Page 12 of Liam James
The inside smelled like coffee, bacon grease, and the kind of pie your grandmother swore could cure a cold. Poppy slid into the booth as if she’d been born in diners, ordering pancakes the size of hubcaps before the waitress even handed her a menu.
Jenny sat across from me, glancing around like she hadn’t been in public much lately. Which, considering she’d been hiding for over a year, made sense.
“You’re staring,” I said.
She blinked. “I’m not.”
“Sure you are.”
She looked at the window instead, but I caught the pink climbing her cheeks.
And hell, if that didn’t make something low in my gut tighten.
Jenny
Poppy was grinning, pouring half the syrup bottle over her pancakes, pretending she didn’t hear us bickering like a couple of teenagers.
Liam leaned back in the booth, arms folded, watching the parking lot through the window like he expected trouble to roll in on cue.
But when he looked at me again, it was different. Softer. Like maybe he was seeing past the red hair, past the fake names, which were no longer used, past all the mess that had been my life lately.
And that was dangerous. Because the longer I looked back, the more I wanted to let him.
9
Forest
Fraiser’s laptop was open on the hood of Max’s truck, the screen glowing in the late afternoon sun. Max leaned beside me, arms crossed, watching as if he expected the computer to suddenly reveal where Jarod Kennedy was hiding.
“Got something,” Fraiser said finally, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Pulled phone records, property deeds, bank transactions—this guy covered his tracks better than most politicians, but…” He tapped the screen, eyes narrowing. “He screwed up.”
I leaned in. “Where?”
“Rental cabin. Out near Black Ridge. Paid cash through a buddy of his on the force, but the power bill hit his real name two months ago. It’s been steady ever since.”
Max frowned. “So, he’s living there?”
“Or using it as a base,” Fraiser said. “Either way, it’s our best lead.”
I studied the map pinned to the screen. Black Ridge was remote. One way in. One way out. Plenty of woods for someone like Jarod to vanish into if he spotted trouble coming.
I didn’t like it.
Didn’t like any of this, honestly.
Not the way Jenny’s hands had been shaking before she left. Not the look in Poppy’s eyes when she told Liam what she saw.
And definitely not the thought of that girl’s father walking free while she was out there somewhere, waiting for him to find her.
Max
“Could be a trap,” Max said, reading my thoughts.
“Yep,” I answered.
“Could be he’s watching that cabin just to see who shows up.”
“Yep.”
