Chapter 34 Bailey
BAILEY
Liam’s tall, muscular frame appeared in my doorway for all of a second before he collapsed on the ground in a heap.
“Liam!” I shouted, racing to his side.
Covered in soot and scorch marks, I hesitated on touching him anywhere, afraid I would only hurt him. “Cheyenne, call an ambulance!”
Turning back to him, I barely noticed Jeff beside me as he knelt next to his brother and tried to rouse him.
“What’s wrong with him? What happened?”
Panic was overwhelming me. My hands were shaking uncontrollably, and that little niggle of dread that had been unfurling in my stomach since the day Liam broke things off with me blossomed into a twisted ache that felt like it was tearing me apart from the inside out.
“He was attacked at his house, and then it was set on fire,” Jeff answered.
“He was inside?” I screeched.
“What happened?” a voice shouted from downstairs.
Boots pounded on the stairs, but it was the face that appeared at the top that surprised the hell out of me.
“Michael?”
“Is he breathing?” Michael asked, his eyes trained on his brother as he studied every inch of him.
There were so many questions. What was he doing here? Where had he been all these years? Why was he here now?
But none of that mattered at the moment, and as the sirens grew louder, I knew there were too many of us crowding around Liam for him to get the care he needed.
“Everybody back!” I shouted as the paramedics raced up the stairs with their bags in tow.
I was shoved to the back of the group until I was almost right next to Archer and the man he still held captive.
“This was you,” I hissed.
Austin grinned at me, that sadistic look in his eyes sending chills down my spine.
“What did you do? What’s wrong with him?” I shouted.
When he just laughed, I lost all sense of reason and flung myself at him, beating him with my fists as every single emotion that had been welling up inside me over the last few weeks came pouring out of my eyes.
Liam was almost dead. He was laying in the hallway, burned and barely breathing, and this asshole was laughing.
And for what?
What did he get out of this other than to make everyone in our lives miserable?
Arms wrapped around me from behind, restringing me as I struggled to beat the smirk off Austin’s face.
“Hey, calm down, tiger. It’s okay now.”
Spinning around, I would have decked Jeff also, but he was on my side. “Okay? How can you say that when your brother is out there, barely breathing?”
“The paramedics are taking him to the hospital now. Let’s get you there, and then I’ll explain everything to you.”
“Everything about what?” I asked in confusion.
“Just get dressed.”
The determined look on his face masked a layer of guilt I saw hiding underneath. Something was going on, and I needed to know before I went insane.
Cheyenne grabbed my hand and tugged me to the bedroom, tossing clothes at me to help me get dressed.
But I moved mechanically as I tried to sort out the pieces of the puzzle in the other room.
“Why is Archer here?”
“Huh?” she asked, grabbing some clothes of her own to pull on.
“Archer. Why is he here?”
Cheyenne shrugged as she pulled on her jeans. “Do you really care? He was here when Austin broke in. That’s good enough for me.”
“But it doesn’t make sense. He just appeared out of nowhere and he’s been everywhere we are. I’m sure you’ve seen him following us around.”
“Yeah, but I assumed that was because he had a crush on you.”
“Which he clearly doesn’t,” I retorted. “He made it pretty damn clear that he never intended to sleep with me.”
Cheyenne rushed over, tugging my shirt over my head. “Bailes, I get that you think some big conspiracy is going on, but right now, I think we need to head to the hospital and find out what the hell is going on with Liam.”
She was right. I needed answers, but I also needed to know that Liam was okay.
No matter what he had done to me, he didn’t deserve to be nearly burned alive in his house. Some things were going to have to wait.
Following her out the door and down the stairs, it was like a circus outside our building. Police cars, an ambulance, and the fire truck were parked in our lot, blocking one of the exits.
Mrs. Abernathy sat on her front porch, gently moving in her rocking chair as she watched the commotion. I’d have to remember to talk to her later and find out what she knew. She was always watching everything.
“Bailes!” Cheyenne called out, holding out her hand as he got into Jeff’s truck.
I rushed over and hopped inside, slamming the door behind me. We followed the ambulance out of the lot, but no one spoke on the way to the hospital. Too many questions were floating through my head, but Jeff wasn’t really the one I wanted answers from.
No, I needed to talk to Liam, and I realized that may not be possible for a while yet, but somehow, it felt like everything I needed to know, only he could really tell me.
