Page 68 of Under His Watch

“Don’t contact me again.” I hung up, seething, and quickly set the phone to block that number.

Fucking Elliot.Of course that slimy lawyer found out a private number. He was more corrupt than any Constella.

Being stuck in a traffic jam didn’t help my mood. After dealing with my mom, even for that short amount of time, I wanted to run. To move. I missed the energy of being at the shooting range. Sitting here without any means to vent, I exhaled a hard breath and glowered out the window.

She had no right. She had no place to call and badger me like that, and I wondered if she would ever stop.

My phone rang again, and I frowned at the unknown caller number.

“What?” I answered, half-expecting it to be my mother again, disguised by using another number.

“Wow. What kind of a greeting is that for an old friend?” Liam asked, laughing dryly.

“Liam!” I smiled, immediately happier to hear his voice. “I didn’t recognize the number.”

“Oh. Right. I had to get a new phone when I got Stateside.”

“You’re officially home? For a visit?”

He sighed. “No. I’m, uh, here for good.”

I blinked, shocked. I always thought he’d be a military man for life. Static cut through the line, and I missed every other word of what he said next. “Huh? You’re breaking up.”

“I’m moving home,” he said. “Wherever home will be.”

I bet he could stay close to me and Nina!

“I’m hoping you can help me,” he said, even though I had to guess at a couple of the words.

“Help you? Help you move?”Like, physically?I couldn’t see how he’d have much to move after so long in the army. What possessions could he have accumulated in the service, always on the go and often out of touch?

This call was sort of out of the blue, but his request for help was even weirder. Liam was independent and stubborn to a fault, never wanting to askanyonefor help. He was a go-getter, and I knew for him to ask me for assistance, he really needed it.

“I’m in Utah,” he said brokenly.

“What?”

Static cut through the call.

“Did you say Utah?”

“Yes, I?—”

“Liam, the call’s breaking up.”

“I’ll call again soon, okay?”

“Yeah. We’ll catch up more.” We would, and hopefully, not over a call with crappy reception. If he needed a place to stay, Romeo would let him stay. Because if it would make me happy to see my childhood friend, he would move heaven and earth to make it happen. I didn’t think this with any degree of greed, only honesty.

This wouldn’t have been a good time to catch up with Liam, anyway. We pulled up to the mansion, and Nina was ready to climb into the backseat with me.

“What took so long?”

“Traffic,” the driver and I replied in unison.

“I just got a weird call from Liam,” I told her.

“Really?” She smiled, excited. While she didn’t know him as well as I did, she hadn’t forgotten him. She was familiar with him via my friendship, and they’d gotten along fine when we were younger.

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