Chapter 35 Liam #2
“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’m not here to take over your shift. I just thought I would check up on you.”
“I’m fine. You can tell her that,” I said, eyeing my mother.
“I would be foolish to try to tell your mother anything.”
“Thank you, Caroline. At least somebody around here is sensible.”
“Traitor,” I muttered.
“Hey, if she wasn’t here, I would have brought you some paraphernalia,” Caroline whispered. “Other than that, how are you feeling?”
“Just peachy,” I grumbled. “I was ready to get out of here two days ago.”
Ma gasped, turning away from me as if I had just committed some cardinal sin.
“Mrs. Parker, why don’t you go get some coffee and I’ll sit with Liam for a few minutes.”
She was going to protest. I could tell by that indignant look on her face and how she stiffened, but at the pointed look Caroline shot her, she backed down.
“Oh, fine. But only five minutes.”
As she stormed out of the room, I breathed my first sigh of relief all morning. “Thank you. These moments are so rare.”
“Yes, and now you’ll have to stay with her while you recover since you no longer have a house.”
There was that as well.
“Maybe Jeff will take pity on me.”
“When does Jeff ever do anything for pity’s sake?” she grinned.
“You may have a point.”
She pretended to fluff my pillows, which I now understood meant that she had something to say to me. Everyone who dropped by seemed to think that fluffing pillows was some kind of segue into a deeper conversation.
“I hear Bailey hasn’t been by yet.”
I grunted, not wanting to talk about her or the fact that she stormed out of the hospital that very first night I was brought in.
“It’s odd, don’t you think?”
She was never going to drop this, and she wasn’t the only person who had felt it absolutely necessary to discuss Bailey when they came to visit.
“Why would it be odd? We’re not together.”
“But you were in an accident. You nearly died.”
“Nearly,” I emphasized.
“And that calls for a little sympathy.”
Maybe she was right, but I had hurt Bailey badly. I wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to talk to me again.
“Is there a chance you two will make up?” she asked hopefully, stepping back, but not making eye contact.
“I don’t see how that’s possible.”
“But you didn’t actually sleep with another woman!” she gasped.
“And how do you know that?”
“Because I know you, Liam Parker. You are one hundred percent in love with Bailey Bennett, and you have been since the first grade.”
“Third,” I muttered. Couldn’t anyone get it right?
“See? You don’t even deny it.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s going to come running back to me just because I could have died in a fire.”
“No, but if she knew—”
“It wouldn’t make any difference,” I interrupted.
“A woman’s heart is a fickle thing. It can change like the wind.”
“I don’t see that wind blowing in my direction anytime soon,” I drawled, too tired to argue about this.
I was doing better, but I wasn’t ready to put up a fight with anyone about matters I couldn’t change. I already knew where Bailey stood. She made that perfectly clear.
And I knew what I was risking when I took Ellie May home.
“I still think you should talk to her.”
The door opened, saving me from having to discuss this further with her. Not that the man who walked through the door was any better. Maverick had been by every day, hounding me to discuss the case further.
But what was there to say?
“Maverick, my favorite person,” I muttered, trying to decide which was worse. Having Caroline bully me about Bailey, or Maverick stalking in here with all of his insight on the fire that I knew would get me nowhere.
Neither sounded appealing at the moment.
“Caroline, it’s nice to see you. Looking beautiful as always,” Mav grinned.
“Don’t pull that crap with me. You won’t get under my nurse’s scrubs with charm.”
“How about wit?”
She pouted at him. “If only you had any.” Turning to me, she pressed a kiss to my cheek. “Take care of yourself. And remember what I said.”
“I’ll lock it away in my memories forever,” I lied.
As she flitted out of the room, the smile slipped from Mav’s lips, setting me on edge.
“Well, I take it this isn’t a friendly visit.”
“I have some news on the fire,” he said, taking a seat next to me. “It started in the kitchen, meant to look like a cooking accident. And it might have worked if there hadn’t been a shit ton of fertilizer on the ground.”
“Fertilizer? Why the hell would anyone think they could get away with starting a fire using fertilizer and there would be no evidence?”
“Austin may be smart, but he’s outdone himself this time. See, this particular fertilizer is organic by a new company in the area. The Callahans were testing it,” he grinned.
“Right, but how can you prove it was from their farm?”
“Well, we can’t exactly, but here’s the thing, the fertilizer isn’t our only link to the Callahan family.
Yesterday, Clay showed up at the ER with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.
It would seem that while someone was able to get most of the bullet out, they left some fragments behind.
One of them was a rather large fragment, and it was causing an infection, hence his trip to the ER. ”
Hope glimmered inside me at his words. “Tell me you were able to match it to my gun.”
“We were. So, that’s at least one Callahan out of the way—”
“No,” I interrupted when I realized it would not have the intended effect.
“What do you mean? We’ve got Clay at the break-in at your house.”
“But Clay’s not the one who’s been causing the trouble, and I can pretty much guarantee he’s not the Callahan who set the fire.