So, I bit my tongue and waited the excruciating fifteen-minute drive to the hospital.
Once inside, it was a waiting game. Liam’s whole family showed up only a few minutes after us, just as loud as they always were.
“I want to know what happened to my son!” Clara shouted at the nurse. “All I heard was he was in a fire and was on his way to the hospital. Someone better tell me what’s going on right now!”
I ducked my head, hoping to stay as hidden as possible, but I wasn’t fast enough. His father caught my eye and he knew I was involved somehow.
Marching over, he stood next to me, towering in that way he did, waiting for me to say something.
“I…I don’t know what happened, Mr. Parker. He came to my apartment, but he was already like that. You should ask Jeff or Michael.”
“Michael?” he snapped, his eyes darting around the room. “He’s here? What the hell does Michael have to do with this?”
My jaw dropped as I tried to think of something to say. It didn’t occur to me that his family wouldn’t know Michael was home.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to say a word. Michael came storming into the ER moments later with a woman beside him.
“Did they take him back?” Michael asked. “Is he okay?”
His father took a step away from me, then rushed through the crowd of people until he was standing right in front of his son.
For a solid minute, it was like a standoff in the Old West. Neither of them moved as they watched each other, waiting for the other to make a move.
“Dad,” Michael finally said.
“When did you get in?”
“In the middle of the night. I didn’t want to disturb you and Mom, so I went to Liam’s house, but it was on fire.”
“Did you see who did this?”
He shook his head. “No, but I had to pull Liam out. He wasn’t doing all that well, but he insisted on rushing over to Bailey’s. What the hell is going on?”
And just like that, I was back in the center of everything. There wasn’t a single person in the room who didn’t turn to me, waiting on me to answer all the questions that swirled around this drama.
Except, I had no freaking clue what was happening.
“I—I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I do,” Jeff sighed. “It was Austin.”
“Austin?” his dad barked. “Why the fuck would he set fire to Liam’s house?”
“You know why,” Jeff hissed. “He hasn’t forgotten, and he’s been pulling shit since Liam got together with Bailey.
Even before then. He started a fire in the barn, but Liam and I caught it in time.
He tried to fuck with the truck, but we took that in to be fixed.
It wasn’t until Liam decided to make a move on Bailey that things started getting out of control. ”
Again, every head in the room turned to me, but I was just as confused as the rest of them.
“I have no idea what’s going on.”
“He cut the brakes on your car,” Jeff said. “Liam knew it, and he tried to get proof, but then—”
“The car caught fire,” I finished for him, surprised at what I was hearing. “There was no evidence.”
Jeff shook his head.
My hand flew to my mouth as I realized what had actually happened. “Oh my God. That was meant for me. Austin was trying to kill me, but Liam went to fill up the gas tank for me.”
I clutched Cheyenne’s hand as the enormity of the situation crashed down around me. I was almost killed, and by some chance encounter, Liam was in the car instead.
“But why? Why would Austin try to kill me?”
All of the Parkers went silent as they shared a meaningful glance that obviously wasn’t meant to be shared with me.
I didn’t understand any of it. It didn’t make sense that Austin would try to kill me. What had I ever done to him?
“Because of the accident,” Cheyenne whispered.
“But that was years ago,” I said. “And I had nothing to do with that.”
“No, but Austin blames all of us,” Mr. Parker said quietly.
“You were connected to Liam, and he wanted Liam to pay.”
“But I don’t understand—”
“Excuse me,” the doctor interrupted, taken aback when all of us turned to face him. “I need to speak with Liam Parker’s next of kin.”
The look on the doctor’s face, the air of doom all around us…I knew it was bad.
“That’s us,” Clara stepped forward, gripping her husband’s hand. “That’s…all of us.”
But even as she spoke the words, I knew I shouldn’t be here. I had no right to listen in as the doctor told all of them what was going on. Yet, I couldn’t make myself leave. My heart felt like it was tearing in two at the thought of what might be happening right now.
“Mr. Parker has suffered severe smoke inhalation…placed on a ventilator…we’ll have to wait and see…”
Each of those phrases sent a shockwave of grief through me, but it was the overwhelming guilt that sent me running for the door.
Because if Liam hadn’t rushed to my apartment to check on me, he would have been in the ambulance sooner.
He would have gotten the medical treatment he needed.
And maybe he would be talking with his family right now.