Tai Randolph hates clowns. Even on Halloween.

She hates burly men with attitudes even more, especially when they’re blocking her way into the ER where her partner Trey is recovering from a bullet wound, the consequence of hurling himself unarmed and alone into an active bank robbery.

Except that’s not what happened, not exactly. As the stories spin and unravel and the facts shift and change, Tai realizes that Trey is keeping a secret. Maybe even more than one. With the clock ticking ever closer to an impossible deadline, Tai must use all of her detective skills—both state-sanctioned and otherwise—to track down an armed and dangerous gunman on a night known for trickery.

Because to solve this confounding crime, she must first outwit her own partner.

"Toil & Trouble" is a Tai & Trey story that takes places after Crooked Ways, where Tai is now solving crimes professionally, as a licensed PI. Her “boss” is sexy, a by-the-book investigator who is smart enough not to refer to himself as her boss.