Chapter 7
SEVEN
Olivia pulled onto Izan’s street but parked close to the turn-in because there was a fence where she wouldn’t block anyone’s drive or mailbox.
She’d clocked out, changed clothes, and come in her personal car, but in a situation like this, she wasn’t about to go unarmed.
There were dangerous criminals roaming the streets, and all the cops in Last Chance County were out looking for them.
She’d been ordered to clock out for six hours minimum and get some rest, but that didn’t mean letting her guard down.
One quick chat, and she was going to get some sleep. There was no way she could leave their conversation the way it had ended at the firehouse. On duty, she had to be a cop. Now that she was off shift, she could be Olivia Tazwell, a woman with a mega crush.
Not that she was going to act on it.
She didn’t feel like she needed to apologize for asking those questions. She’d been doing her job, after all. She hadn’t done anything wrong. But she did feel like it was worth at least clearing the air between her and Izan.
Olivia headed for the kitchen door without thinking much of it, since the last time she’d been here—months ago now, for a summer barbecue—Izan had everyone come in the side or go right to the cute little backyard he had.
She was kind of jealous of it, even though the place could use some TLC. Weeds needed to be pulled and maybe some flowers planted. But the whole area was so peaceful. The kind of spot where you could sit and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.
Raised voices interrupted her thoughts.
Olivia’s footsteps stalled. She instinctively reached to her gun, but didn’t pull it. As a cop, resting her hand on her weapon meant something far different than drawing it. She unsnapped the catch that held it secure in the holster.
Ready.
For what, she didn’t know. Olivia crept closer.
“That’s my gun, Sosa.” Izan didn’t sound happy. Or cooperative.
“Not anymore,” the convicted criminal responded. “Where’s the money?”
“What money?”
“As if you don’t know. They were your parents. They took Diego’s money.”
She eased up to the door and lifted onto the balls of her feet so she could peer in the tiny window at the top of the door. She was barely tall enough to see inside, but she spotted the back of Alonzo’s head.
Izan faced her, the gun pointed at him. “I never met them. I don’t have your money.”
Olivia backed up from the door and pulled out her phone, going to the front of the house. She called dispatch and informed them that the escaped convict Alonzo Sosa was at this address, Izan’s house. Armed and dangerous.
“Copy that. Units are being dispatched to your location. Be advised: Do not approach the suspect, but wait for backup.”
It was almost as if the dispatcher knew that Last Chance County cops had a tendency to go into a situation solo and try to take down the bad guy. Especially when the life of someone they cared about was at risk.
“Understood.” But…she could just go inside and check. An innocent was in danger, after all.
That was the problem with regret. Something could happen to Izan, and she would never have the chance to say what she wanted to say to him.
She would have to live with the knowledge that she could’ve saved him but hadn’t done everything she could, regardless of the consequences.
Olivia hung up, exchanging the phone in her hand for her metal credit card. She jimmied it between the front door and the frame, bumping the lock and opening the door. She caught it before it opened all the way, just in case it creaked and alerted Sosa to the fact someone else was here.
She crept down the hall, safety off on her weapon.
Gun first. Right to the entry of the kitchen.
Ignoring this first look at the inside of Izan’s house.
She’d been here at that barbecue but hadn’t roamed the house like this.
Or seen what he had on his walls. How he decorated the living room.
She wanted to linger and study the place he’d claimed as his own and see what it said about him.
She stopped at the entry to the kitchen and listened.
“Just go, Sosa. Get out of here before I call the police.”
The other man chuckled, the sound low and dark. “I’ll kill you now. Save myself the trouble of being followed.”
“No, you won’t.” Olivia stepped into the room.
Izan had his back to her from this vantage point, much closer to Sosa than he was to her. She spotted his shoulders stiffen but didn’t take her attention from Sosa.
“Drop the gun and put your hands on your head.”
His eyes were dark brown, almost black. His tanned skin slightly lighter than Izan’s. This man had spent months in prison, awaiting his trial. He didn’t have much access to vitamin D.
“You aren’t getting out of this, and killing someone will only make things worse for you. So put the gun down.” She held hers steady, not wanting to use it if she didn’t have to. “Do it, Sosa.”
Alonzo did nothing for several seconds, then launched forward and grabbed Izan.
“No!”
He didn’t heed her shout. Alonzo spun Izan and pointed the gun at the side of his neck, while Izan fought to get away from him. The moment the gun touched the skin of his neck, Izan froze. Wide-eyed. Aware that with one squeeze of that trigger, his life would be over.
“Let him go.” The guy was racking up charges upon charges right now, and it wasn’t going to make his eventual sentence any smaller. “Sosa, let him go!”
Both of them would realize she didn’t have much control when it came to a gun pointed at Izan.
But there was nothing she could do except her job, regardless of the pure fear rolling through her, turning her thoughts into sparks like lightning she couldn’t tame and chilling every muscle in her body into something like cement.
She couldn’t look at Izan again or she would lose it.
“Let him go!”
Sosa’s lips curled up slightly. He shoved Izan at her, and she just about got her gun out of the way before he slammed into her. His arms went around her, and they kind of caught each other, both of them breathing hard.
The door slammed open like it had bounced back on its hinges.
She stepped around Izan, both of them still holding each other, and looked at the empty doorway. Sosa had made a run for it—with a gun. Armed and dangerous, and now on the loose.
“I need to go after him. Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Go.”
“Meet the officers who show up. Tell them what happened.” She ran out of the kitchen door and looked both ways, seeing Sosa jump the fence by Izan’s oak tree.
She raced after him, tearing across the yard as fast as she could while a clap of thunder rumbled across the gray early-morning sky.
The clouds were thick enough they threatened to dim the whole day, not just breakfast. But she’d much rather chase a suspect in the cool than the heat of summer—so hot it seemed like everything was about to catch fire.
She didn’t know how those firefighters withstood running into a burning building every shift.
Olivia holstered her gun, grabbed a tree branch, and hoisted herself up so she could swing her legs over the fence. Thankfully the top edge was flat, not jagged, and she rested there a second just to make sure she wasn’t about to get shot.
Sosa was halfway down the street behind Izan’s cul-de-sac.
She pushed off the tree and made it over the fence. Not entirely graceful, but she landed on two feet and drew her gun again. “Stop! Police!”
Sosa kept running.
She chased after him, her intention focused on this one man. A guy who could have ended Izan’s life just moments ago. Thank God he hadn’t.
It felt like she’d been about to lose everything.
She wanted to ugly cry with relief now that Izan was fine. Even though Alonzo was loose still. He could hurt someone else. Take somebody’s loved one, the person who was their whole world. She shouldn’t be so relieved Izan was all right.
Olivia turned the next corner so fast she didn’t realize what she’d done before it was too late.
Alonzo waited by the fence, and he was on her quicker than she knew what was happening. He grabbed her shoulders and spun her, slamming her against the fence.
He grabbed her head and slammed that against the fence as well.
The double hit brought the ground up way too fast.
Everything went black.