Oath of Honor

by Lynette Eason

  “So there’s probably a Starbucks nearby.”

  Relief flickered in her eyes. “Of course.”

  He searched on his phone and gave her the address. “Ask her to meet us there. Chloe’s place is out of the way for her and she might not want to do that.”

  Izzy hit the speed-dial button. Ryan noticed the fine tremor in her fingers and planned to find out exactly what had happened to her and exactly who Mick was. Because right now, Mick was living on borrowed time as far as Ryan was concerned.

  “Hey, Gabby, it’s Izzy. I know you’re crazy busy, but something’s come up and we need to talk.”

  Ryan was impressed. She sounded completely relaxed and normal.

  “I was wondering if you were free to meet for coffee or something in about thirty minutes. I know this is a busy time for you with the election today, so … uh-huh.”

  She closed her eyes and drew in a breath. If he’d been on the other end of the line, he never would have figured she was visibly trembling.

  “I see. Your house? Gab, can’t we just do Starbucks? I—you can’t? You have to stay … yes. Well, I don’t think—”

  Ryan motioned for her to say yes. She widened her eyes at him and shook her head. But he was ready to do whatever it took to get Gabby to agree to meet. He nodded more forcefully. “You can stay in the car,” he whispered.

  Finally she sighed. “Fine. Okay. An hour?” She glanced at Ryan and he nodded. “I’ll see you in about an hour.”

  She hung up. “Why’d you do that?”

  “Because she was going to say no.”

  Izzy rubbed her forehead. “She’s crazy busy with the election. The fact that I’m asking to meet her …” She bit her lip, then sighed. “I’m just afraid she’s going to know something’s up.”

  “How did she sound?”

  “Frazzled.”

  “Good. Maybe we can catch her off guard then.”

  “How in the world are we going to put this together that fast?”

  “Charice passed the background investigation off to another detective and is working on the warrant now, Linc can grab a tech who won’t mind bringing you the wire, and I can get a team together while all that’s going on.”

  “What if she can’t get a warrant this fast?”

  “We’ll plead exigent circumstances with the election in progress.”

  “That’s pretty flimsy circumstances.”

  “I’m willing to take my chances. Are you?”

  She was. She wanted to talk to Gabby as bad as he did. She still hesitated though. “But—”

  “No buts. Call Linc while I start making this happen. We’ll do this if I have to call in every favor I’m owed from every person in this city.”

  Izzy gave a slow nod. “Okay, then. Let’s do it.” She grabbed her phone and dialed Linc’s number.

  30

  Izzy, Ryan, Charice, and other officers descended upon Gabby’s home in a silent and organized fashion. The majority of law enforcement stayed back. Ryan was ordered to stay in the surveillance van. Izzy reluctantly wore the wire. She still wasn’t sure how she’d been convinced to do so when all she’d planned to do was stay in the car.

  But she’d donned the wire on the ride over to Gabby’s and was mentally trying to figure out what she would say when she saw her friend.

  There had to be a reasonable explanation for Gabby’s meeting with Bianchi. But she’d left the scene of a shooting—and she had fifty grand wired and pending deposit into her account tonight. The money had been traced back to an offshore account belonging to Bricks & Sticks. Tony Bianchi had paid her some big bucks for … what?

  Izzy was determined to find out.

  She looked for any sign of Mick’s vehicle and didn’t see one. That fact allowed her to breathe a little easier.

  She walked up to the door and turned the knob. Only to find it locked. Izzy frowned. She always just walked in when Gabby was expecting her.

  Izzy rang the bell, dread centering itself in her midsection.

  “Officer St. John?”

  She didn’t recognize the voice that came through her earpiece. “Yes?”

  “What’s the problem?”

  “She’s not answering.” This time Izzy rang the bell, then knocked. Loud.

  The dread morphed into a full-blown sinking feeling when silence was her only answer. “She ran,” she said.

  That’s why Mick’s car wasn’t there.

