Page 16 of Last Chance Christmas

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.