The taller one walked to the back of the SUV. “He’s taking something out of the back,” she said. “You see that?”
“Yes.” A pause. “And that is a mighty fancy rifle.” He gave a low whistle.
“Whoa,” she whispered. “Score another one for Blackjack.”
“We’ve got guns too.”
She shot him a warning glare. “And we’re not using them, because we’re not going to get anywhere near there. At least not without backup.”
“Whatever.” Kevin kept the camera snapping as the men disappeared into the warehouse. He lowered the camera. “I can’t see anything else from here. I’m going to have to get closer.”
Izzy swung her gaze away from the warehouse to land on Kevin. “Did you not just hear me? We’re not taking these guys down alone.”
He reached for the door.
She grabbed the camera. “You can’t take that, the shutter is so loud, you’ll be discovered before you have a chance to snap the second picture.”
“Fine. I’m still going to see what I can see.”
She snagged his arm. “Kevin, no.”
He shrugged her off. “Something hinky is going down and I want to know what it is. I’ve got to go now—it’s still light enough the floodlights won’t come on. You saw that weapon. That wasn’t your average hunting rifle.”
“They’re probably gun runners and more. I’ll call it in, but you stay put.”
“I’m going. With the escalating gang activity lately, we sure don’t need those guns to fall into their hands. I won’t let them see me, I promise. But I’ll be one of the first in as soon as backup arrives.” Green eyes sparkling, he tossed her a lopsided smile. “Ryan would do it.”
Ryan? His brother? “No, he wouldn’t. And besides, Ryan’s a detective with many years’ experience,” she said. “You’re a rookie just two months out of the academy. Is that what this is about? You think you have to prove something to Ryan?”
“Of course not. At least I don’t think so. Maybe.” He paused and glanced back at the warehouse. “It’s more like I have something to prove to myself.”
He winked at her and her blood pressure shot up. “Like what?”
“Doesn’t matter.” He handed her the binoculars she’d set on the dash. “Do you see any cameras anywhere?”
She growled and slapped the lenses to her eyes. Scanning from side to side, she shook her head. “I don’t see any, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there.”
The door shut with a quiet snick. She dropped the binoculars to see Kevin sprinting toward the warehouse.
3
Kevin!” But with the doors shut and the windows up, he wouldn’t hear her whispered shout. She should have lied and said the place was covered in cameras. “You’re not even wearing a vest, you moron.”
Izzy sat still for a brief second, muttering under her breath before grabbing her phone and calling for discreet backup. She provided her badge number first. “I don’t know the situation inside the building. I know they’re armed. Come in quiet. I’m dressed as a civilian in jeans, a gray sweatshirt, and black running shoes. I have on a shoulder holster and am armed. For goodness’ sake, don’t shoot me.” Because she wasn’t wearing a vest either. She hadn’t known she was going to need one. She also gave Kevin’s description. “Don’t shoot him either, okay?”
Once she had it confirmed that officers were on the way and they’d been informed of their plainclothes status, she quickly grabbed her weapon, checked it, and went after Kevin. No matter that she was furious with him for his renegade actions, she wouldn’t let him go in alone and unprotected.
He was just outside the warehouse door. She ran in a low crouch to the green Tahoe and hid behind it, glancing around the side to see Kevin with his back to the wall of the warehouse, next to the open door.
He held his weapon ready, even as he caught her eye and lifted a finger to his lips. She widened her eyes and jerked her head, motioning for him to get away from the door and join her. He shook his head and Izzy wanted to smack him. Hard.
He rounded the sliding metal door and disappeared into the interior of the warehouse.
Silence reigned.
Izzy looked back over her shoulder and prayed the others would get here soon. Until then …
She drew in a deep breath and jogged over to the entrance, taking the spot Kevin had just vacated. She risked a quick glance inside and noted him kneeling behind a pallet piled with boxes.