  “Search the house,” the same voice said. “Let’s go.”

  Izzy backed slowly from the house. “Be careful. Whoever she’s working with likes to play with bombs.” Because there was no way Gabby was working alone. In her gut, Izzy knew her friend was a part of something bigger, something that they’d only scratched the surface of.

  Izzy’s comment triggered a call for a bomb dog. The dog and handler arrived seven minutes after the call, along with the rest of the bomb squad in their big armored truck.

  Ryan wasn’t familiar with the human and K-9 duo, but he was immediately impressed with their professionalism. Once the K-9 cleared the area around the door, Izzy lifted the welcome mat and retrieved a key. She handed it to one of the officers and he opened the door to the home.

  The dog led the way inside, his nose twitching, ears swiveling. It didn’t take long to clear the inside, and Charice gave the nod for the rest of the team to proceed. “Look for anything that might tell us where she’s gone.”

  Then they were inside the house.

  Ryan followed, bringing up the rear. Waiting in the van wasn’t his strong suit. He’d hang back, but he wanted to see what was happening.

  Each officer pulled on gloves and little blue shoe covers and went to work. Ryan followed Izzy, who went straight to Gabby’s in-home office. “She took her laptop.”

  “Of course she did.”

  Izzy’s gloved hands worked fast. She pulled out the top drawer and set it on the desk in front of Ryan. “Don’t touch. You can watch, but don’t touch.”

  “Right.” He moved back a little.

  “What are you doing in here, Ryan?” Charice asked from the doorway.

  Ryan held up his hands. “Nothing. I promise. Just an observer.”

  Charice sighed and walked over to Izzy. “What do you have?”

  “If she kept something important, it would have been on her laptop or around her desk. She’s not a neat freak, but she is organized.” Izzy lightly rubbed her T-shirt where the wire rested, then placed the rest of the drawers on the desk and nodded to Charice. “Let’s start here.” She paused. “But first, I’m taking this wire off. The tape is itching me to death.”

  She stepped into the hall bath and removed the wire. Red welts stared back at her where the tape had irritated her skin. No wonder she was getting distracted. What a relief to have the tape off.

  Back in the office, she handed the wire to Ryan and jumped in to help with the search.

  In the second drawer, Izzy found several months of bank statements that Gabby had probably been meaning to file. A thought hit her. “The bank,” she said.

  Ryan looked up from his spot near the door. “What?”

  “She’s not going to leave without taking that money with her.” She gave him the name of the bank. “But which branch will she go to? The closest one? Or one a bit farther away?”

  Ryan started dialing. “I’ve got the banks covered. You keep looking.”

  Izzy’s phone buzzed. A text from a number she didn’t recognize.

  If you don’t want one of your family members to die, find a private place to call me and keep this to yourself. I have someone there watching you, so do as you’re told.

  She froze at the signature.

  Gabby?

  Izzy stared at the text for a few seconds while her mind blipped different options at warp speed and her heart thudded with renewed adrenaline. Tell the others or not? She looked up and met Ryan’s gaze. He raised a brow.

  Her phone buzzed again and she glanced back at the scree
n.

  I know you saw the text, Izzy. I got the little read notice. CALL ME on this number.

  It wasn’t worth the risk until she knew more. “Excuse me a minute.”

  Ryan frowned. “What is it?”

  “I need to make a call. I’m just going to step outside.”

  Izzy didn’t acknowledge his frown, she simply walked through the house and out the front door.

  Standing on the porch, she dialed the number Gabby texted her from. Her friend answered on the first ring. “Thank you. Now listen—”

  “How did you know we knew?” Izzy asked.

  Gabby cleared her throat. “Several things.” She sounded breathless. Nervous. “Um, but the main one being you never asked if Mick would be there. And two, I know about the video that Kevin took in the warehouse. I know that I’m probably on it. You hadn’t accessed it when we had lunch that day. You were clueless, but I knew it was only a matter of time. I was … um … trying to get the phone before you found a way to watch whatever Kevin recorded.”

