Page 13 of Marked for Danger

Not one to give up easily, Declan kept on. “You’d wear a wire. Our tech guys are really good at what they do. They have some now that are so small, they’re nearly impossible to detect.”

“We’d be able to see and hear everything you do,” Grady piggybacked off his partner’s comments. “We’d be right outside the whole time.”

But Torres clearly wanted no part in it.

“Forget it.” He shook his head with vigor. “Nah, that wasn’t the deal. I gave you a name. Abigone. You want anything else, you’ll have to get it from someone else.”

“What if we could get the D.A. to give you a reduced sentence? He might agree to cut your time short.”

“I’m good.” Torres’ definitive answer surprised both detectives. “I’d rather take my chances on the inside than with Valdez. He finds out I snitched, a bullet to the head will be a blessing compared to what he’ll do.”

“We can protect you,” Grady promised. “Might even be a chance for you to go into Witness Pro—”

“Witness Protection? Shit, man.” The cuffed man smirked. “Those dudes get found and popped all the time from what I hear.”

“That’s not true.”

“No? Why? ’Cause you, thecop, says so?” Torres leaned in closer, his forearms and elbows fully rested on the table in front of him. Keeping full eye contact, he lowered his voice to a calm, unwavering tone. “You want more on Dante Valdez, go do your jobs and find it. I’m done.”

Sitting back in his chair, the murdering SOB made a show of looking away. A physical sign that he was, in fact, finished talking. A shared glance between partners was all that was needed for Grady and Declan to agree.

If they wanted more evidence on Dante Valdez, they were going to have to find it some other way.

As he and Dec left the interrogation room, Grady’s thoughts momentarily turned to Izzy. Not long ago, he and the sexy psychiatrist had shared a brief but passionate moment in that exact same room.

It happened right after she’d nearly given him a heart attack by putting herself smack dab in the middle of a hostage situation.

Though their physical relationship had been just that—physical and without strings—in those final moments leading up to the hostage taker’s apprehension, Grady had felt a level of fear unlike any he’d ever known.

Which was saying something, given that he started his career as a cop in Chicago.

That day changed everything for him. He started contemplating his life choices and goals. Started really looking at where he wanted to be in five, ten, twenty years.

While it wasn’t intentional, every future Grady envisioned for himself included Izzy.

He’d kept those thoughts close to the vest, of course. Never once talking about it with Declan or any other member of his unit.

He sure as hell hadn’t brought it up with Izzy. She’d made herself crystal clear in the beginning that serious wasn’t an option.

So Grady kept his burgeoning feelings for the sexy brunette locked down to avoid scaring her off. Which, as it turns out, was a non-issue since she’d already broke things off.

A move that still gnawed at his gut. Not because he couldn’t imagine any woman not wanting to be with him. Grady might see a decent looking guy staring back at him from the mirror, but he was far from perfect. And he wasnotone of those guys who believed himself to be irresistible to the female race.

But Izzy was different. When she walked into a room, everything else around him just seemed to disappear.

Only Grady continually ignored the signs that this woman was different from the rest. That she was special. By the time he realized he might actually want to move out of the casual lovers stage and into something real, it was too late.

I missed my chance.

The big bad detective who took on gunfire without flinching and took down criminals littering his city’s streets had missed the opportunity to finally have something real—something meaningful—with an amazing, intelligent woman.

But if she ever changes her mind…

Grady had no way of knowing if that would ever happen. But he’d sure as hell already made up his. If he got the chance again…if Izzy gave him the green light to start things back up again in the future, he was going to roll the dice and see where they landed. After all…

What do I have to lose?

Chapter 3

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