Just ahead of him were three men, each holding one of the rifles they’d seen carried into the building. They stood facing each other, their focus on checking out the weapons.
As quickly as she dared, she got a good look at the interior of the building. A plain concrete floor. Plenty of unmarked boxes piled on pallets identical to the one that sheltered Kevin. To her right, there were metal steps that led to an indoor balcony on the opposite side. It ran the length of the back wall and was packed with crates as well.
Dirt-encrusted windows kept out the light and would prevent her from seeing in to get a better picture of the interior. And how badly she and Kevin were outnumbered.
She leaned back, trying to decide what to do, when she saw two unmarked cars park across the street from the warehouse. Four detectives headed her way. A rush of relief flowed through her.
Then gunfire from inside the building jerked her back around the corner of the door in time to see Kevin fall to the floor, blood pooling on his chest. One man walked toward Kevin, his weapon held in front of him. “You a cop?”
“Police! Freeze! Drop your weapons!” Izzy yelled. She ducked when his gun spat back at her. She pulled back for cover, then waited for the gunfire to end before she once again peered around the edge of the metal door. The three men she’d seen during her brief peek through the door had scattered, firing in her direction as they ran, their bullets pinging off the walls of the warehouse.
“Kevin!” She grabbed her radio. “Officer down! Officer down!”
Running footsteps sounded behind her and she spared a glance over her shoulder. Their backup had arrived too late.
She checked back on Kevin. He lay still, the pool of blood growing in a widening circle. She looked over her shoulder to see officers decked out in tactical gear taking up positions, making sure they were out of the line of fire.
“Three suspects heading out the back!” She gave the name of the street. “I repeat, cut them off at the ba—”
Two shots came from up above.
Izzy looked up in time to see a body fall over the railing of the balcony. The thud on the concrete floor sounded like another gunshot. And then she caught a brief glimpse of a dark-haired man who was turning sideways and racing out the back door of the balcony to the stairwell. She rushed toward her partner and dropped to her knees. “Kevin!”
His eyes fluttered. He gasped. Sputtered. Blood dribbled from his mouth.
She wiped it with her hand. “No, no, don’t do this.”
He swallowed and whispered something. She pressed one hand to his chest and one to his stomach in a hopeless effort to staunch the flow of blood.
“Phone …”
“What?”
“Phone. Look at …” His eyes fluttered.
She looked around. There, on the floor, slid halfway under the wooden crate.
“Promise,” he whispered. “Promise … look … hide it.”
“Yeah. Yeah. I promise.” She grabbed the phone and shoved it into the back pocket of her jeans, not caring about the blood she smeared over it. “Okay, I’ve got it. Okay? Now be quiet and just hang on.”
“Good. Have a … good … birthday, Iz.”
“Yes. I will. If you’ll go with me, I’ll jump all over that place. We’ll jump together, okay?”
“Tell … Ryan … Mom … sorry … was … stupid.”
“No. I’m not telling them that. You tell them.”
“Ga-ga-baahhhh … ga …” He strained, his breathing labored, his eyes wide.
“What? Breathe, Kev, just breathe.”
His eyes closed.
“Kevin!”
Detective Ryan Marshall liked football. Especially Gamecock football. He’d been debating whether to head to Williams-Bryce stadium to watch them scrimmage or go into the office and work when the call came over the radio. “Officer needs assistance. Officer needs backup.” And then the details. Details that included his younger brother’s name and Izzy’s.
He’d grabbed his vest, badge, and gun and bolted from his home to dive into his vehicle. It should have taken him fifteen minutes to arrive to the location. He made it in nine.
Cutting everything off a mile before the specified address, he coasted in behind two unmarked cars. He’d listened to the radio all the way over and knew the situation had gone south fast. Gunshots reported. Officer down. Officer down … two words that should never have a reason to be used together.
Kevin was there. As was Izzy. Izzy, with flashing green eyes and dark hair that he’d seen all his life and just noticed in an I’m-interested-ingoing-out-with-her kind of way about three months ago. Izzy, who was his brother’s partner and wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Would she?
