2
The stakeout was a complete bust. Izzy’s stomach growled and she pressed a hand to it while she contemplated leaving.
“I heard that,” her partner, Kevin Marshall, said from the passenger seat of the Ford Explorer.
Izzy sighed. “People in China probably heard it. I’m starving.”
“Sorry. Guess you blame me for that, huh?”
“Completely.”
Kevin had complained so loud and pitifully about his lack of dinner before rushing to the stakeout that she’d rolled her eyes and passed him her brown paper bag. “You’re the one that talked me into this. How is it I had time to fix some food and you didn’t?”
“I’m a guy.”
“So?”
“So, I don’t think of things like that.”
“That’s a bunch of nonsense and you know it.”
“No, it’s not. It’s why every good man needs a good woman—or a good partner who knows how to cook.”
“Right. We’ll leave that statement right there.”
He’d grinned, pulled out her roast beef sandwich, and wolfed it down, followed by her chips and chocolate brownie. And now her stomach was mad at him—and her—for giving the food away.
“How much longer do you want to sit here?” he asked.
“This is your deal, Kev. Remember?”
“Right. Let’s give it a few more minutes. Blackjack got out of prison last week but said the info was reliable.”
“When did you start talking to Blackjack? You know he’s my CI. Why would he trust you?”
“Because he trusts you. And you’re my partner. And he couldn’t find you. When he asked where you were, I told him you were indisposed.”
“Indisposed?” She laughed, then frowned. “That wouldn’t be enough.”
“Well, I might have shown him the picture of us going bungee jumping together and I might have told him the story of how I talked you into it.”
“You did what? For real?”
“Yeah. He laughed and said if you’d trust me enough to risk that, he’d trust me enough to talk to me.”
“How much?”
“What do you mean?”
The innocent look didn’t fool her. “How much did it wind up costing you?”
“A hundred bucks.”
She gaped. “What? I’ve never paid him a dime for information.”
“I pointed that out. Apparently you have to save his life to get the free stuff.”
That sounded like Blackjack. She sighed. “You shouldn’t be spending your own money on this.”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind when I think it’s worth it,” he said. “He was adamant this was going down tonight. I just need to get the evidence to pass on to the detectives.”
“Blackjack. He’s a card shark. What’s he doing hanging out with gun runners?” Izzy murmured.
“I don’t know that they are gun runners. He said they were, but it could be anything. He wasn’t sure exactly what was going to happen, just that something was.”
“Well, he’s never led me astray before.” She leaned her head against the window and thought about closing her eyes for a minute.
“We should make the bust ourselves and get credit for the collar,” Kevin said. He practically vibrated with excitement.
“Calm down, partner. Make what bust? Nothing’s happening. Anyway, we’re off duty with no backup. We’re not making any busts. This is an information-gathering stakeout, remember?”
To herself she added, Maybe. It all depended on the situation.
He grunted his disagreement. “What are we doing for your birthday?”
“That’s two weeks away. And nothing.”
He laughed. “Of course we are. What do you want to do?”
“To have enough evidence to shut these guys down if what you say is true.”
“Izzy, Izzy,” he said with a groan. “Please do not become such an old fuddy-duddy this early in your life. We’re going to Xtreme Flips, so put it on your calendar.”
“That place with the trampolines? Are you trying to kill me?”
“I took Lilianna there a couple of weeks ago. She loved it.”
“Of course she loved it. She’s seventeen!”
“So what? You act like you’re a hundred years old.” He paused. “Actually, I know a guy who’s a hundred. He went skydiving for his birthday last month.”
“Kev—”
“You went bungee jumping with me, but you won’t go jump on an itty-bitty trampoline?”
“Death by bungee is instantaneous and most likely painless. I could be paralyzed for life if I land wrong on a trampoline. Have you looked at the statistics for injuries in those places? There’s a reason you have to sign a waiver releasing them of any responsibility.”
