Page 50 of Fighting With Light
“Give me your phone,” he says and holds out his hand. I frown and hand it to him then he disappears down the hallway with it. I hurry behind and he sits it on his desk and pulls out a little screwdriver set. He unscrews the little screws holding the phone together, pops off the back, and lifts it up. Then he grabs a flashlight and scans every inch of the back. “Ah, right here.” Liam uses his fingernail and pops a tiny, black square off the back. I wouldn’t have known it was there unless I opened the phone and looked myself.
“So what you had already done to my phone didn’t matter.”
Liam takes the little device and snaps it in two. “Nope, it was something externally transmitting, and the way you use your phone it’s hard to tell how much it was pulling from the battery. I should have looked.”
“So why did he wait so long to come? He would have known where we were the whole time.” Liam looks at me for a minute then stands and leaves his office.
“I don’t know, let’s go ask him.” I follow Liam back down the hall and outside where Ben is sitting.
“Are you the only one that was tracking her?” Liam asks Ben.
Ben shrugs and tilts his face up into the cloudy sky. “Ben, answer his question, please.”
“Why? You guys are just going to kill me anyway,” he says.
“No, we’re not,” I snap back.
“Trust me Benny Boy, if I had my way, your body would be feeding the ocean life at the moment, but the one you have been protecting told me no, and you’re lucky I can’t say no to her. Please don’t make me repeat myself, answer the question.”
He sighs and looks at me before staring Liam down. “I was trying to figure out who she was with…she has never done this before. She’s never gone to the trouble of going to a man she’s seeing.”
“It’s none of your business, Ben,” I snap.
“It is because you two are up to something and the boss is going to be pissed,” Ben says.
“Don’t worry about that, I’ve been sending—”
Liam cuts me off and says, “This conversation is getting boring. The point here is no one else was using the tracker on Aelia, is that correct?”
Ben nods.
“Well, you can relax Ben. Let’s consider you on an indefinite vacation, your ride will arrive in …” He checks his watch. “An hour to take you to your private island.”
“What does that mean?” Ben asks with narrowed eyes on Liam.
“It means what he said,” I mutter and grab Liam’s elbow before he chokes Ben out and kills him.
“I am very ready to be done with him.”
“Do you think we’re okay? I know you wanted to keep me quiet to your family, but that may no—” Liam kisses me so gently that I lose my train of thought, and when he pulls away, my mind is blank.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all day, I figured since I didn’t compete, there was no kiss to win so I could just take it now,” he says.
Smiling, I grab his shirt, pulling him down to me and kiss the living daylights out of him. It’s not gentle, it’s messy and wild and…needy.He groans into my mouth before standing back up to his full height.
“I would love to continue this, but I have to take Ben.”
I groan and lean my head against his chest. “Remember your promise to me, Tarzan,” I mutter.
“Yes, dear, I won’t forget,” he says sarcastically and leaves me standing in the kitchen.
Liam drives off with Ben in the SUV Ben was driving and I hope and pray to get a phone call soon. I understand why Liam didn’t want me to come, but it still pisses me off. I hate being told no and I don’t like being told I can’t do something, even if it makes sense. So I go back into the house to watch videofootage of the gate to see if there has been any change. I suppose I have the time now.
19
Liam
Aelia is standing inthe driveway as I leave her behind and take Ben to Emerson. Before I left, I fixed her phone, kissed her on the forehead, and told her to behave.