He threw the vehicle in park and bolted out the door.
“Kevin!”
The raw, grief-ravaged scream nearly halted him in his tracks. “No,” he whispered. “Oh, please, God, not Kevin.” He flashed his badge to the uniformed officers who had arrived on the scene to indicate he was backup. He had the earpiece in to allow him to hear the progress being made in the apprehension of the suspects.
But right now, his only focus was his brother. He dashed inside the warehouse, weapon ready.
Only to skid to a heart-jarring halt when he saw Izzy on the floor, covered in blood and demanding that Kevin breathe.
4
Time moved in a blur for Izzy. She knew the ambulance was there, felt hands on her shoulders moving her away from Kevin, heard the paramedics talking, saw them working on him, smelled the residue from the gunfire—and the blood. She didn’t think she’d ever get the scent of the blood out of her mind.
Oh, Kevin.
She sat back and leaned against the wooden pallets that had sheltered Kevin only moments ago. A rough edge dug into her back, but she didn’t care.
“He’s still alive, let’s go.”
The words penetrated her stupor. Wait. What? He was alive? She shuddered and tried to focus. The paramedics loaded Kevin into the ambulance and squealed away.
Izzy ran a hand through her hair. She had to get to the hospital, to be with him. To … what?
Wait. And pray.
But first, the guy who’d fallen from the balcony. Paramedics were working on him. She slipped in for a closer look. Who was he? They’d cut his shirt from hem to collar. Tattoos covered his abdomen. The five-pointed star with the number 5 in the middle. A Bloods gang member.
A hard hand on her upper arm pulled her around to meet a pair of glittering hazel eyes that belonged to Ryan Marshall. “What was he doing here,” he said, “facing these guys alone? Two months, Izzy.” He held up two fingers as though she needed the visual. “He’s only been out of the academy two months! You were supposed to have his back.”
Izzy jerked her arm from his grasp. “Are you kidding me? I had his back, I was all over watching out for him, but it’s hard to do that when the other person doesn’t cooperate.” She couldn’t do this. Not now. Her brain and emotions were on overload. “I called for backup and followed him in.” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “This isn’t on me.” She turned her back on him and let her eyes dart from one face to the next, but didn’t see the one she was looking for.
Where had he gone?
“I have questions that you’re going to answer,” Ryan said.
The demand scraped her nerves and she had to bite her tongue on the words that wanted to bypass her filter. Ryan was angry, upset, scared to death his little brother was going to die. Well, so was she.
She drew in a deep breath and turned back to face him. “And I’ll answer your questions. Soon.” She had a full night ahead of her. Paperwork, her statement … praying for Kevin to live. And her own questions that needed answers. Fast. Like where had Blackjack been? The fact that he’d never shown up made her wonder.
And what had he been doing here? The scene ran through her mind once again. She’d entered the warehouse, seen Kevin on the floor. Raced to his side. Heard more gunshots. Saw the body fall from the balcony, heard it hit the floor. And looked up to see …
… Derek?
Maybe. She’d only caught a glimpse of his profile, but it had sure looked like him.
Izzy rubbed her forehead, the tension headache growing by the second. It couldn’t have been Derek, could it? Her twin brother was also a detective in the department where she worked as well as a member of vice. And if it had been him on the balcony, then he’d saved her life by shooting the man who’d been about to shoot her.
And then he’d run. Why?
“What was he doing here?”
She jerked as Ryan’s voice echoed her own mental question, and for a moment she thought he was talking about—
“Why’d you let him go in alone?” Ryan continued.
He was talking about Kevin, not Derek. “We were on a stakeout, Ryan. And I didn’t let Kevin go in alone. I didn’t let him do anything. He’s a big boy.” A big boy who’d made a very stupid, possibly lethal, decision.
