Trusting Liam(71)

“Police are coming,” Kira mumbled from the kitchen, and Matthew cried harder.

I sighed and shrugged when Rhys gave me a confused look.

“What were your orders this time?” he asked gently, and I smiled, knowing that Rhys understood how to handle this situation. It was so hard to be mad at this boy since he’d just gotten mixed up with the wrong people because of his dad.

“Just to scare them with the symbol. But you’d gotten it earlier, so I’ve been waiting for the girls to come back. I was going to leave another note and knock once they were here.”

“This poor kid,” I whispered when Rhys took another step back so he was next to me.

“I don’t know what to say now,” Rhys said low enough that it wouldn’t carry.

“I know,” I agreed, and studied the kid again. “Matthew, do you know if Juarez has anyone else harassing my family?”

Matthew shook his head and choked out a sob. “I don’t know, maybe. I’m sorry, I just wanted to help my pop and make money.”

“And you don’t know who’s paying you?”

He looked up to me. “No. They mailed me a bank card and they just keep putting money in it for me. Oh no! No, please don’t let them arrest me!” he cried out when sirens sounded close by.

I gave him a sympathetic smile, but didn’t know what else to say. It was ridiculous that a kid who had been harassing my family could have me feeling so bad for him, but I couldn’t help it. And from Kira and Rhys’s expressions, they felt the same.

To be honest, I’d never thought anyone would find us here. But I was sure that if they did, it would have been a lot more action-packed than the last ten minutes had been. What a letdown.

Rhys helped the kid stand, and started leading him over to the front door. He was holding Matthew’s hands behind his back like a cop without cuffs would do, and the action made Matthew cry even harder.

“Wait! Matthew, does Juarez know we’re here in California?”

“No. He calls me every Wednesday. When he called me last week, I’d still only been following your uncle.” He tried rubbing his wet cheeks against his shoulder, and looked between Kira and me. “I’m sorry,” he cried.

“We know,” I answered for us. Kira was still standing there with a guarded but sad look on her face. “We’ll tell the police exactly what you told us, I promise.”

He nodded, then let Rhys lead him outside.

“Do you think he was the only one doing everything?” Kira asked.

“I don’t know. Let’s hope so.”

Kira’s face clearly said she didn’t agree. “We need to be a lot more alert from now on.”

“I know, we will.” I sighed heavily and clapped once. “Well! You ready to spend Monday night in a police station giving statements?”

Kira groaned and rolled her eyes, and I laughed at the look. “I’ll go change my shirt so I don’t smell like smoothies. Meet you outside?”

“Last one out has to call Dad to tell him!” I called over my shoulder as I ran toward my room.

I heard Kira’s mumbled curse, and laughed louder as I stripped off my shirt and ran to my closet to grab the first one I touched. The worst part of this entire night would be telling Dad and Uncle Mason that one of Juarez’s boys had found us . . . and I sure as hell didn’t want to be the one stuck having to make that phone call.





16



December 4

Liam

I LOOKED UP at the sound of my office door opening, and my body immediately tensed when I saw the expression on Eli’s face. He looked like he was nervous about talking to me, and while I still wasn’t worried about my job, I was worried that he’d have news from one of his nieces.

“Hey,” I said cautiously. “What’s up?”

He sighed as he sat in the chair opposite me. “I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“I’m fine, why?”

Eli’s face went blank. “Well, that’s some bullshit.”

“I don’t know what you want, Eli. I’ve landed more accounts and finished more jobs in the last month alone than I normally do in a quarter. I’m fine.”

“Yeah, your work is fine. It’s great. But you never leave. You never leave the office and you never talk to anyone. So from what I’m gathering, Kennedy still hasn’t called you, and as your friend, not your boss, I want to know how you’re doing.”

I sat back in my chair and folded my arms across my chest. “I don’t know,” I finally admitted. “I don’t know how I am. She calls, but she hasn’t made a decision, so I don’t talk to her. I can’t until she knows. Because talking to her will only give me hope, and right now my chances aren’t looking that great.”