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

of herself. He thought of his own job. Designing software had been fulfilling, but he wanted more. He wanted to do more, to help others the way Paige did.

Was joining the US Marshals the answer? He was beginning to think it was.

When he went to sleep, it was with a hopeful heart.

But morning brought a new set of questions with the arrival of a text.

When Paige showed up, he handed her his cell phone. “Someone sent me a text claiming to have information about the murders and wants to meet.” He watched as she scrolled through the lengthy message with its directions to a location forty-five minutes away. You’ll find a trailer. Go inside and wait, the text concluded.

“A setup,” Paige said at once.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, but we can’t afford to ignore anything.”

“You’re right. I just don’t like anonymous notes.”

“I agree. Look, if you don’t want to go—”

“I thought we’d been through this. Let’s do it.”

Following the directions given in the text, they reached the appointed area in less than forty minutes.

They found the trailer, which was little more than a rusted-out bucket, but it managed to contain the necessities, including a sink, stove, table and bed. Liam pushed open a narrow door and found a cramped bathroom that looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months. He opened a cupboard in the kitchen, closed it. “Not much here to see.”

“No. But someone is living here.” She pointed to a dirty cup and saucer in the minuscule sink.

A feeling of foreboding swept over him. Liam lifted his head, sniffed the air. “Smell that?”

“Propane,” they both said at once.

He tried the front door and found it locked from the outside. “Check the back.”

Paige ran to the back. “It’s locked, too.” She rammed a shoulder against the door. It wasn’t just locked—something was wedging it shut.

Two propane tanks had flanked the side of the trailer. If they caught fire, they’d blow in a second. His fears were confirmed when he caught sight of a darkly clad figure creeping around the trailer. If the individual threw a match...

“Stand back.” He threw himself at the door.

It didn’t budge.

Again.

Same result.

“Get on my back. We’re getting out of here. Now.”

She did as he instructed and climbed onto his back. With their combined weight, he managed to break down the door. Outside, he didn’t set her down but kept running until they reached the forest line.

Just as they ducked behind the trees, the trailer exploded. Flames shot into the air as the fire ignited the propane. Succeeding explosions continued until only the fire remained.

One more minute inside the trailer and he and Paige would have been toast.

Paige swiped at the sweat pouring down her arms. “You saved my life. Again.”

“I’m thinking it was a team effort.”

“All the same, thanks.” She checked her cell for service. “We’ve got to call this in.”

“I wish we’d found something.”

“All we know for certain is that someone wanted us dead.”

Relief shuddered through him that they had identified the odor and gotten out in time.

They checked out what was left of the trailer. Its blackened door lay to the side, a crowbar threaded through the handle. No wonder it hadn’t budged when he had kicked it.

Someone had tried to murder them.

Paige fisted her hands on her hips. “We were set up.”

“Yeah. But who did it?”

That question stuck in his mind as they waited for the police to arrive. It always came back to that.

Detective Reineke arrived, along with two black-and-white units.

“You two sure have a way of riling folks,” he observed.

“Riling folks is what you call having someone try to kill us and almost succeeding?” Liam challenged, pointing to the crowbar wedged into the door handle. “Is that proof enough for you?”

“Look, Mr. McKenzie and Ms. Walker, I’m sorry our department didn’t take you more seriously at first, but we’re on the case now. Trouble is, you haven’t given us much to go on. As far as that crowbar goes, we’ll take it in, check for fingerprints, but I’m not expecting to find anything.”

Liam faced him unflinchingly. “I’m not expecting you to find anything, either.”

“What caused you to come out here in the first place?”

“We got a note.” He pulled up the text on his phone and showed it to Reineke.

The detective took a picture of it. “Our CSU folks will go over the trailer, take apart what’s left of it, but I don’t expect to find much.”

Liam gestured to the door with the crowbar wedged in the handle. “We weren’t meant to walk away from this.”

“All the more reason for you to leave the investigating to us.”

“You refused to believe us, so we investigated on our own. This was an ambush.”

“I’m still looking for a motive.”

Paige got in Reineke’s face. “Liam’s given you the motive. Someone is picking off the survivors of that bus accident. We don’t know all the ins and outs of it yet, but the connection is clear.”

“I’m still not sold on it. I’ll grant you that you and Mr. McKenzie have someone who’s trying to kill you, but these attacks haven’t been made to look like accidents. Wasn’t that your theory? That the killer was making the killings look like accidents? If that’s the case, why hasn’t he—or she—kept to the script?”

“The first attack on Liam was made to look like an accident,” Paige pointed out. “It was only when he really started investigating that the attacks escalated.” She sent Reineke a scathing look. “Seems to me that it should be obvious to you that the killer is getting desperate because we’re getting close to the truth.”

He flushed. “You’re right, ma’am. I should have seen that.”

“Mr. McKenzie, Ms. Walker,” Reineke continued, “you’re dealing with someone who’s proven he doesn’t mind killing. You’re both fortunate to be alive. Let the police take it from here. I promise that we won’t drop the ball. By the way, a body was found not far from the hospital. There was a bullet in the man’s shoulder, but that wasn’t what killed