All because he had something to prove. She didn’t buy that he just wanted to prove something to himself. The youngest sibling of four, with one brother killed on the battlefield of Afghanistan, Kevin had always been the daredevil. He’d craved accolades and attention. In his eyes, this was his chance to be a hero. He’d gotten the information and he’d wanted to make the bust. And it had gotten him shot. Period.
She kept walking toward her car, parked where she’d left it.
With a perfect view of the warehouse.
Where her partner had just been shot.
Grief welled. She shut it down. Not yet. Not now.
A hard hand on her arm jerked her around again. And once again, she pulled out of his grasp. “You have to stop doing that or you’re going to find yourself on the ground.” She ignored the flash of memory that kind of touch incited. Memories Ryan didn’t know about. Memories she refused to allow a hold on her. Not anymore.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry. Sorry. I don’t mean to be rough, but I …”
“What?”
He spread his hands. “That can’t be the way it happened.”
She froze for half a second, tempted to lash out. She drew in a steadying breath. “Well, since you were here, why don’t you tell me exactly what happened then?”
He winced at the sarcasm, then shook his head. “Obviously you left him alone or you would have been shot too. Or you would have shot the guys that shot him. Or … or something.”
“Or something?” If she kept repeating him, they’d never get anywhere. She opened her mouth to blast him, then snapped her lips shut. With effort, she reminded herself once again that he was mad, upset, looking for someone to blame and not thinking clearly. But still the words came. “So what you’re saying is that if one partner gets shot and the other one doesn’t, then she’s not doing her job? Think about that for just half a minute, Ryan.”
He flinched. “No. Of course not.”
“That’s what you just said. You need to stop and take a deep breath and get your thoughts together before you say anything else.” She glared at him and opened her car door. “I’ll see you at the hospital.” She climbed in and slammed the door in his face.
Once she was on the road toward the hospital, guilt hit her. Was he right? Was there something else she should have done? Could have done? Had she waited too long to call for backup? Should she have followed Kevin into the building? If she’d been in there, is it possible she might have seen the gun, maybe shot first?
No. If she’d gone in, sh
e’d have been shot too, by the suspect she’d missed seeing. The guy on the balcony who had intended to shoot her as well.
Only Derek had shot him first. If it had been him, her twin brother had some explaining to do. She pulled over to the side of the road, hating the delay, but not wanting to mess with her phone while she was this upset and driving. She dialed his number and it went straight to voice mail.
Izzy growled and sent him a text.
Call me.
She hesitated, then called Derek’s partner, Jasmine Clark. When the woman’s voice mail came on, Izzy sighed, but left a message for her to call. She then clipped the phone to her belt and pulled back into traffic while Ryan’s accusations looped through her brain.
Ryan Marshall. He’d been a thorn in her side since she’d met him at the tender age of nine and he’d talked her into climbing a tree. She’d fallen out and busted her chin wide open. He’d been remorseful and begged her forgiveness. And while she’d given it, she’d hated heights ever since.
She grimaced. She shouldn’t have slammed the door on him. She’d apologize. As long as he didn’t say something to set her off again. No. His brother was clinging to life. Ryan deserved grace. No matter what he said, she’d hold her tongue.
Her phone rang and she pulled it from her back pocket. Only it wasn’t hers, it was Kevin’s. His blood still covered the screen.
With a new lump in her throat, she shoved his phone back into her pocket and grabbed hers from the clip. Izzy spared a quick glance at the screen. She didn’t feel like talking, but had to check since she’d sent Derek the order to call her. Only it wasn’t him. She pressed the button to connect the call. “Hello?”
“Are you all right?”
The intensity of the question struck her like a punch to the solar plexus. “Yes, ma’am.” She slowed and pulled over once more. The chief of police checking up on her. As she would every officer involved in the incident.
“And Officer Marshall?”
“He’s en route to the hospital and so am I.”
“So he’s still alive.”
Oath of Honor Page 2
