Unseen (Will Trent / Atlanta Series)

streets. Oftentimes, they were in the back of a squad car. They chose the wrong guys, made all the wrong decisions. The worse you treated them, the tighter they held on.
    Will had always known this type of woman found him attractive. Maybe it was the scars on his face. Maybe it was some invisible mark left by his childhood that only fellow travelers could see.Either way, they were drawn to Will because they thought he was damaged or dangerous or both. He had spent his life avoiding them. The only way to hold the interest of a desperate woman was to be a certain type of man. Will had never wanted to be that man.
    “Hey,” the nurse called. She stood in the open doorway, hand on her hip. “It’s Cayla, by the way.”
    Will stared at her. He was standing outside the employee locker room. She was thirty feet away. The gray dolphins on her shirt looked like spoiled sperm.
    She gave a flirty smile. “Cayla with a
C
.”
    Will didn’t think another grunt would travel. He tried to be clever. “You want me to write that down or something?”
    “Sure do.” She laughed in a way that made him feel small. “Whatchu doin’ after work?”
    He shrugged.
    “Why don’t you come by my house for supper? I bet you ain’t had nothin’ home-cooked since you got out.”
    Bill Black’s history had gotten around fast. Will had worked at the hospital less than two weeks and she already knew he’d been in jail.
    She pressed, “How about it? Around seven? I can get a good scald on a chicken.”
    Will hesitated. He knew Cayla Martin’s name from her rap sheet, which showed an arrest for drunken driving four years ago. DUIs came with expensive fines. Cayla still had another thousand dollars to pay before she was allowed to do more than drive herself to and from work. She was also a pharmacy nurse, which meant she had access to all the pills that kept getting stolen.
    Cayla stamped her foot. “Come on, Bud. Let me cook you somethin’ good.”
    Will was contemplating his options when Tony Dell came out of the locker room. The man panicked. His sneakers squeaked against the floor as he tripped over his feet trying to flee.
    Con or cop—it didn’t matter. When someone was trying to getaway from you, you stopped them. Will dropped his helmet on the floor. He grabbed Tony by the back of the neck and slammed him face-first into the door.
    “Hey!” Tony cried. He was a little guy. Will was almost a foot and a half taller and carried at least fifty pounds more muscle. Lifting Tony off his feet was as easy as lifting Sara.
    Will made his voice a growl. “What the fuck did you get me into?”
    “I didn’t—” Tony tried. Obviously, it was difficult for him to talk with his face smashed against a door. “Come on, Bud! I was tryin’ to hook you up!”
    “I’ll hook you to a fucking noose.”
    “Bud! I’m serious, dude. I didn’t know!” His toes kicked at the door as he tried to find purchase. “Come on!”
    Will let him go. Tony’s feet slid back to the floor. He took a few seconds to collect himself. He was breathing hard. Sweat poured from his brow, but whether that was because he was high or terrified, Will wasn’t sure. Regardless, now that Tony wasn’t afraid of having his neck snapped, he took umbrage with the rough treatment. “Jesus, dude. What’s wrong with you?”
    Will demanded, “Who set up the job?”
    Tony looked up and down the hallway to make sure they were alone. Cayla had vanished. Women like that knew when to get out of the way.
    “Damn.” Tony rubbed the back of his neck. “That hurt, man.”
    “Who set it up?” Will jammed his finger into Tony’s shoulder. “Tell me, you little shit.”
    Tony slapped his hand to his shoulder. “I don’t know. Two guys at the bar came up and asked did I wanna make some money.”
    “Last night?”
    “Yeah, after work.”
    “You knew them?”
    “I seen ’em around.” He started rubbing his shoulder. “You seen ’em, too. Them guys who hang back in the special corner.”
    The VIP section of Tipsie’s. Will had seen it all right. It was about as welcoming as the shower room at the state pen. “How much money did they offer?”
    Tony turned shifty.
    Will put his hand on Tony’s chest and pushed him back against the door. There was no force behind the hold, but the threat was enough to get the little man talking.
    “Fifteen hundred bucks.”
    Will pulled back his fist. “You mother—”
    “They told me we’d be safe!” Tony yelled, his hands