And his partner hadn’t called either. She might not know anything anyway. It was really Derek she needed to talk to.
Izzy walked toward the entrance, her steps slow while her heartbeat raced at the memories. She ducked under the crime scene tape and tried the metal sliding door. It slid on the track with no problem. Entering the warehouse, she looked around.
Someone had left one light on inside, which illuminated much of the space.
The building stood empty and silent now. Law enforcement had finished with it or someone would still be guarding it. Her gaze instantly went to the floor and the brown bloodstain weakened her knees. She wanted to collapse and wail out her anger and grief. Instead she rubbed her eyes, then looked around.
The crime scene unit would have covered every square inch and retrieved any evidence left behind. At least she thought they would. So …
She didn’t even know why she was here. She’d just felt compelled to come. Izzy continued on into the interior of the building and stopped at the spot where she’d looked up and seen Derek. She replayed the moment in her head once again and still couldn’t come up with a good reason for him to be there. Not if he wasn’t undercover. But he’d been on the balcony, so that’s where’d she start. A sound behind her brought her head up.
She spun and saw nothing, but the hair on the back of her neck lifted as she rested a hand on her weapon. Instead of calling out and revealing her location, she slid behind a pile of empty crates and slipped her weapon from the holster.
The many boxes of weapons had been taken into evidence, but the stacked wooden crates provided enough of a hiding place.
This time the noise came to her left. She turned, and a dark shadow caught her eye. Izzy pulled her phone from the clip and, one-handed, sent a text to the first person at the top of her list who could help without making a big deal about her returning to the crime scene.
Ryan Marshall.
At the warehouse. Someone is here sneaking around.
You need backup?
She breathed a sigh of relief at his immediate response.
Not yet.
I’m on the way.
Izzy tucked her phone into her pocket, afraid to snap it back onto the clip for fear of alerting the person to her presence. Then again, she had a feeling he knew she was in the building. So, go after him, or stay put?
She glanced around the edge of her hiding spot. He was gone. Great.
Izzy decided to get back to her car and call Ryan. No sense in being a sitting duck. The last she’d seen, the person had been to her left. The door was just to her right.
She headed for it, keeping an eye over her shoulder.
Izzy stepped out of the warehouse.
And an arm went around her neck, pressing against her throat. She gasped and jerked.
“Be still,” he hissed. “Drop the gun.”
He’d snuck out the back and circled the building. Or went out a side door. Either way, he had her. Blood pounded through her veins and Izzy thought about fighting him. Instead, she let the weapon tumble from her fingers.
“Stay out of this, you understand?” He kept his voice low, a whispered hiss. “You could get hurt, or worse.”
In spite of the way he spoke, the hoarse, raspy voice sounded familiar, as did the smell of soap mingled with sweat. She knew that smell because she used the same soap. “Derek?”
He gave a low curse and shoved her from him. She stumbled away and turned to face him. “What do you think you’re doing?” She scooped her weapon from the ground and holstered it.
“That’s my question,” he said. “What are you doing here?”
“My partner died here, remember? I came to see if …” No need to mention the cameras yet. Not until she knew what was going on with him. She threw her hands up. “It doesn’t matter. I just had to come back. Now what are you doing here? That was you here earlier, wasn’t it? What were you doing here with those guys?”
“I’m working on something.”
“You’re not undercover. I asked Mom.”
He froze, then glared. “You told her you saw me here?”
“No, I didn’t know for sure it was you until just now. I just asked her—” She shook her head. “Again, it doesn’t matter. You shot that guy, Derek, you have to give a statement.”
“Not yet. And Mom doesn’t know everything that goes on in the department as much as she would like to think she does. And I am undercover.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Mom said you’re supposed to be on personal leave getting over your breakup with Elaine. That’s what she told me anyway. What was that? A cover story for the undercover job?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Something like that. Please, Izzy. It’s complicated and I need you to just pretend like you never saw me.”
“Do you know what you’re asking? I’m putting my career on the line by not saying anything.”
“I know what I’m asking!” He drew in a deep breath. “And I know what I’m doing. This is my life we’re talking about here, okay? Please.” She could see the effort it took him to speak the words quietly.
“Your life?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me.”
“I … can’t.”
She simply crossed her arms and stared into eyes that were identical to hers. “Tell me or I tell Mom.” She didn’t care that she sounded like a petulant child. This was too important.
He groaned, then moved closer, his nose almost touching hers, his eyes flashing. “Are you a dirty cop, Izzy?”
She flinched, then placed her hands on his chest and shoved him away from her. “What? No! Why would you even ask that?”
He studied her, not answering at first, then seemed to come to a decision. “There’s a list,” he said.
“What list?”
“Parker Estes and Collin Howard are on it.”
She gaped. “The cops who were arrested for—”
“Yeah … for stealing from the evidence room. And Mom’s on it too.”
“As a dirty cop?” She couldn’t help the squeak in her voice. “Derek! You know there’s no way—you can’t believe—”
“I don’t know, Izzy, that’s the problem.”