  Her former friend sounded odd. Almost as though she was reading the words she was speaking.

  “So you sent Lamar Young to kill me,” Izzy said, keeping her voice low.

  “No, no. I mean … well, not kill you, just to … um … get the phone.”

  “But if I had to die in the process, that was okay.”

  “Izzy …” Did she hear tears in her voice? Gabby did the throat-clearing thing again. “I didn’t set out on this course in life, Izzy. But my baby brother means everything to me and I can’t help him if I don’t have money.” She paused. “Now, enough chitchat. I know you have questions, but they’re going to have to remain unanswered right now.”

  “Where’s Mick? With you?”

  “Um … Mick’s not your business anymore, remember?” Her voice trembled.

  “Right.” She paused. “Gabby, are you okay? I’m having a hard time believing this is all your idea.”

  She had to find a way to alert Ryan.

  “Get the iPad from the cabinet behind my desk and bring it to me,” Gabby said.

  The change in subject allowed Izzy to take a deep breath. “You said you have someone here watching me. Why don’t you get your friend here to bring it?”

  “Izzy, the people who are in control are not nice people, in case you haven’t figured that out.”

  “I’ve sort of noticed. Gab, we know Bianchi wired fifty thousand dollars to your account.”

  Silence, then a strangled sound came over the line. “I … I’m not talking about that right now. Get the iPad in the cabinet behind my desk if you want to save your father’s life.”

  Izzy stilled. “What? My father?”

  “Yes. They’re watching him right now.”

  Her phone buzzed and she glanced at the text. A picture of her father sitting outside, having coffee with the mayor. No doubt supporting his friend while the voters did their duty. An easy target for someone with a rifle and a scope.

  “Just do what you’re told and I’ll give you the information you need to save him. Get the iPad and text this number and I’ll tell you where to meet me. Alone. And … and if anyone comes with you or follows you, he’s … he’s dead. You have five minutes.”

  Gabby hung up.

  31

  Ryan noted that the officer had finished going through the last drawer of the desk and found nothing. He stood with his hands on his hips and perused the room. Where was Izzy?

  Charice had moved on to the cabinet behind the desk and was carefully removing everything in it.

  Izzy stepped back into the room and stopped just inside the doorway. She scanned the room, her eyes landing on each person in it.

  Ryan frowned. What was she looking for?

  He almost walked over to ask her when she drew in a deep breath and headed for Charice and the cabinet. She opened the door on the right and started helping by removing the items one by one.

  “Everything okay?”

  She glanced at him, then at the others working behind her. “Fine.”

  “You don’t look fine.”

  “Sorry. I just found out my friend is in cahoots with a killer. I’m a little stressed.”

  She continued to work and Ryan continued to frown. He supposed that was a reasonable explanation, but she was different than before the call. He didn’t think anyone else would notice the slight difference, but he did.

  His phone rang and he snagged it with one last look at Izzy. She’d crouched in front of the lower part of the cabinet and was pulling items out. He sighed. “Yeah?”

  “This is David.”

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “I … uh … was playing around with that video Kevin took and I managed to get some sound from the office. It sounds like Sinclair said something like, ‘He expects to see it there no later than eleven o’clock Tuesday night.’ Granted, I had to piece together what I could clearly hear and then fill in the blanks, but that’s what I’ve come up with.”

  “Money. Whoever she’s working with is expecting to see money in an account.”

  “That was my first thought too.”

  “We need to get a warrant to watch the account and see where the money comes from.”

  “Yep. I left a message for Charice to take care of that since you’re not investigating this. Since it has something to do with Kevin’s death and all.”

  Ryan shook his head. “No, David, I’m being good, I promise.” But he would stay in the loop and make sure everything was being done that could be done.

  Tobias Freeman.

  A man who was still on the loose.

