Willis Moore is a detective with the Richmond City police department. A case he was involved with went down badly and he was given a month's sabbatical to pull himself together after the death of his informant, a young man named Teabag, with whom Will had let himself become sexually involved.<br><br>Back on the force now, Will finds himself drawn to another street punk, a hustler named Corey, who seeks police assistance to protect his "boys" from a violent attacker. He and Corey work well together, and Will dares to hope their relationship might be heading toward something more. But he still can't seem to shake the feeling he will eventually fail to protect the hustler ... the same way he failed to save Tea.

Tricked Out

But Grantland didn’t let up. Nudging Will, he lowered his voice and asked, “I hear she left the Bagley folder on your desk.”


Suddenly Will’s stomach clenched, and his blood turned to ice in his veins. Funny how one name could turn on his defenses as easily as flipping a switch could turn on the light. “Burt,” he warned, “don’t even—”


“Such a waste,” Grantland said. He shook his head, but his eyes burned with an inner glow that Will thought almost fanatical. “A young guy like that, just turning his life around, getting shot down in the street like a dog.”


The hand holding Will’s coffee cup squeezed, and the insulated plastic creaked.


Chapter 9