Nocturne 040 – Scions 02 - Patrice Michelle - Insurrection by Silhouette Nocturne Page A

button, she stared in shock. He closed the thick folder that had been sitting on the desk in front of him and handed it across the desk toward her. “We wouldn’t have a solid case, McKinney. Here’s your new assignment.”
    As the last of her report disappeared into the waste bin, chewed to criss-cross shreds, pressure weighted heavily on Kaitlyn’s chest. The itinerary was her only copy. Everything else in her typewritten report was just the research she’d collected. She tensed her jaw and her throat burned with the need to scream her frustration at Ron. Apparently Remy had held up his end of the bargain with the Tacomi employee—he’d taken care of the police.
    “But all we have to do is catch them in the act—”
    “Let it go, McKinney.” Ron gave her a direct stare. “You’ve been reassigned. You’ll have a partner for this case, Kent Sloan. If you don’t like it, go back to your old job. Am I clear?”
    She set her lips in a firm line and stood, taking the folder he held out.
    “Crystal.”
    As she turned to walk out of his office, her spine stiff and her ego bruised, Ron said in a softer voice, “We can’t win them all, Kaitlyn.”
    She paused in his doorway and glanced over her shoulder. “Hank was so wrong about you.”
    Without another word, she turned away and headed down the hall toward her desk, the overstuffed manila folder clutched in her hand. When she got back to her desk, she sat there for several minutes, numb and disillusioned.
    General conversation buzzed around her. Three detectives were standing around the coffeepot, discussing last night’s game. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. But something was very wrong. Her boss had apparently been intimidated into inaction. Now what in the hell was she supposed to do?
    The title of detective wasn’t the be-all and end-all to Kaitlyn. It just gave her the ability to work and solve cases. That was the most important thing to her, not some badge. This was her first case, and it felt like a failure to her to be reassigned.
    Her stomach growled again, reminding her she needed to eat. As her breathing came in rampant pants over her frustrating situation, she realized she needed to get some fresh air, too.
    She grabbed her purse from her desk drawer and stood up, ready to head through the maze of cubicles toward the exit.
    “Hey, McKinney,” a male called out, stopping her. Kaitlyn turned as a tall, dark-haired man walked up and held out his hand. “I’m Kent Sloan. Looking forward to working with you.”
    She grasped his hand and stared into his deep blue eyes, wondering who she could trust anymore. Damn, she needed to get out of the office. She was seeing conspiracy everywhere. “Nice to meet you. I’m running out for lunch. Want to go over the case file when I get back?”
    “It’s a pretty thick case file. Why don’t we start going over it now? We’re going to be here for a while.”
    Kaitlyn glanced at the three-inch case file on her desk and released his hand with a heavy sigh. “Which desk? Yours or mine?”

    It was dark outside by the time Kaitlyn arrived home. She and Kent had spent the rest of the day going through her new case. Tired and annoyed, she didn’t even bother turning on the lights as she walked inside her house and set her purse and paperwork on the table in the hall. She started to walk down the hall, intending to change clothes and then go see her mother, when the tiny hairs on her arms began to stand up.
    Something wasn’t right. The air felt warmer…as if recently disturbed. Someone was here.
    She quietly unsnapped the gun holster and pulled her gun, her pulse tripping a staccato beat. Her breathing turned shallow as she started to pass her father’s office. A man’s shadowed outline sat in the chair at her father’s desk.
    She rounded the corner and cocked her gun, aiming it at the intruder.
    “It never looks good to shoot your boss, McKinney,” Ron’s calm voice floated across the room
    Relief