“And me? I’m on that list too?”
Headlights went dark before the vehicle turned into the parking area and the engine cut off. If they’d been inside, they never would have seen him.
Derek snagged her upper arm and jerked her back through the warehouse door. “You brought someone with you?”
“No—and keep your hands off of me.” She yanked out of his grasp. “But I called for backup when I saw your shadowy figure trying to be all sneaky. It’s probably Ryan Marshall.”
He dropped his hands. “I can’t be seen.” He backed up slowly, toward the rear exit of the warehouse.
“What exactly are you doing here, Derek? Why come back here?”
“Don’t say anything, Izzy.”
“Derek! You know how this works. I could lose my job.” She sounded like a broken record, but he wasn’t listening.
“And I could wind up dead if the wrong person reads that report.”
“Like who?”
He pointed at her, his green eyes snapping. “Keep me out of the report, Izzy, unless you want to see me dead. This is way bigger than you can even imagine. Watch your back and keep your mouth shut.”
If he didn’t quit telling her to keep her mouth shut, she was going to seriously hurt him. “Derek, I can’t—”
He slapped a hand to his head and gave another groan, his frustration palpable at her stubborn insistence. “Delay it then. Wait twenty-four hours, then add it, but don’t bring attention to it. If anyone says anything, the report is there.”
Derek’s eyes flicked toward the door as he slipped backward a few more steps.
It occurred to her why he was here. He wanted to make sure that he hadn’t left any evidence behind from earlier.
She narrowed her eyes. “Twenty-four
hours, Derek. If I can. If I can’t, I won’t.”
“Iz—”
“I mean it.”
“Fine. Now make sure it’s Ryan and I don’t have to save your life again, then I’m out of here.”
Izzy pressed her palms to her eyes. Then dropped her hands. She waited until she heard the soft snick of the car door shutting and peered outside.
Ryan’s silhouette stood tall in the moonlight and she let out a slow breath. “It’s him.”
Derek took off toward the back of the warehouse.
Now what?
She was technically withholding evidence in a shooting. Earlier, when she simply suspected that it was Derek in the warehouse, she could just make the shooter a nameless person in the report. But now that she knew for a fact that he’d shot the man, she had to add that to the file.
It was a clean shoot and he’d saved her life, but keeping quiet about it was not cool. Not if she wanted to keep her job. Twenty-four hours. That was as long as she’d give him. Maybe.
Ryan’s soft footsteps approached. He entered the open door and stopped when he spotted her.
“It’s okay,” she said. “Don’t shoot me.”
“Is he still here?”
“No. He left.”
“I didn’t hear a car.”
“I think he was on foot. Or he had a car stashed somewhere else.”
Ryan lowered his weapon. “You think it was the guy that killed Kevin?”
“No.”
“You seem awfully sure of that.”
“I am. I saw the four possible guys who could have killed Kevin. The person who was just here wasn’t one of them.”
“You saw him?”
“Yes. Briefly.” Time for a change of subject. “Want to look for cameras while we’re here?”
“Who was it? Did you know him?”
So much for changing the subject.
She considered lying, then sighed. “I know him. He was just another cop affected by Kevin’s shooting and doing some snooping of his own. I overreacted by texting you.”
He studied her.
Before he could say anything else, she waved a hand to gesture to the warehouse. “Anyway, while you’re here, you want to help me out?”
“What’d you have in mind?”
“There’s no way that this was their home base and they didn’t take precautions, have some security. I still think there are cameras inside.”
He drew in a breath and she saw him glance at the floor. His eyes locked on the bloodstain the same as hers had. He turned away. “Yeah. I’ll take the balcony.”
He headed for the stairs and Izzy closed her eyes for a moment. He’d not pressed her on the identity of the cop and for that she was thankful. And mad. Why was Derek doing this to her? Why would he ask if she was a dirty cop? Why would she be on a list that indicated she was one? Or that their mother was? That bothered her. A lot. And not only that, but where did he even get such a list? Who’d put it together and how did he learn about it?
She shoved thoughts of her brother and the unanswered questions aside and focused on what she came here to do. She started in one corner of the warehouse and began a perimeter search. She could hear Ryan above her doing the same.
Izzy continued around the building, searching for any area that might hold a camera. Bad guys didn’t play fair. “Hey, did the ME or anyone mention anything about finding a body cam on the dead guy?”
“Nope.”
“Can we find out?”
He was tracking with her. “I’ll text Maria and see.” She and Ryan combed the warehouse, each going in opposite directions until they finally met up on the second floor. He had his hands on his hips, looking at the ceiling. “If there are any cameras hidden here, they’ve got to be up there.”
“The light?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“All right, so how are we going to get up there to look? Or …” She pointed. “See that ladder that leads to the roof?”
“Yes.” The metal ladder attached to the wall led to a door that allowed access to the outside.
She walked toward it and climbed.
“Be careful, would you?”
“Just catch me if I fall. I hate heights.”
