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

six weeks is that one of my friends died, this time of natural causes.” He explained about Sam Newley passing away from leukemia.

Reineke shoved a hand through thinning salt-and-pepper hair that was already standing on end. “I don’t see the connection.”

“Neither do we.” Liam’s admission came after a long breath.

“I’m willing to believe there is a connection. I’m just having a hard time seeing it. I wasn’t here when the accident happened, but I know about it. Way I heard it, it was about the biggest thing to ever happen in Willow Springs.” He turned to Paige. “Ms. Walker, what do you think?”

“I trust Liam’s instincts.”

Liam flashed her a grateful smile.

“We’ll do a deep run on Newley,” Reineke said. “See what we can find out. Let’s go back to the beginning. You say fifteen years have gone by since the bus accident. That’s a long time to hold a grudge.”

“I’m guessing by your accent that you’re not from around here,” Paige said, raising a surprised expression on the detective’s face.

His voice with its distinctive Northeastern inflection and hard consonants stuck out. “Yeah. What about it?” He didn’t give them the opportunity to answer. “Boston. What does that have to do with anything?”

“This is the South,” Paige said. “Fifteen years is nothing.” She snapped her fingers. “It’s less than nothing. Memories tend to run long here.”

“So I’m learning.” Impatience was now replaced with frustration. The detective looked at his notes before rubbing a hand over the bald spot on his head. So agitated was the motion that Liam wondered if he’d rubbed the hair right off at some earlier time. “Can I keep this folder? I assume you’ve made copies.”

Liam nodded.

“I have your contact information. The two of you, try to stay out of trouble.”

To Liam’s ear, the words held more warning than concern. “We didn’t go looking for it.” He stood and let his ramrod posture answer the implied warning. “But I’m not walking away from it.”

Silence stretched between the two men, along with a hard look. Soldier to cop.

A heavy sigh caused Reineke’s chest to heave. “Didn’t think you would. But I had to say it.”

“I’m not dropping this,” Liam emphasized.

“For your own safety...” Reineke flushed as he pulled out words that were reminiscent of old television cop shows.

“For my own safety, I have to keep at it. No offense, Detective, but for you, this is just another case. For me, it’s my life and my child’s life. You could say that I’ve got a vested interest in seeing this through.”

“I can’t stop you, but I can warn you not to step on anyone’s toes.”

“We’re going to be doing a lot more than stepping on toes by the time this is done.” Liam turned on his heel and walked out the door.

He’d do what he had to do. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Outside, Paige struggled to keep up with Liam as he walked off his mad. His long legs ate up the sidewalk with angry strides.

She’d recognized the signals he was giving off in the police station—the straightened spine, the tension rolling off him in almost palpable waves, the rigid line of his shoulders.

“Hey, hold up,” she called when he gave no indication of slowing down.

He paused, waited while she caught up. “Sorry.” He kept walking, albeit at a slower pace.

Sensing his need to think things through, she remained silent until he started talking.

“For a little while there, I thought we were getting somewhere,” he muttered. “A few days ago, they wouldn’t give me the time of day, shook me off like I was some kind of crackpot conspiracy theorist. Now Reineke says he’s going to look into it, but he still doesn’t really believe that the accidents are connected. My guess? He’ll just go through the motions.”

“Maybe in going through the motions, he’ll turn up something we’ve missed.”

“Not unless he starts seeing this for what it is. Revenge killings. It can’t be anything else.”

He was right. The police seemed reluctant to connect the attempts on Liam’s life with the three so-called accidents and with the bus accident of all those years ago. She supposed the police had to be cautious in jumping to conclusions, but, for her, the time for caution had passed. People had died and more were likely to unless she and Liam found out who was behind this.

“I don’t think we’re making friends in the police department,” she said. “Of course, that’s just me.”

His lips quirked. “Yeah. I got that impression, too.”

“When this is over, I’m going to have to make some amends. S&J likes to keep a good relationship with the police. It comes in handy.”

“When this is over, I’ll help you. But right now, I’m more interested in finding out who’s trying to kill me and the others.” Regret showed in his eyes. “And now I’ve gotten you involved in it. You didn’t sign up to ride in a hacked car, dangle from a cliff and almost get blown up all within a day. If you want to cut me loose, I wouldn’t blame you.”

“Not my style,” she said, repeating his words of a short while ago. “I’m with you.”

He gave her a long look that had her wanting to squirm beneath its intensity. “Thanks. That means a lot.” Then, as though that shared moment had never happened, he said, “Let’s head to my place. I want to show you something.”

Paige looked down at her torn and bloody clothes. She hadn’t taken the time to change after the explosion. “I’ll meet you there. I want to go home and get cleaned up.” She made a face. “Hanging around with you is hard on a girl’s wardrobe.”

Liam glanced down at his own clothes. “An hour sound okay?”

“Perfect.”

As Paige drove home, she received a call from the IT specialist at S&J. Though Liam’s car’s operating system had clearly been hacked, there was no way to trace it. So much for that lead.

At home, she showered and dressed in fresh clothes. There was nothing like a