“When I was on the inside, I was out in the yard one afternoon. The day before I was released. I overheard two guys talking about working for Bianchi. One of them mentioned he was sore about missing out on the deal going down that night. I kept listening and picked up the location of the warehouse. That’s it. That’s all I had.”
“It’s okay, Louis.”
“I wouldn’t turn on you, Izzy, I swear. You saved my life.”
Maybe she was an idiot, but she believed him.
“Anyway,” he said, “I need you to meet me.”
“Why?”
“I got pictures for you.”
“Pictures? Of what?”
“Not exactly sure. I took them from a file Bianchi left sitting on the bar. They were making a big deal about them, so I’m sure they’re important.”
She sucked in a breath. “Louis! That’s too dangerous. You can’t be doing stuff like that.”
“He’ll never know who took them. There was a bunch of us in there that day. It was crowded.”
“If he’s got security cameras, he’ll figure it out.”
Louis fell silent. “Maybe so.”
“I hate to say this, Louis, but I think it’s time you left the city. You may have just crossed a line.” And stepped into his grave.
“I don’t care. I want this guy taken down.”
“I do too, but not at the expense of your life.” She paused. “I’ve never heard you like this before. What did Bianchi do to you?”
“He killed someone I cared about.”
“Oh, Louis, I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
“Izzy?”
She lifted her head to see Ryan standing just outside the door. He saw she was on the phone and waved his understanding, then disappeared back into her den.
“When do you want to meet?”
“Tonight. I’ll text you a time. I’m not sure when I can get away.” His voice lowered another notch. “Someone’s coming. Gotta go.”
He hung up.
Izzy changed into a pair of sweatpants and T-shirt, then picked up Kevin’s phone again. What was his code?
If she tried too many times, she’d get locked out.
Still thinking, she carried the phone into the den where Ryan sprawled on her couch with Mozart resting on his lap. Izzy shook her head. “You spoil him.”
“I know.” His gaze honed in on the device in her hand. “Is that it?”
“Yes.” She handed it to him. “He told me to hide it when I was trying to keep him from bleeding out on the warehouse floor. It was that important to him.”
Ryan frowned and took it from her. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I can’t figure out the code to get into it. I feel sure it’s someone’s birthday, but not a clue whose it might be.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the phone earlier?”
She frowned. “Can you think of when I’ve had a chance before now?”
“When we were at the hospital?”
“While you were grieving Kevin’s death? While you were consoling your parents? While you were—”
“Izzy—”
He lifted a hand, but she cut him off. “I didn’t know there could possibly be anything on it other than personal stuff until we saw the video. And that’s when I mentioned it.”
He sighed and shut his eyes. “Sorry. Sorry. You’re right.”
Izzy’s surge of anger fizzled. “Honestly, I wasn’t even thinking about the phone during the initial craziness. Like I said earlier, it didn’t occur to me that there might be anything on the phone except Kevin’s stuff. Maybe personal stuff. You know, maybe something he was embarrassed about and didn’t want his family to know was on there.”
“Kevin wasn’t into anything he needed to be embarrassed by.”
“Of course you would say that, you’re his big brother. But you never know.” She didn’t really think so either, but people had a way of hiding things they didn’t want known. Kevin was no different than her or anyone else when it came to secrets. Everyone had them. “Anyway, I was going to erase whatever ‘it’ was, then give you the phone. Only now, after seeing the video, I think something’s on there that Kevin saw—and possibly recorded—in the warehouse.”
“Yeah. I do too.” Ryan tapped in a code, then shook his head.
She told him all of the ones she’d tried. “What about a girlfriend? Or someone he had a crush on in high school? Or … ” She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He tapped in his birthday, then sighed when it didn’t unlock the phone. “I’ll have to think about it.”
“You think David could crack it?”
“I don’t know.”
They tried more codes until they were locked out.Waited for the minute to pass and started trying more dates. His graduation from the academy, his first day on the job, his favorite singer’s birthday.
“Nothing,” Ryan said. “I should be able to do this.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Guess we’ll have to do a little more research and try again later.” He started to tuck the device into his pocket.
“Do you mind if I hang on to it?” she asked.
He lifted a brow. “Why?”
Izzy shrugged. “I don’t know. I kind of feel like it’s my responsibility to keep it with me until we figure out the passcode.”
“It could be evidence.”
“True.” She paused. “Okay, I’ll turn it in.”
His eyes searched hers. “On second thought, let’s wait on that. Let me run it by my captain and see what he thinks. He’ll probably want David to try it.”
“Sure.”
“Who was that on the phone? Sounded serious.”
“That was Louis Harper.”
“Your CI?”
“Yeah. He wants to meet tonight. He stole some pictures from a file Bianchi had sitting on a bar and wants to give them to me.”
“Tonight? What time and where? You’ll need backup.”
“He’s going to text me, but the where is at Elmwood Cemetery.”
Ryan’s brow rose. “Seriously? A graveyard?”
She shot him a wry look. “Not my choice, I promise. Louis is a bit weird. I just go along with it.”
He yawned. “You mind if I take a nap until your guy texts?”
