That cut his fantasy off as quickly as a faceful of ice water. “A what?”

“Attempted murder. Alexi’s precinct. I can probably plead down to assault with a deadly weapon, but I have to see him today so I can meet with the DA in the morning.” She spread her hands. “I’m really sorry I didn’t catch you before you came all the way over.”

“No problem. I’ll go with you.”

“With me?” She liked the idea, a little too much. “You don’t want to spoil your day off spending it at a police station.”

“I’m taking the day off to be with you,” he reminded her, and picked up her coat where she’d tossed it over the back of the couch. “Besides, it won’t take all day, will it?”

“No, probably no more than an hour, but—”

“So let’s get started.” He walked to her, then turned her around so that he could slip the coat slowly on one arm, then the other. Lowering his head, he sniffed at her neck. “Did you spray that stuff on for the felon, or for me?”

She shivered once before cautiously stepping away. “For me.” Picking up her briefcase, she held it between them like a shield. “I have to go by the office first. We already have a file on the guy. He’s been around.”

“Okay.” He tugged the briefcase away, took her hand. “Let’s go, Counselor.”

Alex spotted his sister the moment she walked into the station. Since he wasn’t any happier than she to be spending his Sunday morning at work, he immediately brightened. Giving Rachel a hard time always lifted his spirits.

Grinning, he strolled over, a greeting on his lips. When he spotted the man hovering around her, the humor in his eyes turned instantly to suspicion. “Rach.”

Still clipping her visitor’s badge to her lapel, she glanced up. “Alex. They got you, too, huh?”

“Looks like. Muldoon, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.” Zack returned the steady stare and nodded. “Nice to see you again, Officer.”

“Detective,” Alex corrected. “I didn’t hear anything about LeBeck being pulled in.”

“I’m not here about Nick.” Rachel recognized Alex’s unfriendly, aggressive stance. He’d assumed it with every boy and man she’d dated since she’d turned fifteen. “I’m representing Victor Lomez.”

“Now that’s real slime.” But Alex wasn’t nearly as concerned about Rachel’s client as he was with the reason the big Irishman was carrying her briefcase. “So, did you two run into each other outside?”

“No, Alexi.” Rachel commandeered the coffee he was carrying. Though she knew it was worthless, she shot him a warning glance. “Zack and I had plans for the day.”

“What kind of plans?”

“The kind that aren’t any of your business.” She kissed his cheek as an excuse to get close enough to his ear to whisper, “Knock it off.” Leaning back, she smiled at Zack. “Grab a seat, Muldoon, and some of this horrible coffee. Like I said, this shouldn’t take too long.”

“I got all day,” he told her as she walked off to a conference room. He turned back to Alex and said blandly, “So, you want to take me down to interrogation?”

Alex told himself he wasn’t particularly amused, and gestured with a jerk of his head. “In here’ll do.” It pleased him to be behind his desk while Zack sat in the chair used to grill witnesses. “What’s the story, Muldoon?”

Casually Zack took out a cigarette. He offered one to Alex and lit up when Alex shook his head. “You want to know what I’m doing with your sister.” He blew out a stream of smoke, considering. “If you’re any kind of detective, you should be able to figure that one out. She’s beautiful, she’s smart. She’s a soft heart in a tough, sexy shell.” Taking another drag, he watched Alex’s eyes narrow. “Listen, you want it straight, or do you want me to tell you I’m just interested in her legal services?”

“Watch your step.”

Because he understood the need to protect what he loved, Zack leaned forward. “Stanislaski, if you know Rachel, you know she’s been watching my step. Nobody, but nobody, pushes her into something she doesn’t want.”

“You figure you got her pegged?”

“Are you kidding?” Zack’s smile came quickly, and was friendly enough to make Alex’s shoulders relax. “There isn’t a man alive who really understands a woman. Especially a smart one.” When he saw Alex’s eyes shift over his shoulder, Zack glanced around. He saw a short, wiry, oily-skinned man being hauled toward the conference room by a uniformed cop. “Is that the one?”

“Yeah, that’s Lomez.”

Zack hissed smoke through his teeth and swore roundly. Alex could only agree.

At the conference table, Rachel looked up. Though she’d represented Lomez on his last count of assault, she was going over his file. “Well, Lomez, we meet again.”

“You took your sweet time getting here.” He dropped down in the seat and ignored the hovering cop. But he was sweating. Bungling the mugging meant he’d missed his connection. He hadn’t had a fix in fourteen hours. “You bring me a smoke this time?”

“No. Thank you, Officer.” Rachel waited until she was alone with her client, then folded her hands over his paperwork. “Well, you really pulled a prize this time out. The woman you attacked was sixty-three. I called the hospital this morning. You should be relieved to know they’ve bumped her condition up from critical to fair.”

Lomez shrugged, his small black eyes gleaming at Rachel. He couldn’t keep his hands still. He began to beat a tattoo on the table with his fingertips as he tapped his feet. His system was skidding to a much wilder rhythm. “Hey, if she’d handed over her purse like I told her, I wouldn’t have had to get rough, you know?”

God, he sickened her, Rachel thought, fighting to remember she was a public servant. And Lomez, however revolting, was the public. “Knifing a senior citizen isn’t going to win you the key to the city. It’s sure as hell going to buy you a lock. Damn it, Lomez, she had twelve dollars.”

His mouth was dry, and his skin was cold. “Then it wouldn’t have cost her a lot to hand it over. You just get me out. That’s your job.” And the minute he was back on the street, he’d pressure one of the other Hombres to score for him. “I had to sit in that stinking cell all night.”