Chapter 15 Liam
LIAM
“There’s nothing here.”
I heard Jeff’s words, but I wasn’t sure I could make myself believe it. “Check again.”
Sighing, he sat down at the kitchen table across from me. “If there was anything here, we would have found it. How sure are you that Austin cut the brakes?”
Even with the fog from the medication still lingering, I remembered every fucking detail leading up to the accident. “Positive. I’m telling you, the brakes were cut.”
“Then we need to prove it and get that fucker out of our lives.”
That fucker. Austin used to be friends with us a long time ago. But I’d seen the changes in him even before his brother’s accident. That desire to push the limits just a little further. The gleam he got in his eyes when danger was present.
He thrived off destruction, which was becoming clearer by the minute. Not that I could prove any of it.
“What did Wynne say?”
“He said—” His gaze flitted to the window and he stood, pushing his chair back. “Speak of the devil.”
Walking over to the door, Jeff let the good sheriff in. “Mav, tell us you have some good news.”
Maverick removed his hat, running his fingers along the brim as he shook his head. “I got nothing off the car.”
“That’s not possible,” I said, pushing to stand, wincing as my shoulder pulled.
“I got nothing because this morning, Bailey’s car went up in flames where it was being held for investigation.”
Stunned, I stood there trying to take it in. “But…” That didn’t make sense. “The firemen put out the flames.”
“Exactly. Kind of shady, right?”
“Where was the car being held?”
He winced. “That’s the part where this gets tricky.”
Realization dawned on me, and I barked out a laugh. “Gearhead. That fucker Wyatt—”
“Now, don’t go accusing everyone around town of having a hand in this,” Maverick warned. “You know as well as I do that if Austin wanted to get his hands on that vehicle, he wouldn’t need Wyatt’s help.”
“It was on his fucking property!” I snapped.
“And there’s no proof that Wyatt allowed anyone back where the car was stored. Besides, the garage is open during the day. Cars are coming and going all day long. How hard would it have been for someone to get behind the gate and set fire to the car?”
“So the evidence is gone,” I growled, stalking around the room as I tried to come up with the next step.
“That car is fried,” Maverick sighed. “Without proof, there’s no way to tie Austin to the accident.”
“That was no fucking accident,” I snapped. “That was attempted murder.”
“And until we can find something—a video showing Austin tampering with the brakes—we’ve got nothing to go on. I can’t drag him down to the station for an interrogation into an accident that I can’t prove he had any part in. His lawyer would laugh and walk out.”
My blood boiled at the thought of Austin getting away with this shit. I knew in my gut he was behind it, but proving it would be fucking impossible right now.
“So, that’s it? Bailey’s life continues to be in danger?”
Maverick shrugged, but I knew he was just as concerned about this as I was. “Is there any way to end this feud? Anything you can do to…hell, I don’t know.”
I shook my head, knowing Pop would never give back the land. Not when he paid above and beyond the value just to help out the Callahans.
“Maybe your father would consider selling back the land.”
“Even if we wanted to, I doubt the Callahans have the means to buy it back. Besides, we started building on that side. We’ve already got the structure up.”
“I can do extra patrols around Bailey’s apartment,” Mav suggested. “I don’t know how much that will help—”
“She stays here,” I interrupted, already thinking through every fucking possibility. “Until I can guarantee her safety, she’s not leaving my sight.”
Jeff barked out a laugh at that. “Yeah, I’d like to see you try. What are you gonna do when she has to go back to work?”
I didn’t fucking know, but the idea of her getting hurt because of a family feud that had nothing to do with her was unacceptable.
“Better come up with something fast,” Mav nodded toward the window. “She just pulled in.”
“Not a word of this,” I snarled at both of them. “Until I figure something out, I don’t want her to have any clue of what’s going on.”
“You don’t think she deserves to know that Austin tried to kill her?” Jeff asked incredulously.
My eyes locked with Maverick’s. I knew he understood, even if he didn’t necessarily agree.
“What good would it do?”
“Uh…she might be more vigilant,” Jeff ticked off on his fingers. “She would know to watch her back. She might be more wary around her boss—”
“And that would tip off Wyatt,” Maverick deduced. “She can’t walk around work thinking her boss is plotting to kill her. If Wyatt has anything to do with this, it might only speed things up.”
“So, we just say nothing?” Jeff asked right as the door opened.