“Go for it. I’m too wired right now.” She tossed him a blanket and he pulled it over him, leaned his head back against a cushion, and was asleep before she could blink. How in the world did he do that?
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. When Mozart barked, she jerked awake to find she’d slept for two hours and could have slept for more if the dog hadn’t awakened her.
Mozart barked at the sliding glass doors, jerking her out of her sleepy fog. “Okay, okay. You need to go. I get it.”
Ryan stirred and opened his eyes. “Ignore him. I’ve got this.”
“No, stay here. I’m already awake.”
Mozart ran to the door and she opened it, then stepped out after him. At four thirty, the sky had darkened with the threat of a thunderstorm and the temperature was dropping. In Columbia, at the beginning of November, one never knew what the weather might decide to do. One day, it might be eighty degrees and the next forty. This evening promised to be a cool one.
Mozart went straight to the back of the fence and sat. And barked.
“What is it, boy?”
He turned at her voice, but quickly focused back on the gate.
Something had caught his attention. He barked again and Izzy walked toward him.
Was someone out there?
Her hand went to her empty hip. She’d left her weapon on the kitchen table.
A noise—footstep?—from beyond the gate reached her ears. A rustle, like someone trying to be quiet and not quite succeeding.
Mozart barked again.
Izzy hesitated, undecided. The fence itself had slim openings between each board. She stepped forward to peer through one and h
eard a low grunt. “Hey! Who’s out there?”
A shadow crossed in front of her, then she heard running footsteps. She jerked back and raced for the sliding glass doors, leaving Mozart behind her, lunging and barking at the gate.
Izzy snagged her Glock from the counter while Ryan surged to his feet, weapon in his hand. All traces of his nap gone. “What is it?”
“Someone snooping around outside.” She bolted to her front door, then paused to draw in a breath. Ryan took up a stance on the other side and nodded. She opened the door to see a large man climbing into a Ford Explorer he’d parked across the street from her home. “Hey!”
He didn’t pause or look her way before pulling away from the curb, tires squealing on the asphalt. Izzy ran after him, hoping to get a look at the license plate. Ryan stayed at her back.
“Can you see it?”
“Yes, but I can’t read it. You?”
“He covered it with something. A real good indication that he was up to no good.”
“Oooh!” She bolted back into the house and called it in. No, he hadn’t broken in. No, he hadn’t stolen anything. No, he hadn’t hurt her, she was fine.
And thinking about investing in a security system.
Her phone buzzed in her hand and a text from Louis popped up.
“Louis said to meet him at 10:00,” Izzy said to Ryan.
He nodded. “That’s five hours from now. I think I’m going to get back to my nap.”
“You can fall back asleep? My adrenaline is still rushing so fast I’d never be able to keep my eyes shut.”
He shrugged. “It’s a gift.”
And she doubted he was sleeping much at home. Alone. With time to think about Kevin.
He strode over to her couch and sank onto it. “I like this couch. It’s more comfortable than my bed.” With that, he pulled the blanket back up and shut his eyes.
“So … you’re not worried about this guy coming back?”
“Nope, not as long as you have Mozart to sound the alarm.”
“Right.”
Mozart leapt up onto the couch and settled on the lower part of the blanket at Ryan’s feet. Izzy rolled her eyes and took the recliner. Fine. If he could sleep, so could she. She set her phone alarm and closed her eyes. Then opened them and grabbed the book from the end table. She’d sleep later.
Four hours later, the incessant beeping from Izzy’s phone woke him. He pried his eyes open and realized he’d actually slept. He hadn’t thought he really would, but it had been a good excuse to stay close to Izzy. He was more shook up about whoever had been outside her house than he was willing to let on and there’d been no way he was about to leave her alone. Meeting her CI had come at a perfect time, because sleeping outside in his car had been the only option he’d been able to come up with should she have been ready for him to leave.
Ryan reached over to turn off the annoying alarm and sat up to find Izzy sprawled in her recliner, book in her lap. She stirred, opening her eyes.
“Did you sleep?” he asked.
She looked up. “I dozed.”
He stood and stretched. “I’m going to go splash some water on my face.”
“There’s an extra toothbrush in the medicine cabinet if you want it.”
“I do. Thanks.”
While Ryan refreshed himself, Izzy threw together a couple of chicken salad sandwiches and grabbed a bowl of fresh fruit from the refrigerator. When Ryan returned, she blinked. Wow. He cleaned up well. When he caught her staring, he raised a brow. Heat flooded her cheeks and she cleared her throat. “Um, I thought we’d eat before we left.”
“That looks amazing.”
“It’s nothing. Just a sandwich and some fruit.”
“Exactly. It’s not a burger and fries.”
Izzy laughed and they settled at the table together, making small talk. She finally glanced at the clock. “I guess it’s my turn. I’ll be right back and we can leave.”
“I’m just going to fix another sandwich to go. That okay?”
“Sure.”
While he got to work, Izzy changed back into her jeans and added a sweatshirt over her T-shirt. She holstered her weapon and grabbed her purse. When she walked back into the kitchen, she found Ryan licking his fingers. “Guess that sandwich didn’t make it to go?”
