Page 21 of Marked for Danger

Izzy had a meeting with his boss, the FBI, and an ADA?

“Well that can’t be good,” he mumbled more to himself than his teammate. “And you have no idea why they were here?”Or why Izzy was included in the meeting?

Cole shook his head. “I’m not sure, man. Whatever it was, it looked serious.”

Grady’s frustration mounted. Unable to get the concern—and quite frankly, thefear—in Izzy’s eyes out of his head, he started for his sergeant’s office. As he walked past Declan’s desk, his partner attempted to deter him from his mission.

“Hey, man. What’s going on?”

“Not sure.”

“You maybe wanna talk it out before you go barging into Sarge’s office?”

“Nope.” He kept walking.

With an unconcerned shrug, Declan mumbled, “Your funeral.”

As his partner went back to whatever it was he was doing on his computer, Grady entered Riedell’s private space uninvited.

“You got a minute?”

Closing the file he’d been studying, Sgt. Riedell glanced up from his desk, meeting Grady’s intense gaze. “Come on in, Thorne. You and King get something useful from the wife?”

“She was a bust.” He shook his head. “Valdez has her so conditioned, she’s too afraid to talk to us.”

“We knew it was a long shot.” The salt-and-pepper-haired man didn’t sound surprised. “There something else?”

Grady took a seat in front of Riedell’s desk and rested his elbows on his denim-covered thighs. “I know it’s none of my business, but I was hoping you’d tell me why Dr. Garcia was here.”

“You seem pretty invested in Dr. Garcia lately. First at that hostage situation and now this.” With an almost knowing look, Riedell leaned back in his chair, his boss clasping his hands together before resting them in his lap. “There something I need to know about the two of you?”

Grady felt a pang of hurt, but not from the insinuation. No, his pain stemmed from the fact that, as of two days ago, there wasn’t a damn thing between him and the gorgeous Dr. Garcia. But just because they were no longer sleeping together, that didn’t mean he didn’t still care.

“There’s nothing going on between me and Garcia, Sarge,” he replied firmly, his voice leaving no room for doubt. “But we are friends, and she just left here looking pretty upset. Then I see Hunt and Umbridge leaving right after, so I just wanted to check and make sure everything was okay.”

His boss studied him for a moment longer before rising to his feet. “Not sureokayis the word I’d use, but there is something I need to fill the team in on. May as well tell you all together so I only have to say it once.”

Ah, hell.

Grady prayed this wasn’t about to be some sort of lecture on inter-office relationships. The last thing he needed was to be singled out in front of the men and women he worked with.

His mind began to replay all the moments he and Izzy had shared over the last few months, doing his best to recall any that could have caused an issue with work. But try as he might, nothing sprung to mind.

You were so careful. Izzy made sure of that.

It was true. They never went out in public together unless it was to meet up as a group from work. And when they engaged in those types of social events, he and Iz were always,alwaysdiligent about not giving off anything other than friendly co-worker vibes.

But that didn’t mean they hadn’t fucked up. Maybe the higher-ups that had been in that meeting had gotten word of his…relationship…with Izzy, and now she was in trouble. Or they both were.

That doesn’t make sense. If the meeting were about a personnel issue, it would’ve been held in HR, not in Riedell’s office.

No, there was something more at play here. Something involving their unit, the FBI, and the District Attorney’s office. And whatever it was, it had obviously upset Izzy.

“Come on.” His sergeant picked up the file folder he’d been staring at when Grady first walked in.

Rounding the edge of his desk, the serious man stepped past Grady and left the room. Following his lead, Grady left the office and rejoined the rest of his team in the bullpen.

“Listen up.” Riedell stood near their nearly filled case board and waited. With his hands in his pockets, he addressed the group as a whole. “I’m sure you’re all wondering why Hunt, Umbridge, and Dr. Garcia were here.” A few mumbled agreements floated through the air, but the added sound died down quickly. “As you know, Torres flipped on Valdez, but he’s still refusing to wire up for us.”

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