Title: Shift Work
Publisher: Rogue Firebird Press
Release: March 19
You’d think the werewolves would be the worst thing about the Night Shift; you’d be wrong.
All Officer Kit Marlow wanted was a cup of coffee and some downtime before his next night shift. Instead, he got a naked man in the elevator and an unaccounted-for dead girl in the morgue. He’s going to need to deal with both before he can head for his bed.
Or anyone else’s. Although not much chance of that.
Reluctantly partnered with the acerbic security consultant Cade Deacon—last seen naked in the elevator—Marlow delves into the dead girl’s life. Between them, they uncover a new crime scene with the whiff of old corruption. A corruption that, five years ago, nearly took Marlow’s life and ended his career.
Finding out who killed the dead girl on the slab might only be the start of this investigation. Oh, and it’s the second night of the full moon. So 80% of the city, including Cade, will turn into werewolves in the middle of the case.
So, there’s that.
First of all, thank you so much for having me! I’m thrilled to be here with my new release, Shift Work by TA Moore. It’s a novella. It’s a longish novella, but still a novella. It’s the first book in a three book series that will be coming out over the next….three months. So that’s easy! Well, for you. I’m going to have no nails left.
For the blog tour I’ve written a short story set in the Night Shift world. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter One
This was it. First day of his new job.
Marlow shrugged the harness on and adjusted the fit over his shoulders. He clipped it together, tight enough to catch over his ribs when he inhaled, but that would work itself loose, and glanced at himself in the floor-length mirror. His reflection looked the part. Fitted black uniform, polished boots, and hair cropped so close to his skull you could see the planes of bone. He still had a split lip and the remnants of a black eye from the final TAC academy exam.
Now all he had to do was prove that he could do the job, not just look like he could.
He clipped his gun to his belt and checked the time. Ten minutes to his first shift. One hour till moonrise.
Make that the first NIGHT on the new job.
***
“…complaints of fouled meat left out,” Captain Bailey said as she glanced down the briefing notes. “Get on top of that. I know it won’t do any permanent damage, but do any of you want to get puked on?”
She looked around the room. All the Night Shift officers assembled for roll call laughed and shook their heads.
Bailey tucked the briefing notes back into the folder and nodded across the room to Marlow. He felt his ears flush and straightened up from his slouch against the door frame as everyone turned to look at him.
“We also have this season’s only rookie,” Bailey said. “Kit Marlow. Piper? He’s with your crew. Don’t get him killed, at least not until the new recruit smell wears off. Marlow? Do what Piper tells you. Best way to stay in one piece.”
That was an understatement. Piper was the best. He’d been Night Shift for twenty years, broken up the Mission Hill pack, and helped crack the back of the Toothless cartel, who ran drugs and people across the border during the full moon.
Or had, until Piper busted their leader.
“Ma’am,” Marlow said. It felt like everyone in the room wanted to see his reaction to the posting. He hooked his thumb through his belt and dipped his chin briefly. “Sounds like a plan.”
Bailey chuckled and tucked the briefing back into her folder. She tucked it under her elbow and cast a suddenly serious look around the room.
“And above all else,” she said. “Remember that you’re—“
“What about Cordell Franklin?” someone asked. It was a man with scruffy, sandy brown hair and enough lazy confidence to power a battery. Jim Piper, in the much-decorated flesh. “I thought he was this year’s other rookie?”
He sounded disappointed. Marlow tried to ignore the sinking feeling in his gut.
“Broke his hip.”
There was a pause as everyone took that in.
“What is he?” Piper asked. “Seventy? I thought he was meant to be a rookie?”
Bailey raised her hand to quiet the snickers that spread through the room. “Very funny,” she said. “He was providing support to the Night Shift last month and was in a duty-related crash when a wolf dropped off an overpass onto the car. He’s going to be laid up for a few months, at least. Once he’s fit for duty—and can pass the PFQ—we’ll bring him in. For now, Marlow gets to be an only child. Now, it’s getting late so let’s kit up and get out there. And remember. You are all that keeps this city safe for three nights. So do your jobs. You’re the thin silver line, boys and girls, and make sure it holds.”
People whooped and clapped as they scrambled up and headed to the armory.
Marlow stepped to the side, out of the way, as they filed past him. A hand dropped on his shoulder, and he looked around at Piper.
“First come, first serve,” Piper said as he pushed Marlow forward. “Don’t you want to play new boy and get the pick of the kit?”
Marlow grimaced an apology at a blond woman as he nearly stepped on her feet.
“I doubt they’ll run out of bullets,” he said mildly.
Piper laughed, and the grip on Marlow’s shoulder turned into an arm slung over both. “Maybe you’ll work out after all,” he said.
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TA Moore is a Northern Irish writer of romantic suspense, urban fantasy, and contemporary romance novels. A childhood in a rural, seaside town fostered in her a suspicious nature, a love of mystery, and a streak of black humour a mile wide. As her grandmother always said, ‘she’d laugh at a bad thing that one’, mind you, that was the pot calling the kettle black. TA Moore studied History, Irish mythology, English at University, mostly because she has always loved a good story. She has worked as a journalist, a finance manager, and in the arts sector before she finally gave in to a lifelong desire to write.
Coffee, Doc Marten boots, and good friends are the essential things in life. Spiders, mayo, and heels are to be avoided.
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