Chapter 15
FIFTEEN
Sam slid into a booth and made room for Bella. Only, Bella slid in across from her, followed by Sophia. Leaving the space next to Sam as the only available spot for Liam to sit.
Sam swallowed as Liam moved into the seat. Heat radiated from his body. Or was that her imagination? Everything was going to be okay. This was what they wanted. The girls needed to figure out on their own that she and Liam were dating. No better way to start than by sitting next to each other.
The girls chatted away. Completely ignoring the two adults sitting with them.
Liam turned to Sam. “How is it going?”
“I can’t complain.” She smiled. “Not that it would do any good if I did.”
“True.” He unwrapped his straw and slid it into his cup. Then he wadded up the paper and tossed it at Sophia’s head. It hit her on the cheek.
“Hey.” She turned and narrowed her eyes, then stood her straw on end and slowly started pushing the paper from the top of the straw down toward the table.
Once the paper was scrunched up, she put the straw to her lips and blew, shooting the paper at Liam.
The wad of paper flew past him and landed on the table behind them.
He looked over his shoulder. “Good thing no one is sitting there.”
He grinned, lifted his left arm, and reached across the back of the booth to grab the paper.
The movement brought his chest closer to Sam.
All she could do was stare at the pearl-like button on his shirt.
Her breath hitched at his nearness. Citrus and sage was quickly becoming her favorite fragrance.
He righted himself and tossed the paper on the table. “Behave.”
Sophia’s mouth dropped. “You started it.”
Sam regained her composure and took a drink to quench her suddenly dry mouth. What was wrong with her body?
“Fine.”
“Sam.” A pimple-faced teenager called her name.
“I’ll get it.” Liam stood up and retrieved the two trays with food.
“Blessing?” Sophia cocked her head and looked at her uncle.
“Always. You want to do the honors?”
Sophia nodded and bowed her head, followed by Liam and then Bella.
Sam watched the three people sitting with her. Where did they get their faith?
“Heavenly Father, thank You for today and for our friends. Thank You for this food and the hands that made it. I pray that we find Samantha and Bella some good deals and everything they need. Amen.”
“Amen,” Liam and Bella repeated.
Sam picked up a french fry and pointed it at Sophia. “You can call me Sam.”
“Okay, Sam.” Sophia smiled and then took a bite from her pepperoni panini. A dreamy look crossed her face. “This is amazing.”
“You should try mine.” Bella pushed one of the cut halves on her plate toward her friend.
“Do you want to switch, half for half?” Sophia offered.
Bella shrugged. “Sure.”
“Try it with the soup.” Bella slid the bowl of cheddar tomato soup toward her friend.
These girls were going to become the best of friends, even though they’d gotten off to a rocky start together with the rebels from school. Sam was certain that if she and Liam could keep them away from those delinquents, then their problems would be solved.
Well, the problems with the girls and their recent penchant for getting into trouble.
Liam nudged her with his elbow.
She looked at him. Did he expect her to offer to split her lunch with him? Oh, she hoped that wasn’t the case. She wasn’t a huge fan of patty melts, and bacon was her favorite part of the pig.
He leaned in a little closer. “Thanks for lunch.”
Her cheeks warmed. “You’re welcome. Thanks for letting Sophia hang out with us today.”
His mouth lifted into a languid smile.
The warmth from her cheeks spread through her body like the fires she fought as an unexpected rush of attraction settled in her chest.
She quickly turned her focus to her sandwich. Attraction to the man sitting beside her was not something she needed to mix into this equation. Her life was complicated enough.
Liam wadded up his napkin and tossed it into the empty plastic basket his sandwich had been served in. “I’ve got some time to kill. I thought I’d go with you to a couple stores. Maybe get some dessert before I head back to the office.”
Sam’s stomach stuttered. Not good. She needed to spend less time with him, not more. She pasted on a smile. This was for their safety. Everything she did was to protect Bella. “Sounds good.”