“Great,” she heard him murmur.
“Yeah. And it’s all your fault.”
“What? How do you figure that?”
“Remember that tree you dared me to climb when I was nine?”
“Oh.” A pause. “Hey, you wanted to climb that tree.”
“I had a huge crush on you. I wanted you to think I was awesome. I climbed it because I thought it would impress you.”
He fell silent. “You had a crush on me?”
“Hmm, yes. I got over it, though.” Sort of.
“Oh.”
Izzy smiled and kept climbing, doing her best to keep her nerves calm. Ryan was below her. If she fell, he’d do his best to catch her. If he missed, well … she shuddered and tightened her grip.
At the top, she turned and looked out over the warehouse. A perfect view, just like she’d thought. The view sent her stomach fluttering and nausea rose. She forced it down and focused on the task before her. Izzy ran her hand over the top of the ladder.
Nothing.
She tried the side. “Aha.”
“What?”
“Found it.”
She pulled it off the Velcro that held it and started down. You can do this. One step at a time. Her foot slipped on the second-to-last rung. “Ah!”
For a moment, she dangled, feet swinging. Then hard hands clamped down on her waist. “I’ve got you.”
Ryan lowered her to the floor and she turned to stare up at him. His eyes narrowed and she swallowed hard. “I … uh … knew I was going to do something like that. I shouldn’t have said anything about hating heights.” She cleared her throat. “So … um. Here.”
He took it and finally looked away from her to study the small object. “So if they have a camera, they’ve got to have a way to watch it,” Ryan said.
“They can do that on their phones.”
“True. Is it one of those that records footage or no?”
“I’m not sure, but I think so.”
“I do too. Let’s sweep this place one more time, then we can get the camera over to David and see what he can pull off of it.” Only she might not want David to see what’s on it. Not yet. But she didn’t have a choice. They finished the rest of the building and rounded up two more cameras hidden strategically. One in a file cabinet with a hole drilled into the side for the lens and one in the storage room lock.
“Clever,” she murmured. “No wonder CSU missed them. I’m surprised we found them.”
“Yeah. I guess there’s something to be said for dumb luck.”
“Or divine intervention,” she murmured. Then nodded. “I’ll call David and let him know what’s coming.”
“Go for it.”
She pulled her phone off the clip and simply stared at the screen.
He noticed. “What?”
“Nothing.”
So why was she hesitating? This could be a good thing. If Derek was shown to be on any of the footage, he’d have to come forward and explain himself.
Right?
“Iz?”
She shot him a tight smile. “Just thinking for a second. I’ll call him.”
7
From the corner of his eye, Ryan discreetly watched her. With a mixture of pit-bull determination and a lightning fast brain, she was a good cop, and he expected if she wanted to make detective, she’d do so without any trouble.
She was also loyal—one of her more endearing qualities that he’d noticed at a young age. Fiercely protective of those she loved, she’d go above and beyond to take care of them. Which made him wonder who was in the warehouse before he’d arrived, who she was protecting.
He’d get it out of her eventually.
Ryan lifted his hands up to study his palms. He’d reacted instinctively to cat
ch Izzy when she’d slipped. Holding her had sent his heart into a pitter-patter rhythm he thought he’d outgrown years ago. Then again, he must not have, if he’d thought about asking her out—which he still thought about on a regular basis. What was it about this woman that drew him so?
She hung up and rejoined him at the door. Near where his brother had pretty much bled out. All romantic thoughts dissipated like mist in the wind.
“David said he could jump on the cameras first thing in the morning,” she said.
“Fine,” he said. “Tomorrow first thing. I’m ready to get out of here and get back to the hospital. Mom was asking about Kevin’s things.”
“Of course.”
Her grief-shadowed eyes pierced him. Maybe it wasn’t the same grief as losing a brother, but she and Kevin—they’d been close.
He waited until she was in her vehicle before he headed to his. Once in the driver’s seat he aimed for the hospital. His mother wanted to sit with Kevin before they took his body to the morgue. Ryan’s father had maintained a stoic attitude, doing his best in his head-of-the-family role to comfort his wife and the others, but Ryan knew the man was on the edge of breaking down himself. He just prayed his dad could keep it together for the two of them.
Once back at the hospital, Ryan made his way to the room where his brother still lay. His mother sat next to him, holding his hand, eyes closed, while silent tears tracked her cheeks. Ryan’s father sat in the only other chair, his head in his hands. Probably praying.
Ryan cleared his throat and both of them looked up at him. “We’ll get them,” he said. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll get them.”
His mother stared at him without blinking, without moving. Ryan wondered if she was even breathing. Then she slowly placed Kevin’s hand back on the bed beside him and smoothed the sheet down over his chest. She turned to Ryan and shook her head. “No. You’re quitting the force.”
Izzy stepped into her home and kicked off her shoes, relishing the quiet surrounding her. She never took it for granted. Even if it was just five short minutes from her parents’ home, it was still enough distance to fill her with contentment.
Oath of Honor Page 5