the third degree.”
    “This is just the kind of thing a jealous lover would do, Luc, after discovering her boyfriend slept with someone.” She yanked open the door to her cruiser. “Think about filing a police report when you’re ready to come clean.”
    “But—” His mouth dropped open as she pulled away and he thought about what she’d said. A jealous lover, or someone who wanted to be. “Damn. It.”
    He didn’t want to ruin a good thing. He didn’t want Delilah to think he was keeping anything from her. And he wasn’t, really. It was just a stupid feeling. Right or wrong, he’d look like a weenie. A man should be able to handle harassment shouldn’t he? That’s all it was. And he still couldn’t believe Mercy could have done something as vicious—okay vicious, yes, but not as blatant as cutting his tires. She’d be one of those women who would call you in the middle of the night and breathe into the phone and keep you up all night, but she wouldn’t have the guts to do his tires…would she?
    “Nah, she’s all wind and no storm; all queen and no court. All dust but no haboob.” He was thinking tired and the