When everyone was finished eating, they cleaned up their mess and headed to the first store, one completely dedicated to teenage girls. Bella and Sophia disappeared among the clothes.
Liam nudged Sam’s shoulder with his, bent down next to her ear. “Why is the music so loud?”
As if to answer his question, a group of girls squealed as they found whatever they’d been looking for. He hadn’t even realized it was already past time kids were getting out of school.
He nodded. “I understand now.”
“First time in one of these stores, huh?” Sam laughed.
He grimaced. “Are they all like this?”
“If it’s aimed at teenagers, yes. Fortunately, this is the only one in this outlet mall.” Part of the reason she’d chosen this one.
The girls bounced between clothing racks and jewelry displays.
“I now have a favorite outlet mall. Tell me the others so I can avoid them.” He laughed.
“You’ll want to avoid Ridgeline. I think that one was designed by teenagers. It’s the place to hang out.”
“Noted.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. “So.”
“So?” She quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Tell me about you. I know what’s in your file and what I’ve observed. Tell me who the real Samantha Williams is.”
Her stomach sank. There wasn’t a real Samantha Williams. She was a lie, created to protect everything Madison Johanson loved.
The girls bounced up, saving Sam.
“Find anything?” she asked.
“Not really.” Bella shrugged.
They moved on to a sporting-goods store. One that carried athletic clothing and shoes. Sam managed to avoid any more personal conversations with Liam.
They moved on to a discount department store. The one Sam expected to spend the most time in. Bella and Sophia were loading their arms with things to try on.
“Sam.” Liam tapped her on the shoulder.
Dread knotted in her stomach. He was going to dig again. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the conversation. Could she politely decline to answer?
“I saw something in the men’s section I want to check out.” He tilted his head. “Would you mind if I went to have a look?”
Relief flooded through her. “No, go ahead.”
“I’ll be right back.” He walked off, taking long strides.
She caught herself staring. It was hard to ignore the way his slacks fit.
“Sam.” Bella’s voice pulled Sam’s attention back to where it needed to be. She turned. Bella was in a pair of stonewashed jeans, paired with a light-purple sweater that hung off the shoulder. “What do you think?”
Where had the little girl in pigtails gone? The girl standing in front of her was more woman than child now. Sam’s heart clenched. “You look beautiful.”
Bella smiled and disappeared back into the dressing room.
Sam turned to look at a clearance rack conveniently placed by the dressing rooms.
A teenage boy dressed in black pants and a black hoodie stood off to the side, the hood pulled up, hiding his face in the shadows. She’d seen him in every store they’d been in so far.
She picked up a shirt and studied it, masking pulling her phone from her pocket, then slid the shirt back on the rack and picked up another one. She opened the camera app on her phone and slowly made her way around the rack until she was at an angle she could see the kid’s face.
She lifted her phone up and pretended to be texting, but snapped a photo of him instead.
She quickly sent it to Liam.
Sam
I think we’re being followed.
She saw the moment he read the text. She waited for the three dots to appear, but they didn’t.
A moment later, an arm snaked around her waist. “Hey, babe.”
Liam’s calm, steady voice startled her.
He lifted a shirt from the rack, turned her so her back was facing the kid, and held the shirt up.
“I think this brings out the color of your eyes. You should try it on.” It may have looked like he was focused on her, but she could tell his gaze was on the teen behind them.
“I’ve seen him in each of the stores so far,” she whispered. “It could be nothing. But why is he in the women’s clothing section?”
“I don’t know, but I intend to find out.” He put the hanger back on the rack and marched toward the teen.
Liam stared the kid down as he made his way toward him. “Why are you following us?”
The kid’s eyes grew wide, and he looked around wildly.
Liam kept marching toward him, determined to find out what was going on.
He darted off.
“US marshal. Stop!” Liam shouted as he gave chase. He raced past gawking shoppers and grabbed the kid before he could make it out the door.