Bailey struggled through the door with bags of groceries, and I hurried over, about to take them from her when she yanked them out of my grasp.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked, eyeing me like I was a naughty child. “Go sit down.”
Then her eyes slid to the sheriff. “Maverick. What are you doing here?”
Snatching two bags with my good hand, I headed for the kitchen. “Just updating me on the accident. Looks like everyone else is fine.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good.” Walking over to the table, she set everything down before turning to me with a confused expression. “You never did tell me what happened.”
“Got hit by a semi,” I shrugged, regretting it as soon as I did it.
“Yes, but how did you get hit by a semi? Did you not see the giant vehicle bearing down on you?”
“I was trying to avoid someone turning at the last minute. I tried to go on the shoulder, but someone was passing on the right.”
“That’s illegal, so that guy is responsible for the accident, right?” Bailey asked the sheriff.
“It’s…a gray area right now.”
“How?” That attitude was coming out as she thrust her hand on her hip, staring at him questioningly. “If he hadn’t passed on the right, none of this would have happened.”
Maverick slowly nodded as he tried to come up with an explanation. “Well, before we start handing out tickets to anyone, we need to investigate the accident. Standard procedure.”
“Well, go for it. My car is already impounded, right?”
“Your car caught fire at the garage,” Mav admitted.
Bailey’s jaw dropped in shock. “Because of the accident?”
Mav’s eyes flicked to mine before he nodded. “Could have been. But everyone’s safe, and that’s all that matters right now. We’ll get it sorted.”
“Well, hell,” Bailey sighed. “I guess there goes my stellar insurance rates.”
“Anyway, I should get out of here. Gotta relieve Remi. He’s been stuck at the Rock and Gem shop for the past hour.”
“What’s going on?” Bailey asked.
“Out of towners,” Maverick rolled his eyes.
“Apparently, they found the same gems in the quarry some time ago and tried to get their money back. When Delaney told them there were no refunds after thirty days, they went back to the quarry and gathered dirt and rock, then started throwing it all over the shop by the handfuls. They must have hauled backpacks full because the shop is covered in white dust that’ll take a few good days to clean. ”
“See?” Bailey grinned at me. “It could be worse. We could have to deal with crazy people.”
I’d take the crazy out of towners any day over Austin Callahan. “It could definitely be worse,” I agreed.
“Well, thank you for stopping by, but I’m positive that Liam has not been following doctor’s orders, which means I need to force him to relax for a little while.”
“Then we’ll leave you to it,” Maverick grinned, tipping his hat at me before dragging Jeff out the door with him.
When they were gone, Bailey’s stern gaze landed on me. “What are you not telling me?”
Walking over to the couch, I sank down, really feeling the day’s events catching up with me. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be with Ma right now?”
“Don’t change the subject.”
“Why did you bring the groceries here?”
“Because her kitchen is a disaster, so she asked if we could cook here. Any other questions?”
I opened my mouth to say something else, but at her narrowed eyes, snapped my jaw shut.
“Liam Parker, if you do not tell me what’s really going on, you’re going to have more problems than just a few broken bones!”
I always knew convincing Bailey that nothing else was going on would be difficult, but I may have overestimated my acting skills. Which meant I had to deploy the big guns.
Wincing, I sighed heavily, allowing her to believe I was in a lot more pain than I really was.
And it worked.
She rushed over to me, her eyes immediately taking in every inch of my body. “What’s wrong?”
“Just tired.”
“Because you wore yourself out when I told you not to. What the hell was the sheriff really doing here?”
“Just as he told you. And to let you know about your car.”
“Which you didn’t want to tell me. Why?” she accused.
“Babe—”
“Don’t,” she snapped. “Don’t you dare play that card with me. Tell me why you didn’t want me to know about the car.”
Interlocking my fingers with hers, I tugged her closer.
“I was hoping I could get you a new vehicle with the insurance payout. I didn’t want you to be without a vehicle for too long, but Maverick said things are going to be delayed now since they can’t examine the car. I’m sorry, baby. This is my fault.”
Rolling her eyes, she grabbed a pillow and tucked it behind my head, finally relenting. “It’s not your fault. It was an accident. And I don’t expect you to get me a new car. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of that on my own. Besides, the town isn’t that big. I can walk wherever I need to go.”
“Yeah?” I asked, tugging her until she fell forward against my chest.
“Liam, I’m going to hurt you!”
She tried to push away from me, but I held her against me, refusing to let go. “You could never hurt me, Bailey.”