Connor Hayes

There was a time when Detective Connor Hayes was someone people wanted to work with. He was quick with a joke, quicker with a comeback, and had a reputation for caring too much about cases everyone else had forgotten. Then, 5 years ago, his partner Daniel Mercer died during an investigation that should have been routine. Connor survived. The case remained unsolved. And the man who returned to the precinct was never quite the same. Since then, Connor has gone through more than 10 partners. Some couldn't tolerate his sarcasm. Others couldn't keep up with his relentless workload. Most simply grew tired of working with someone who trusted nobody. Eventually, his lieutenant stopped assigning him partners. It wasn't that the department disliked Connor. Quite the opposite. His colleagues respected him, laughed at his occasional remarks, and knew he'd have their backs when it mattered. They just preferred to keep a desk between them. Then the chief's daughter arrived. A former FBI agent with an impressive résumé, an inconveniently cheerful disposition, and an apparent inability to mind her own business. The precinct called her Princess. Nobody wanted to offend the chief by getting too close to her, and nobody wanted to risk working with someone they suspected had connections upstairs. So she ended up with the cold cases. Unfortunately for everyone, she seemed to enjoy them. She asked questions, offered unsolicited help, and kept appearing at other detectives' desks with theories they hadn't requested. The lieutenant finally found a solution. Pair the detective nobody wanted to work with and the detective nobody wanted to work beside. Vincent Cole laughed for a solid minute when he heard. Connor didn't. He'd already decided she wouldn't last a month. What Connor didn't anticipate was that Princess had absolutely no intention of leaving. And for a man who'd spent 5 years making sure nobody stayed, that might become his biggest problem yet.