“What’s your name?” Liam stared the kid in the eyes.
He was about sixteen or seventeen. Five-eleven or six foot. Average build.
“I don’t gotta say nothing to you.” The kid jutted out his chin.
Liam clenched his jaw. “Why are you following us?”
“It’s a free country. I can go where I want.” He tried to rip his arm out of Liam’s grasp.
“I’m going to ask you again. Why are you following us?”
The kid’s eyes narrowed. “Maybe I liked what I saw.” He licked his lips lasciviously.
Liam’s free hand fisted at his side. The kid was trying to get a rise out of him. It wasn’t going to work. “Try again. Without the attitude this time.”
“I’d rather not.” He smirked.
“Were you spying on us? Who sent you?” Liam leaned in closer.
“I was looking for a present for my mom.”
Liam wasn’t going to get anywhere with this kid.
“What’s going on here?” a security guard interrupted.
Liam kept a grip on the kid’s arm. “I’m Deputy US Marshal Liam Roberts. This kid has been following us all afternoon. It’s suspicious. I’m trying to determine why.”
The security guard fisted his hands on his hips. “Identification.”
Liam inhaled deeply and reached for his badge, clipped to the other side of his body.
The kid took the momentary distraction to shove Liam hard, yank free, and run out the front door.
Liam grunted and chased after him, but he was swallowed up in the crowd of shoppers. He pushed forward, hoping to catch up, but it was no use. The kid was gone.
He could keep chasing, but what if the kid wasn’t alone? Liam needed to make sure Sam and the girls were safe, then he could hunt the boy down.
Sam and the girls stood by the entrance with the security guard. She looked at him expectantly. He’d let her down.
“I lost him in the crowd.” Admitting his failure left a bitter taste in his mouth.
“Did he say anything to you or the girls?”
Sam shook her head. “No. They didn’t see him. I showed them the picture. They recognized him.”
Liam looked at the girls.
“It was Aiden. He was the one that set the trash can on fire.” Sophia crossed her arms over her chest.
Liam needed to get his hands on the security footage, see if he could find out where the kid went. Maybe he’d be lucky and get a license plate. That could wait though. First priority was getting everyone out of here and somewhere safe.
“I think it’s time you make your purchases and we get out of here.”
Sam nodded and took the girls to the sales register.
Liam pulled his badge from his belt and showed it to the security guard.
“I’m going to make sure they get somewhere safe.
While I’m gone, can you pull the video footage for me?
I want the common-area footage and individual footage for the stores we’ve been in.
” Liam gave the security guard the names of the stores they had visited.
“I want to see where he came from and where he went.”
The security guard nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good. I’ll be back for it.”
Sam and the girls joined him. “Ready?” He placed his hand at the small of Sam’s back, and she jumped. He leaned into her. “Relax. Doting boyfriend escorting his girl and their girls out.”
Her cheeks tinged as she nodded. She leaned a little closer. “Where exactly are we going?”
“I’m going to follow you back to Dean’s.” He hadn’t decided what he would do with Sophia yet. He knew that Samantha and Isabella would be safe at Dean’s house because he’d already checked into all of her coworkers. Perhaps he could take Sophia to the office, and she could sit with Aubrey.
He was woefully unprepared to be in a parenting situation right now. He used to be able to take off for wherever whenever and not have to worry about anyone but himself.
“You don’t need to follow us back. We’ll be okay.” Sam stared straight ahead.
He leaned into her. “I’m not necessarily worried about something happening as much as I am about someone following you, finding out where you’re staying, and coming back later.”
“Right.” She sighed. “Because my life isn’t complicated enough.”
He rubbed his hand up and down her back. “It will all be okay.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, but I know the One that does.”
“Yeah, I’m not impressed with His track record.” She sped up and passed the girls, running from the conversation.
His heart ached for her. She’d been through so many hard things that she couldn’t see beyond them to what God had done in the midst of it.
Lord, help me help her.