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Chapter 1

Kat Donovan spun off her father’s old stool, readying to leave O’Malley’s Pub, when Stacy said, “You’re not going to like what I did”

The tone made Kat stop mid-stride “What?”

O’Malley’s used to be an old-school cop bar Kat’s grandfather had hung out here So had her father and their fellow NYPD colleagues Now it had been turned into a yuppie, preppy, uys who sported crisp white shirts under black suits, two-day stubble, manscaped to the max to look un-manscaped They smirked a lot, these soft men, their hair moussed to the point of overcoif, and ordered Ketel One instead of Grey Goose because they watched so them that hat real men drink

Stacy’s eyes started darting around the bar Avoidance Kat didn’t like that

“What did you do?” Kat asked

“Whoa,” Stacy said

“What?”

“A Punch-Worthy at five o’clock”

Kat swiveled to the right to take a peek

“See him?” Stacy asked

“Oh yeah”

Décor-wise, O’Malley’s hadn’t really changed much over the years Sure, the old console TVs had been replaced by a host of flat-screens showing too wide a variety of games—who cared about how the Edmonton Oilers did?—but outside of that, O’Malley had kept the cop feel and that hat had appealed to these posers, the faux authenticity,it into some Disney Epcot version of what it had once been

Kat was the only cop left in here The others noent hos Kat still came and tried to sit quietly on her father’s old stool with the ghosts, especially tonight, with her father’sher anew She just wanted to be here, to feel her father’s presence, to—corny as it sounded—gather strength from it

But the douche bags wouldn’t let her be, would they?

This particular Punch-Worthy—shorthand for any guy deserving a fist to the face—had colasses At eleven o’clock at night In a bar with poor lighting Other punch-worthy indicts, unbuttoned silk shirts, an overabundance of tattoos (special category for those sporting tribal sys when you didn’t serve in thewhite atches

Sunglasses slass toward Kat and Stacy

“He likes us,” Stacy said

“Stop stalling What won’t I like?”

When Stacy turned back toward her, Kat could see over her shoulder the disappoint-with-overpriced-lotion face Kat had seen that look a zillion ti of an understately, teeth-and-bone-and-ed and stupid around Stacy Mostly stupid Really, really stupid

This hy it was probably a uys often concluded that they had no shot when a woman looked like that She seemed unapproachable

Kat, in comparison, did not

Sunglasses honed in on Kat and began to lide on his own slime

Stacy suppressed a giggle “This is going to be good”

Hoping to discourage hilasses was not deterred He bebopped over,only in his own head

“Hey, babe,” Sunglasses said “Is your name Wi-Fi?”

Kat waited

“Because I’ a connection”

Stacy burst out laughing

Kat just stared at him He continued

“I love you small chicks, you know? You’re kinda adorable A spinner, aood on me? You”

“Do these lines ever work?” Kat asked him

“I’hed into his fist, took out his iPhone, and held it up to Kat “Hey, babe, congrats—you’ve just moved to the top of my to-do list”

Stacy loved it