He shrugged. “Nope.”
“You want another?”
He glanced at the refrigerator, then shook his head. “Naw. It was really good, though.”
“Thanks.” She smiled. It felt good to feed him, to know that he enjoyed her cooking. Such that it was. Chicken salad wasn’t exactly cooking. But still …
“I’ll drive,” Ryan said. “I don’t mind bringing you back.”
“Great. Thanks.”
Once in his SUV, they buckled up and headed toward the cemetery. “You realize how cliché this is, right? Meeting your informant in a cemetery?”
“I know. Like I said, I meet him wherever he feels safe.”
The twenty-minute drive passed in silence, each of them lost in thought. When they arrived at the cemetery, the gates stood open. Ryan drove through, then followed her quiet directions, winding through the narrow asphalt paths until he reached a small parking lot. About ten yards to his right was a circle of mausoleums with a concrete patio type area that held three curved benches in the middle. Soft lights highlighted the mausoleums with a gentle glow. Ryan had to admit, it was rather nice. He climbed out and shut the door.
Izzy did the same. Darkness surrounded them. In addition to the lights near the mausoleums, the cemetery also had some low-beam lights scattered around, but in certain areas, it was black as ink. “Stay here, okay?” she said. “He might not come out if he sees you with me.”
“I’ll keep an eye out around here.”
“Thanks.”
She clicked on a flashlight and walked toward the nearest mausoleum. Ryan watched her go, no hesitation in her step, confidence in her stride. How often had she done this?
Quite often, if he had to guess. He frowned and decided she needed a keeper. She’s a big girl. She’s a cop and she can take care of herself, the small voice whispered in his head and Ryan grimaced. He knew many cops met with their CIs alone. He’d done it himself on more than one occasion.
But this was Izzy and he didn’t like it.
However, since he wanted to keep all his teeth, he’d be sure not to mention that fact to her.
He shifted and squinted through the darkness, his eyes probing the area. Movement to his left caught his attention and he slid his hand to his weapon.
Izzy sat on the cement bench next to the mausoleum, facing the entrance of the cemetery since that was the direction Louis usually came from. While Ryan seemed to be freaked out at the thought of meeting an informant in this place, she didn’t mind. To her, the cemetery wasn’t creepy, it was peaceful. Soothing in its stillness. But then, she was weird.
A footstep fell to her right and she turned, expecting to see Louis hurrying to meet her. Instead, her gaze met … nothing.
“Louis?”
She stood and walked to the edge of the mausoleum and looked out toward where Louis usually parked. And, of course, she could see nothing in the darkness.
A quick glance at her phone showed Louis was already ten minutes late. Worry sprouted. He was never late. And he was never sneaky.
She turned just as a low pop reached her and debris from the cement stone battered the right side of her face. She cried out and went down.
“Izzy!”
Ryan’s cry spun her around and she jumped to her feet to jog in a zigzag pattern in the direction of his voice. Another pop and this time the bullet landed beside her. She reached Ryan and he snagged her arm to pull her behind the nearest headstone.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his whisper low and harsh. And scared.
Her breath came quick, in pants mostly, due to the fear racing through her. “Yeah, he missed me.”
“Your CI set you up.”
&nb
sp; “Either that or he’s dead.” She held her weapon ready, listening.
Footsteps.
A low scrape.
“What’s he doing?” she whispered.
Ryan shook his head. He had his phone out and was calling for backup.
Izzy’s fingers twitched around the grip of her weapon. She really wanted to capture this guy.
Another gunshot thudded in the center of the headstone they were hiding behind and she flinched. Ryan jerked. He peered around the edge of the stone, then pulled back. Footsteps pounded in the distance, growing fainter by the second. “He’s running.”
“How far away is backup?”
“Far enough.”
Izzy darted to her feet. “Let’s go.”
Together, they chased the fleeing figure, catching a brief glimpse of him every so often as he passed a light. “Police! Stop!”
Ryan’s words spurred the man on and Izzy doubled her efforts, sidestepping headstones. He finally landed on asphalt and she fell in behind Ryan.
And then he was … gone?
She pulled up short. “Where’d he go?”
Ryan stopped and grabbed her hand to pull her behind cover. “In case he starts shooting again. Listen.”
Sirens sounded. The man who’d taken off had heard them too, no doubt. A motorcycle roared to life, the sound of the engine fading fast.
She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “Great.”
Ryan was on his phone calling it in, telling them to be on the lookout for a motorcycle. “Suspect is armed and dangerous. Approach with caution.” He hung up and turned to Izzy. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah. I’ll see if I can get Louis to answer. If not, let’s swing by his place.”
“Got it.”
Back in Ryan’s SUV, Izzy dialed Louis’s number four times. Each time it went to voice mail. “I’m scared for him. He’s never missed a meeting.”
“We’ll check his house.”
Fifteen minutes later, Ryan pulled to a stop on the curb of the small bungalow-type home in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Columbia. “No lights on. Does he live with anyone?”
“His sister.”
Izzy walked to the door and knocked. It was late and this was important. She continued knocking until she finally heard footsteps on the other side. “Who’s there?”
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