He shook his head, as though completely disgusted with her cowardice. “I’m taking you. End of discussion. And don’t forget. Only twenty-three years to go.”
She rolled her eyes. “You remember?”
“Of course. And I’m holding you to it.”
“Right.” As a teenager, she’d promised to marry him when she turned fifty if they were both still single.
He cleared his throat. “Now. Did I tell you that I told Lincoln about this?” He waved a hand at the warehouse.
“What? No. You neglected to mention that.”
“I did.”
“What’d he say?”
He shrugged. “That he’d look into it.”
“And you don’t want to wait on him?”
“Nope.”
Kevin’s eyes narrowed and Izzy could picture the conversation between the two men. One that would send Kevin out on his own, determined to prove he was right.
“He told you there wasn’t anything he could do until you had something concrete, didn’t he?”
“Yep.”
Of course he had. She would have told him the same thing.
Which was why she now found herself on a stakeout on her day off, allowing her partner and childhood friend to talk her into this.
“What is it with older brothers anyway?” Kevin said.
“What do you mean?”
He lifted the binoculars to his eyes, then set them back on the dash. “They’re so bossy—and arrogant.”
“Nah. They’ve just lived more years so they have more experience.”
“Linc, maybe. But not Derek. He has no excuse. He’s, what . . . three minutes older than you?”
“Two and a half.”
“But still older. And he rubs it in your face every chance he gets.”
She grimaced. Derek really did. “I’ll agree that he likes to share more than I like to listen.”
Kevin cracked up. “You can be so diplomatic. You should go into politics.”
Izzy couldn’t help the smile that lifted her lips. “I’ll leave that to Gabby.” Gabrielle Sinclair was her best friend and campaign manager to Melissa Endicott, the woman currently running for mayor. Which still stuck in Izzy’s craw. But that was for another time. “Derek just likes to push my buttons. It’s what brothers do. Especially to sisters. You know you drive Cathy nuts.”
“That’s different. She’s older. Little brothers are supposed to drive their big sisters crazy. But older brothers? Being older also seems to turn them into know-it-alls.”
She huffed a low laugh and refused to take up the complaint until Kevin changed course.
“Speaking of Gabby, what’s up with her taking that job as campaign manager for Endicott?”
“She and Endicott went to school together, then served in the Army together. It’s a good chance for Gabby to make a name for herself.”
But Kevin wasn’t listening anymore, he was studying the area, his tension palpable. “Blackjack better know what he’s talking about,” he muttered.
“He does if his track record is anything to go by, so chill.”
Izzy had met her confidential informant, Louis Harper, the night she pulled him from his burning home. She’d been patrolling his neighborhood after increased crime reports and had heard his cries for help. Since then, he’d been paying off his “debt” by feeding her information on various criminal activities for the past two years—in between the occasional visit to prison for minor infractions—and he’d yet to lead her astray.
Izzy didn’t bother to tell him he didn’t owe her anything, that she’d simply been doing her job. She figured as long as he was willing to help her put the bad guys away, she wouldn’t argue about it.
She picked up the binoculars from the dash and scanned the warehouse one more time. She’d found a prime parking spot. Across the street and far enough away not to attract attention, she had a good view of the front door and a partial view of the side of the building with the large sliding door. Right now that door was open, but she couldn’t see inside.
Movement to the left caught her attention. A dark green Chevy Tahoe pulled around the curve and followed the gravel path to the side of the warehouse. It parked next to the black Ford pickup and the low-slung red Mustang convertible. Izzy hit record on the camera mounted on her dash.
“You got the other camera?” she asked Kevin.
“Charged and ready.”
In addition to being her partner, Kevin was a very good amateur photographer.
Two men climbed out of the Tahoe and Kevin lifted the camera to his eye. She heard the zoom lens whir.
“I see a bulge that looks like a gun to me,” he said.
“Always go with that assumption.”
“Yeah. Actually, make that two. They both have them.” The shutter clicked multiple times as he snapped.
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.