Page 23 of Marked for Danger

“Did Iz…er…Dr. Garcia know about her brother’s connection to Valdez?”

“She claims she didn’t even know he was back in town. For what it’s worth, I believe her,” Riedell put Grady’s mind at ease. “According to what she shared, the two haven’t spoken or seen each other in over two years.”

Kim didn’t appear convinced. “But she thinks she can convince him to work with us on this?”

“Dr. Garcia didn’t promise anything aside from bringing her brother up to speed. She does that, the choice is out of her hands. No one can force they guy to sign up as our informant.” Their boss shifted his stance, waiting for further comments that never came. “Look, I didn’t say the plan was foolproof, but for now, it’s all we have.”

“You said she was going to talk to her brother tonight.” Like before, Kim posed her next question to Riedell. “If she didn’t know he was in town, how will she know where to find him?”

“Hunt’s team was able to track down the address where the brother’s been staying. Dr. Garcia is going by there tonight, hopefully talk with her brother. With any luck, she’ll have him back in here to meet with us first thing in the morning. Until then, we keep working this thing as if Olly Garcia isn’t an option.”

“Makes sense.” Cole pushed himself off his desk and slowly walked over to his chair. “If she can’t talk him into playing along, it may as well be true.” When the man’s feisty partner shot him a disapproving glare, he belatedly added, “Obviously the guy exists. I just meant for the purpose of solving this case.”

As the pair began a hushed debate over the detective’s poor choice of words—which really wasn’t much of a debate given that Kim was a master at putting Cole in his place—the rest of them went on about their jobs.

Riedell returned to his office. Blake began typing away on his keyboard. Declan joined Kim near the whiteboard. And Grady…

Grady wasn’t really paying much attention to any of that. He was too busy staring at Oliver “Olly” Garcia’s frozen image.

Looking to be in his mid-to-late thirties, the guy appeared to stand right around six feet. Comparing the two photos, it was obvious Izzy’s brother had beefed up during his time away.

Even beneath his well-worn clothes, Grady could tell Garcia’s arms, chest, and legs were much bigger and more defined than when he’d been arrested years before. The guy’s dark, shaggy hair was almost the exact same shade as Izzy’s, but it was his eyes that really drew Grady’s attention.

Though they weren’t crystal clear in the surveillance image Riedell had posted, the mugshot showed eyes the same shape and color as Izzy’s.

I can’t believe she never told me she had a brother.

Sure, they hadn’t divulged a ton of personal details. Another one of her no-strings rules. But Grady had pretty much been an open book as far as anything shedidwant to know.

Despite her being so close-lipped when it came to herself.

The longer Grady stared at that damn picture, the more he began to realize he knew very little about the mysterious Dr. Garcia.

That was about to change, though. Starting now.

Turning his back on the board, Grady walked over to where his partner still sat. Keeping his voice down, he asked, “You feel like a quick visit to the FBI?”

“The FBI?” Declan’s dark eyes slid to the closed office door behind Grady and back again. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking I want to know where Olly Garcia lives.”

“You heard Sarge. Izzy’s gonna try to talk to him later.”

“And I plan on being there when she does.”

The other man hesitated in his agreeance, the internal war happening inside him damn near visible to the naked eye.

“Relax, Dec. I know things got a little heated at the hostage scene that day, but this is different. You heard what Boss said. This guys’ an ex-con who works for a piece of shit like Valdez. Not to mention, Izzy hasn’t seen or spoken to him in over two years.”

“You want eyes on her in case their sibling reunion goes sideways.”

“Damn right I do. And you should, too.” He rubbed the taut muscles at the back of his neck. “I’ve just got a bad feeling about this, and I know I won’t rest tonight not knowing for sure that she got in and out of wherever this guy lives unscathed.”

For the next handful of seconds, Declan didn’t say a word. Instead, he just sat there, staring back at Grady as if he were trying to solve some age-old mystery.

Just when Grady was about to tell his partner to forget it, Declan opened the top drawer of his desk and grabbed his holster and gun. Standing up, he clipped the weapon to his belt and pushed in his chair.

“Let’s go.”

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