  He drew in a deep breath. “Thanks for the heads-up, though. And good work.”

  Ryan hung up and turned around to see Charice still working with Izzy at her side. “Charice.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Check your phone messages.”

  She frowned and pulled her phone off the clip on her belt.

  Izzy sighed and leaned her head against the cabinet. Ryan walked over to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “This shouldn’t be happening. It’s not fair,” she whispered.

  He wrapped her in a hug and inhaled her scent, not caring about the people in the room. They knew him. Some of them had known Kevin. They’d understand.

  Only she didn’t hug him back. She tugged on the front pocket of his jeans and he leaned back to look in her eyes. She tugged again and he frowned. Then she pulled away and swiped the tears that had leaked onto her cheeks. “Sorry. Excuse me, I need to get ahold of myself.”

  “Down the hall and to the left.” The officer who spoke had a sympathetic smile.

  Izzy nodded. “Thanks.”

  She left and Ryan watched her go. Casually, he slid both hands into his pockets and sighed, met the officer’s eyes, and shook his head. She’d taken his keys. What was she doing?

  “Sorry about Kevin, man.”

  “Thanks. Me too.”

  “She’s taking it hard.”

  “We all are.” As he spoke, his fingers curled around a piece of paper Izzy had tucked into his pocket after she’d palmed his keys. He got it. She was being discreet. Didn’t want anyone to know what she was doing for some reason. What was she doing? He turned. “Charice?”

  “Yeah?”

  “You get that message?”

  “I got it. I’ll let you know if I hear anything else.”

  “Thanks.”

  With another nod to the vigilant officer, Ryan followed the route Izzy had taken and walked outside to see her climbing into the front seat of his car. What the—

  “Izzy?”

  Her eyes met his as she slammed the door. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and read, “Gabby called. Wants me to help her escape or she’ll kill my dad. Someone here is watching. Follow me discreetly.”

  Ryan stood for a moment, his blood humming, adrenaline kicking in while his mind went to work on a plan. First, he needed a car. Then he�
�d warn Izzy’s father that someone was targeting him. He spotted a detective he knew and walked over, casually. “Hey, Jack, I need your car.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Don’t ask. It’s important.”

  Jack pulled his keys from his pocket. “You need backup?”

  “Not yet, but stand by. I have a feeling things are going to get messy.”

  “Ryan—”

  “I’ve got to go.” Izzy’s taillights came on as she slowed to turn right onto the street that led out of the subdivision.

  Ryan climbed in the car and pulled away from the curb. When he looked in the rearview mirror, he noticed the officer from the room he and Izzy had been searching.

  He got on his phone and called Jack.

  “Yeah?” The man’s voice came through his Bluetooth.

  “This is Ryan. Keep an eye on the officer standing on the front porch. If he tries to call anyone, stop him. I’ll explain later.”

  “Got it.”

  Ryan appreciated fellow officers who would act without question. He accelerated to stay behind Izzy and activated his phone to allow him to send a voice text. When he had the chief’s number, he sent the text to her work phone. Every one of her officers had the number and it was only used in an emergency. No one dared overstep the bounds and use it for anything else. She immediately responded.

  Meet me in ten minutes.

  Can’t. They’re watching. Be casual about it, but get Marcus somewhere safe where a sniper can’t see him.

  Will do. And Izzy?

  Following her. I have her back.

  You need backup.

  Will call for it when I know where to send them.

  Be safe.

  He caught sight of her just ahead, saw the taillights flicker just before she made a left.

  Ryan stayed far enough behind so that if anyone had followed or was watching him somehow, they wouldn’t suspect he was following Izzy. He hoped. For a moment, he lost sight of her as she went around the next corner, the large church blocking his view.

  Several seconds later, he turned and braked. Izzy wasn’t in front of him. Nor to the right. And not to the left. Tensing, he turned right and drove fast, looking at every car he passed. Braking, he executed a flawless three-point turn and went back the other way.