Page 19 of Liam James
Because for reasons I didn’t want to examine too closely, having Liam here made it easier to breathe.
Forest
Back at the cabin, Fraiser was on the phone with every contact he had in law enforcement, pulling favors like a man going broke at the poker table.
I was flipping through a folder we found on Jarod’s table—photos, maps, receipts—trying to see if there was a pattern.
Fraiser hung up. “No one spotted him near the carnival,” he said.
“Doesn’t mean he wasn’t there,” I muttered.
Fraiser rubbed his temples. “You think he’s playing with them?”
“I think he’s too smart to waste his time on rides and funnel cake,” I said flatly. “He’s planning something bigger. He’s moving them where he wants them.”
Fraiser frowned. “And Liam doesn’t know it yet.”
“Not yet,” I said, closing the folder. “But he will.”
Because men like Jarod Kennedy didn’t hunt blind.
They herded.
Liam
We hit the diner mid-morning. Jenny and Poppy slid into a booth while I grabbed coffee and called Forest.
He answered on the first ring.
“Tell me something good,” I said.
Silence.
“Forest?”
“We didn’t find him at the carnival,” he said finally. “But he was close.”
My grip on the phone tightened. “How close?”
Fraiser’s voice came over the line this time, grim and low. “Close enough to know what kind of truck you’re driving.”
“I’m calling Troy; he lives about an hour from here. He can bring me another vehicle, and I’ll have Dad’s delivered back to Fraiser Mountain.” There was silence.
“So you and Troy are talking?” Forest asked.
“Not yet, but we will be.” I hung up and called my brother. I remembered all of their phone numbers. Before he could speak, I explained what I needed and where I was, then hung up. Thirty minutes later, Troy and James pulled into the driveway in a new black SUV.
“We were close by, so it didn’t take as long,” James said.
I nodded and looked at my brother Troy. He didn’t look very well, as if he were sick. “What the hell is wrong with you? You look like shit.”
“It’s good to see you, too, brother.”
“Why would I say it’s good to see you? You married my fucking fiancée.”
“You should be thanking me; she was a bitch. I saved you a few years of misery.”
I am relieved I didn’t marry her. What’s wrong with you?”
