Page 6 of Liam James
“Liam James, that’s a nice name. You have two first names. Thank you for guarding us. I’ll pay you for everything.”
“I don’t want you to pay me.”
“You don’t. Why not?”
“Do you always ask questions when someone talks to you?” I asked.
She didn’t answer my question; she just asked another one.
“What’s your middle name?”
I heard the guys chuckle. “It’s James.”
“Your name is Liam James, James?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a wonderful name,” she said, and smiled.
She walked into the kitchen, and I heard her chuckle.
“Why did you tell her your middle name was James?” Fraiser asked, “Now she’ll think you are crazy.”
“I just wanted to give her something to smile about. And my name is Liam James James.
“You’re a kind man, Liam James,” Poppy said. I’m glad you’re guarding us.”
I forgot she was sitting there. “Me too,” I said. “Let's help carry the food inside. I’m starving, again.”
5
Jenny
Iclosed the door behind Poppy, my hand trembling just slightly. She was in the living room now, chatting away with Tessa as if nothing had happened, but I knew better. She was hiding how shaken she really was.
And then there was Liam James—sitting across the room, broad-shouldered, arms crossed, eyes following every move like he was already planning the next step.
The problem? He made my heart race in a way that had nothing to do with fear. Most of my life has been spent terrified. I had a few friends and one serious boyfriend. Finally, I broke up with him because he tried to control me.
I leaned against the counter, arms wrapped around myself, trying to keep my voice steady. “So, you’re really planning on helping us?”
He looked over, and those gray-blue eyes pinned me like a butterfly on a board. Calm. Focused. Deadly serious.
“I’m not planning on it,” he said. “I’m doing it.”
I hated how my pulse jumped at his tone—low, even, like there wasn’t a force on earth that could make him back down.
“Jenny.” He said my name like a promise. “I need you to tell me everything. What your brother’s capable of. What he might try next.”
I flinched. Just hearing about my brother made my skin crawl. “You heard what Poppy said, he was… always cruel. I left home the day I turned eighteen and never went back. My parents wouldn’t stand up to him. They were terrified. We all were. He used to go crazy and tear the house apart. My parents left while I was in college, and never told me where they were going.”
Liam didn’t move, didn’t speak. Just watched me, waiting. It was unnerving… and oddly comforting at the same time.
I forced myself to keep going. “When Poppy saw what he did… I knew he wouldn’t stop killing. He doesn’t leave witnesses, and Poppy is his only one. He’s a serial killer—I have no doubt about that. I didn’t doubt Poppy for a second when she told me what she saw.”
Liam nodded once. “Then we make sure he doesn’t find either of you. Not before we’re ready.”
Something about the way he saidwemade my throat tighten. Like I wasn’t alone anymore.
