Undercover cop Dan Hudson is framed for blackmail and kicked off the NOPD force. Enraged about that, and the fact that his lover refuses to stand by him, Dan moves to Denver, where he becomes Dirk Steele. He finds a job working for the Powells, who are pawnbrokers ... and fences. When he proposes to them that he put together a team to steal on demand for the Powells’ less than legitimate clients, a deal is struck and the team is formed. The team consists of Maverick, a thief; Tripp, a street kid who shoplifts to survive; and Fey, another street kid who is an excellent pickpocket and petty thief. Now the question becomes, will the team succeed? And, equally important, will the attraction between Dirk, who has sworn off love, and Maverick -- whose credo is only down and dirty sex -- grow into something more? Or will they remain just 'friends with benefits'? Time will tell as the team takes on increasingly difficult jobs and a man from Dirk's past shows up who could possibly throw a monkey wrench into the works.

Wrong Side of the Law

Dirk checked the notes. “Seats sixty plus seven at the bar. That doesn’t mean people don’t stand against the walls to listen to the music.”


“Is it popular?” Fey wanted to know.


Rather than reply immediately, Dirk did a search for the club. “Weird name,” he muttered. “Scrapple.”


Tripp sighed. “Don’t anyof you know your jazz? Charlie Parker wrote ‘Scrapple from the Apple’. It’s a jazz standard.”


Fey patted Tripp’s shoulder. “They’re all plebeians.”


“Nothing much on Scrapple,” Dirk told them. “It’s new. Only been open for two months. No website, no pictures of the interior on any of the places like Yelp. Getting good reviews there though, so my guess is that it’s probably busy. At least on the weekends.”


“We have to check it out,” Tripp said jubilantly.


“No kidding.” Galvez looked at him, amusement in his expression.


“Let’s wait until Maverick gets back to decide,” Dirk replied. “Until then, is anyone hungry?”


Chapter 58