“The evidence against Austin is circumstantial. Without being able to prove that the fertilizer came from the Callahan farm, we can’t prosecute. Furthermore, we can’t actually tie Austin to the scene.”
“Then leverage the evidence against him.”
Mav smirked at me. “Are you asking me to ignore the law for you?”
“Like I have to ask.”
“You don’t, which is why I have a little present for you,” he said, getting to his feet and striding over to the door. “Bring him in.”
Austin Callahan marched into my hospital room, followed by Remi, who looked rather pleased with himself.
“As soon as I showed up at his place, he took off. I had to chase him for a mile. In my good boots, which are now covered in mud.”
“Prick,” Austin muttered under his breath.
“Did I mention that I tackled him in the river? I smell like fish now.”
Mav sauntered over to him, a grin on his face. “Well, Austin, I brought you in here because it seems you haven’t been playing nice with others.”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“How about the truck?” I asked.
“Or Bailey’s car,” Mav said thoughtfully. “The break-in and the fire?”
Austin shrugged. “Wasn’t me, and you can’t prove it.”
“No, but we can prove that your brother broke into Liam’s house the night of the fire, which would also suggest that he set the fire.”
“That’s a lie!”
“Is it? The bullet fragment pulled from his shoulder matches Liam’s gun. Not sure how you’re gonna talk your way out of that one. Either way, Clay’s going down for the break-in and the fire.”
Spinning on his heel, he walked away. “It’s a shame. A man in Clay’s condition won’t do very well in prison. He won’t understand what’s really going on, and how will he defend himself?”
Mav sighed, turning back to Austin. “I suppose the courts might be lenient on your brother and place him in a mental institution instead, not that it would be much better for him. If only there was something else we could do?”
I choked back a laugh at how Mav had this all coming together so perfectly. Austin thought he wouldn’t be caught, but he never planned on what would happen if his brother somehow got in trouble.
Austin turned to me with a snarl. “He’s innocent.”
“But he’s your puppet,” I argued. “He doesn’t even know what he’s doing is wrong.”
Instead of shame or guilt clouding his eyes, righteous indignation flooded them. “You wouldn’t send a kid to prison.”
“You bet your ass I would. Unless you and I can come to some kind of understanding. I guess the question is, how much do you want to save your brother?”
I knew it was the one thing that would get him to back down, and so did Maverick.
The anger on Austin’s face would be comical if it weren’t for the fact that so many people got caught up in his need for revenge. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost, but only because I knew he was angry on his brother’s behalf, and the life that was stolen from him.
But both Jeff and Clay made their choices that day, and no one else would be held responsible any longer for their actions.
“What do you have in mind?”
All humor was wiped from my mind as I stared the fucker down.
I’d had enough of his antics. “Leave everyone alone. No more break-ins or fucking with cars. No more following people around. Hell, if you so much as jaywalk, I will give Maverick the green light to prosecute your brother. If you so much as look at Bailey the wrong way, I will make sure that Clay ends up in prison, and I’ll make sure he has the meanest fucking cellmate you could imagine. ”
I took a deep breath, grateful I finally could. “And then I’ll come after you.”
Teeth gnashing, he glared at me before giving a curt nod. “Agreed.”
“Get the fuck out of here.”
Mav nodded to Remi, who immediately dragged Austin from the room.
“I can’t believe you didn’t ask him to pay for the house,” Mav said, taking a seat.
“He doesn’t have the money. Neither does his old man, and the last thing John Callahan needs is to find out that his son is responsible for all the shit going on around town.”
“It would do him some good, if you ask me.”
“The town would turn on him. No one would buy from his shop, and then he’d go out of business. No matter what I think of his son, John does not deserve that.”
“Maybe,” Mav agreed, “but at some point, that fucker is gonna pay for what he did, and his old man won’t be able to escape getting wrapped up in the fallout.”
“Not today, though.”
“Well, since that’s all done, I guess it’s about time you went to see Bailey.”
“And why would I do that?”
Mav looked at me like I was an idiot, and maybe I was. “To explain why you were such an asshole and pushed her away.”
“Explaining what happened wouldn’t do a damn thing to fix what happened between us. Bailey’s not the type of woman to forgive and forget.”
“Maybe,” he said, his brows furrowing. “But if you don’t try, you definitely won’t make any headway.”
“Give it up,” I sighed. “If I can accept that things are over, so can you.”
Mav walked closer, his eyes focused on his hat in his hands. “Liam, I don’t often stick my nose where it doesn’t belong, but I’m going to this time.”
“I knew it was my lucky day.”
The seriousness in his eyes wiped the smile from my face.
“Bailey Bennett is one of a kind, and if you don’t at least try to explain what happened, you’ll lose any chance of ever getting that woman back.
You’ll have to watch her fall in love with someone who wouldn’t have done even half the shit you just went through for her.
Are you really willing to let that happen? ”
Shrugging, he slid his hat on and headed for the door.
“Think about that before you decide to throw away the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”