Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 by Laura Scott (free e reader .TXT) 📕

Every time I went out, I felt like people were pointing to me and whispering, ‘He’s the one that let our kids drown.’”

“Could be that’s you projecting your own feelings. What I heard is that you were a hero. And that’s what I told anyone who said different.”

“You were in the minority then.”

Paige reached for his hand, giving it a quick squeeze. Though she didn’t say anything, the simple gesture warmed him through and through. When she released his hand, he felt the loss.

They began with the family of Liam’s best friend, Danny Howard. The two had competed in football and basketball and just about everything else and had come out at the end closer than ever. Far from resenting the competition, they’d used it to be their best.

Danny had been good-natured and an admitted class clown. College hadn’t been in his future, and he’d accepted that, always planning on going into the army. It hadn’t taken a degree in psychology to know that was why Liam had entered the army shortly after graduating from college with a degree in engineering. Honoring Danny’s memory that way was the only thing Liam had been able to do for his friend. Plus, he had desperately wanted to make a difference in the world, to protect his country, as both his father and his grandfather had done.

The exterior of the house was as he remembered. Neat. Well maintained. Until he looked more closely. Chipped paint around the door. Piles of rotting leaves left unraked. Mr. Howard had once been fanatic about keeping up the house and yard.

Liam didn’t want to believe that his friend’s parents had anything to do with the so-called accidents. The Howard family had been a second home to him, Mr. and Mrs. Howard another set of parents. He’d tried to keep in touch, but when his letters had been returned unopened, he realized that the relationship he’d once cherished had died along with his friend.

Danny’s father opened the door to their knock. He recognized Liam immediately. “McKenzie. What are you doing here?” The gruff voice was not at all what Liam had remembered of his friend’s father. Nor was the combative stance of arms folded across his chest and legs spread, firmly planted.

“Mr. Howard. It’s good to see you.” Liam introduced Paige to his friend’s father, who ignored her and fixed his gaze on Liam.

“Why are you here? We’ve got nothing to say to each other.”

“Mr. Howard,” Liam tried again, “I need to talk with you. If you could spare us a few moments of your time—”

He opened the door and pointed to two chairs. “Say what you’re going to say and get out. I’ve got no use for you. No use at all.”

Liam and Paige each took a seat. He gave a thumbnail sketch of the accidents that had claimed three lives.

But the older man didn’t seem to be listening and ignored Liam’s explanation for the reason of the visit. “You and Danny were best friends,” he said. “How could you have let him die like that?” Accusation and grief warred in the man’s voice, the years in no way softening either.

Liam understood both, had felt the biting sting of accusation and the bruising pain of grief himself. Now he attempted to give that understanding to a man who glared at him with soul-piercing contempt.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Howard. Sorrier than I can say. If I could have saved Danny, I would have. I’d have given my right arm for him, as I know he would’ve for me.”

Liam’s failure to save his best friend still ate away at his soul in the dark corners of the night. When the driver fell asleep, the back end of the bus was hit because he was swerving. Rosemary had been trapped by the damage, and the others had convinced Liam to go for help because he was the strongest swimmer. They’d said that they would free their friend and be right behind him. Liam had done as they’d urged.

When it was all over, many had blamed Liam for not staying behind to help free Rosemary, claiming his added strength could have helped save her and his closest friends. If only he’d been quicker, stronger, smarter and gotten back to them sooner. If only...

“You have a strange way of showing it, coming here and accusing me of what...killing three people and then trying to kill you?” The man’s mouth stitched tight on the last word.

It turned out he’d been listening after all.

“That’s not what we’re saying,” Paige said, speaking for the first time. “We’re trying to find out who’s picking off the survivors and put a stop to it. We thought you might have some ideas.”

“You’ll get no help from me. Good riddance to them, I say.” He clasped his hands together, wrung them, then looked down at them as though he didn’t know how they’d ended up in his lap.

They were a workman’s hands, Liam reflected, the knuckles swollen, scars bisecting his fingers and palms, evidence of a lifetime of working construction. Danny used to say that his father didn’t know the meaning of leisure time, that work and more work were all he’d ever known, all he’d ever wanted.

Shame washed over the older man’s face. “I didn’t mean—” He shook his head, the gesture one of defeat and sorrow rather than anger. “I don’t know what I mean anymore.”

“Harold?” A thin voice came from the other room. “Do we have company?”

The man disappeared from the front room.

Liam heard the murmur of voices from an adjoining room. One, Mrs. Howard’s, was faint and querulous, the other, her husband’s, patient and soothing. He tried to hear the words but couldn’t make out more than a few.

Mr. Howard returned shortly. “Excuse me, but I have to see to my wife.”

“Is she ill?” Paige asked.

“She has early-onset Alzheimer’s. Doctors say it might have been brought on by stress.” Howard aimed a hard look at Liam. “Like losing her only child when he might have been