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

that he didn’t want to remember what happened that day.” Jerry gave a slight smile. “Except for you and what you did. He said you kept going back in the water until...well, until there wasn’t anything more you could do. He always looked up to you. Did you know that?”

“I remember it being the other way around with me looking up to him.” Liam shifted subjects. “Did Sam ever say much about that day?”

Jerry shook his head. “About the only thing he said was that you were the hero of the day.”

“That’s not how some see it,” Liam said.

“What do you mean?”

“They blame me for not saving everyone.” As if it were yesterday, memories bombarded him.

Jerry looked surprised. “Sam said you kept going back down, even when you were so tired that you could barely lift your arms.”

He shrugged. “It’s over and doesn’t matter anymore.”

“It matters to someone,” Paige said and explained what was going on.

The younger man’s eyes widened. “You mean someone’s killing survivors from that day?”

“That’s what it looks like,” Liam said.

“No kidding. Then I really am glad Sam’s not here to see it,” Jerry repeated. “He wasn’t one to think bad about anyone. It wasn’t in him. He was always willing to give a person a second try.”

“You’re right. Even at seventeen, Sam had his head on straight,” Liam said. “Did he ever say anything, anything at all? You said he didn’t want to remember that day. Did he mention anything in particular he wanted to forget?”

“You mean beyond the obvious? That five kids died?”

Jerry’s voice had an edge now, with a bite of sarcasm that Liam chose to ignore. From the expression on Paige’s face, she had noted it, as well.

“Sorry,” Jerry said. “Didn’t mean to snap at you that way. It’s just that talking about Sam brings up memories. Most of them good, but not all. He pulled away from me after the accident and never really came back.”

“No problem,” Liam said easily. “Most of us don’t want to remember what happened that day, but it sticks with us anyway. I figured it might have been the same with Sam.”

“Sometimes Sam would get a far-off look in his eyes, like he was thinking about something that he’d rather not be thinking about. When that happened, I knew he was reliving the day of the accident. It changed him.”

“It changed all of us,” Liam said.

“Like I said, Sam was pretty closemouthed.” Jerry poked his tongue in the corner of his cheek. “You know Sam. He never said much even if he was feeling chatty.” Jerry’s mouth curved into a half smile.

Liam smiled in response. “Chatty’s not a word I’d use to describe Sam.”

“I wish I could help you out. Sam and I were never close until this last year, when he got sick and I moved in to take care of him.” He shook his head regretfully. “That’s on me. I should have made more of an effort.”

The words were right. Why didn’t Liam believe them? He dismissed that.

Paige stood, pulled out a card from her pocket and pressed it into Jerry’s hand. “If you think of something, please let us know. We’re trying to put a stop to this before anyone else is hurt.”

Jerry closed his hand around the card. “You can count on it.”

Liam stuck out his hand. “Thanks for your time. We appreciate you seeing us.”

“I’m just sorry I couldn’t be of more help. Though I wasn’t on the bus that day, I always felt close to the survivors because of Sam.”

“You never know what will help,” Liam said.

Liam and Paige took their leave and returned to the car.

“That didn’t get us much,” he said. “But it was good to talk about Sam. He was one of a kind.”

“I wish I’d known him.”

“You would have liked him. He wasn’t one of the popular kids, but he stood out. Maybe because of that. You could always count on him to do the right thing.”

At S&J’s office, they looked at the case from various perspectives, but none brought them closer to an answer.

A huge yawn caught Liam unaware, and he rubbed at eyes, gritty with fatigue. He was so exhausted he could barely put one thought after another.

“Maybe we’ll see things from a different angle tomorrow,” Paige said.

“Maybe.” But at that moment, his mind wasn’t on angles. It was on the courage Paige showed at every danger they faced. It was on the steadfastness of her belief. It was on the woman herself who refused to give up no matter what was thrown at them.

He yanked his thoughts away from Paige. She was helping him because it was her job. Nothing more. He should have felt better at the self-directed reminder.

But he didn’t.

SEVEN

Morning came in a blast of cold and rain. After being deployed in Afghanistan, Liam didn’t let a bit of cold bother him. Temperatures in the mountains there often plummeted below freezing. Though the days were blistering hot, nighttime brought on a bone-deep cold that was all the more bitter due to the need to remain absolutely motionless while on watch.

When Paige suggested visiting Reva Thomas, the sister of Liam’s old girlfriend, he agreed.

Even with the rain, the countryside was dazzling, the green fields lush and full of crops, the occasional barn painted brick-red.

When a shot punctured a tire, Liam steered the car to the side of the road, then motioned for Paige to climb out the passenger side. He drew his weapon and quickly followed.

He scanned the fields but didn’t spot the shooter. A trained sniper could be anywhere. Another shot landed terrifyingly close to where Paige was crouched behind the car. She, too, had her weapon drawn.

“I going to make a wide circle, see if I can spot the shooter,” he said.

“You’re the client,” she pointed out. “I’m the one who’s supposed to protect you.”

“Okay. We go together.”

They belly-crawled through the thick rows of soybeans in the general direction from which the bullets came.

When Liam spotted a glint of metal,