Page 16 of Searching for Valor

“I’m listening. You’ve got five minutes to convince me why I should let you anywhere near my team.”

Izzy visibly exhaled, her shoulders slumping slightly in relief. “Thank you. I know I don’t deserve your trust, but I promise this isn’t some ploy or manipulation.”

He didn’t fully believe that, but he waved a hand for her to continue. “Four and a half minutes now.”

She leaned forward, her amber eyes serious. “Two kids have gone missing. Grace and Noah Holt, ages eighteen and twelve. They drove here yesterday and checked in to the Whispering Pines resort, but this morning, their mom found the cabin empty. The lights were on, the door was wide open, and all their luggage was still inside.”

Rylan frowned. “Hang on. Their mom let a seventeen-year-old?—”

“Eighteen.”

He continued like she hadn’t spoken. “—take a twelve-year-old on a solo trip out here? From where?”

“Sacramento.”

“That’s a six-hour drive. Doesn’t that seem a bit odd to you?”

“I know how it sounds, but Grace is more responsible than your average teenager, and their mom, Monica, was right behind them. She had to wrap up a few things in the city first.” She pulled out her phone and opened the photo app, turning the screen so he could see. “This is them. Grace and Noah.”

He studied the smiling faces— a pretty teenage girl with streaky blond hair and warm brown eyes and an impish-looking boy with a mop of sandy hair.

Shit. That boy looked enough like Aiden Ellison that they could be related.

His chest tightened.

Then he noticed the other two people in the picture. One looked like an older version of the girl. She had to be their mother. The other was Izzy.

His gaze snapped up. “You know this family personally.” It wasn’t a question.

Izzy nodded and pocketed her phone. “Monica is a good friend of mine. We worked together at The Grove when I was in high school, and Monica was in college. This is a good family. I mean, their dad’s a deadbeat, but he’s out of the picture. And Monica’s a very loving, attentive mother. She’d do anything for her kids.”

Rylan pressed his lips into a thin line as he processed this information, trying to ignore the dull throb of pain still pulsing through his knee and the roiling in his stomach. “So let me get this straight. Your college friend let her two kids drive up here alone to a remote cabin, and now they’re missing. And you wantmy team to drop everything and go look for them, even though it’s not even clear yet if they’re actually in any danger.”

“You don’t understand. Grace and Noah... they’re good kids. Responsible. Grace basically raised Noah on her own while Monica worked two jobs to keep a roof over their heads. There’s no way they would have just taken off without telling anyone or left the cabin wide open like that. Something is wrong. Monica is terrified.”

“Then why hasn’t she called the police?”

Izzy exhaled sharply, frustration bleeding into her tone. “She refused to. And, no, before you ask, I don’t know why.”

Rylan rubbed a hand over his face. “You need to take this to Ash.”

She winced at the mention of her former boss. “Sheriff Rawlings won’t listen to me. Just like you’re not.” She stood, her shoulders back, chin held high as she turned for the door. “I’m sorry. This was a mistake.”

Rylan’s hand shot out before he could think better of it, his fingers wrapping around her wrist to halt her retreat. Her pulse jumped beneath his fingertips, and he felt an answering tug low in his gut.

Damn. He shouldn’t be touching her.

He released her abruptly. “You’re not a cop anymore, Izzy.”

She turned back to face him, her eyes flashing with a quick flame of temper. “No, I’m not a cop, but I know what I’m doing, and Monica trusts me.”

“Trusts you?” Rylan let out a bitter laugh. “Right, because you’ve proven yourself so damn trustworthy.”

That hit its mark. Her expression faltered for the briefest moment, but she quickly recovered, her gaze hardening again. “Look, I know I messed up?—”

“Messed up? You didn’t just fucking ‘mess up.’ You betrayed us. You betrayedmeand put my sister’s life in danger.” His voicedropped lower, almost a growl. “You putallof us in danger. The team isn’t going to be champing at the bit to help you.”

Izzy flinched, but she didn’t back down. The woman didn’t know how to. It was one of the things he liked?—

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