Page 24 of Marked for Danger

“Yeah?”

With a hand to his shoulder, his partner gave him a solid squeeze. “I know you care about Izzy, and so do I. If your gut’s screaming that this thing with her brother could go sideways, then she should have someone there watching her back. May as well be us, right?”

One corner of Grady’s lips curved, and he was reminded yet again how lucky he was to have made this place his home. Pulling his keys from his jeans, he gave Declan a nod and said, “I’ll drive.”

Chapter 5

Izzy stood outside the dilapidated apartment building, her heart racing with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety. She gripped the edges of her coat tighter, the chill of the night seeping through to her skin.

She hadn’t seen her older brother in so long, their estrangement leaving a painful, gaping hole in her life she hadn’t been able to fill. Aside from Olly finding his way back to the man he used to be, there wasn’t anything Izzy wanted more than for the two of them to reconcile.

It’s too late, Iz. Too much time has passed.

The same doubting voice she’d been forced to listen to for years rang through her mind. But Izzy refused to give it life, her experience and training teaching her that, for some, it was never too late.

It was that thought that had fueled her decision to put on her coat and shoes, get into her car, and drive to a part of Denver she’d never seen. At eight o’clock at night, no less.

She would have been here sooner, but like she’d told Grady when the two nearly ran into each other hours earlier, she really did have an afternoon meeting across town.

He thought you were lying.

Izzy’s gut felt tight just thinking about Grady and the others knowing about her past. She hadn’t wantedanyoneto know. Especially him.

But after today—after this—he would. That is, if he didn’t already.

She glanced up at the building once more. Coming here was probably a massive mistake. One she’d come close to avoiding by nearly crawling under the covers of her plush bed and pretending like the meeting with the FBI and the DA’s office never happened.

But every time she closed her eyes, she saw that picture of Olly at Valdez’s warehouse, and she couldn’t stand the thought of him being anywhere near a man like that. Let alone, work for him.

So here she was. Fueled by her love for her brother and a desire to keep him safe, she’d followed her GPS system to the run-down place before her.

Taking a deep breath, Izzy walked across the shadowed street, equally relieved and creeped out when she didn’t see another soul in sight. Climbing the worn-out stairs leading to a set of even worse-looking wooden double doors, she looked for a buzzer but found none.

She reached for one of the large metal handles and pulled the heavy door open. Almost instantly, she was struck with a wave of humid, musty air that reminded her of an old, damp basement.

Her heart sank when the lobby came into view.

Stained tiled floors. A wall of metal mailboxes, half of which no longer had doors. Trash was scattered about, and the elevator directly in front of her had a strip of yellow caution tape that appeared to have been put into place a long while ago.

Oh, Olly.

Shifting course, Izzy headed up the set of narrow wooden stairs. Each step creating a symphony of creaks and moans straight out of the scariest horror movie imaginable.

She reached the top, her heart saddened by the state of the second-floor hallway. Much like the lobby, its floors—albeit carpeted—were littered with stains. The walls cracked and discolored from years of neglect.

The overhead lights gave her direction as she navigated her way to her destination, but a flickering bulb at the very end of the hallway screamed for someone to replace it.

Izzy spotted the apartment she was searching for and came to a stop before it. Filling her lungs with a steely breath, she lifted a fist and rapped her knuckles against it.

The sound echoed through the empty hallway.

Filled with nervous energy, Izzy lowered her hand back to her side and shifted her stance from foot-to-foot. Several seconds passed with no response, so she raised her hand a second time preparing to knock again. But before she could make contact a second time, the sound of a chain lock being slid free was followed by a deadbolt disengaging.

Her heart pounded an unforgiving rhythm against her ribs. Izzy’s breaths became shallow, and suddenly she found it difficult to breathe.

The door creaked open. After a torturously slow reveal, she found herself staring back into a set of eyes she’d missed dearly. Olly’s hardened face softened with a look of pure surprise.

“Izzy?”

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