Chapter 24 #2
“Come in.” He saved the report he’d been working on. It was going to be a long night.
Kennedy had been assigned to stand guard until Dean could be thoroughly questioned and confirm that the threats against Sam and the girls were over.
Once Liam was sure that everyone was okay and Sam had assured him that Sophia would be fine to stay in the hospital room with her and Bella, he returned to the office to take care of all the paperwork.
His first stop had been Supervisor Howard. For once, Liam had been able to catch him in his office. Even though it was after hours.
He’d gone in ready to quit his job with the Marshals to pursue a relationship with Sam. But God had other plans.
Butler was back and was now officially the marshal in charge of the Williamses’ case again. Sam and Isabella were no longer Liam’s witnesses. They could be his family.
Then he’d gone to find Dean, only to learn he’d been uncooperative and requested a lawyer. So Liam had headed back to his office and the mountain of paperwork awaiting him. Glover’s interruption now was a welcome reprieve.
“I’ve come bearing good news.” Glover tapped her leg. “It seems some alone time in the holding cell has changed Dean’s mind. He’s waived his right to an attorney and has decided to talk.”
Liam pushed away from his desk. “Let’s go before he changes it again.”
Liam and Glover entered the interview room. Dean sat at a metal table bolted to the floor, his hands cuffed and secured to the metal ring welded to the tabletop.
Liam gritted his teeth. This man had been like a brother to Sam. And then he’d tried to kill her.
Glover took the seat across from Dean, while Liam chose to stand by the door. He leaned against the frame and crossed his arms. He would let Glover handle the interview. Liam was too close to this.
“Mr. Dean. You wanted to talk to us.” She leaned forward and stared Dean in the eyes.
“Can these come off?” He lifted his hands.
“No,” Liam bit out.
“It was worth a shot.” Dean rearranged himself in his seat. “What do you want to know?”
“Before we start, let me read you your Miranda rights.” Glover read them verbatim from the card. Reading it from a card left no room for mistakes.
“Now, start at the beginning?” Glover leaned back in her chair.
Dean cocked his head. “Which beginning?”
“Dr. Torres.”
“Dr. Torres needed some money, and he had some buildings that would make it for him. He just needed someone to burn ’em down. I was happy to oblige. For a price.”
“How would that work?”
“They’d burn. He’d get insurance money and give me a cut. It was a good thing until someone was willing to pay more to make him disappear. ”
“So you killed him?” Glover asked.
Dean shrugged.
Not actually an admission but not a denial either. Why was he talking now? Was there an angle he was trying to play?
“Who was the someone that wanted Torres dead?”
“I can’t tell you that. They’ll kill my family.” Dean gritted his teeth.
Liam clenched his fists.
“You’ve got to give us more than that.” Glover said.
“Rousseau.” Dean’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Who’s that?” Glover asked.
Dean shrugged. “That’s all I got to say.”
“Fine, so how do Aiden Hamilton and the other teens fit into this?” Glover sat back in her chair.
“Bored teenagers with pyromania are easy to buy. As long as they did exactly what I told them to, they’d get paid.”
Liam stood up straight. “Were Isabella and Sophia always a part of the plan?”
Dean turned to Liam, sadness filling his face. “No. They never should have been involved.”
“Then how did they get involved?” Liam took a step closer to the table.
“The idiot teens decided they wanted to outsource. It was just my luck they had to pick someone with unwanted connections. I told Aiden to clean up his mess, and he failed.”
“So you had to clean it up for him?” Glover leaned forward.
Dean gritted his teeth. “Something like that.”
“Would you be willing to write out a statement?” Glover slid a notepad and pencil over to Dean.
Dean didn’t say a word. He picked up the pencil and started writing.
“Dean.” The man’s name tasted bitter on Liam’s tongue.
Dean looked to him.
“You tried to kill three very important people to me. I need to know, is it over? Are they safe?”
Dean stared at him. Emotion flickered in his eyes before he nodded. “They are safe.”
Liam had no reason to believe Dean. They wouldn’t just take his word for it. Liam would leave no stone unturned to make sure the people he loved remained safe.
Liam was no longer needed here. Dean had confessed to all of his crimes, citing that debt from fertility treatments had made him desperate and it had snowballed to a point of no return. He was looking at doing hard time for his myriad of crimes.
Liam left Glover to handle the rest of the interview. Right now, he needed to go to the woman he loved.
Deputy Marshal Kennedy was standing outside the hospital door when Liam arrived. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. “It’s been quiet.”
Giggles erupted from inside the room.
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Except the giggling.”
Liam smiled. Giggling was good. He opened the door.
Sam was sitting up in bed, and the girls were sitting together on the loveseat, looking at their phones.
“Uncle Liam, you have to watch this.” Sophia stood and showed him her phone.
He watched a thirty-second video montage of dogs doing funny things. She laughed.
He pulled his wallet from his back pocket and pulled out a twenty-dollar bill. “Why don’t you take Bella and Kennedy to the cafeteria and get a snack?”
Sophia took the money. “Sweet.”
Sophia and Bella left with Kennedy.
He sat on the edge of the hospital bed and asked Sam, “How are you feeling?”
“Pretty good, considering.”
Liam swept a lock of hair from Sam’s face and tucked it behind her ear, letting his hand linger on her neck.
Her breath hitched.
His pulse raced.
“Remember that talk we had before I left?” He rubbed his thumb along her jawline.
She looked at his lips and swallowed. “Yes.”
“What if I told you that Deputy Marshal Butler is back and is your handler again?”
She reached up and grabbed his shirt, tugging him forward. Her lips met his—soft and steady at first, then suddenly desperate and hungry, like he was the air she needed to survive.
He didn’t hesitate. He returned the kiss, pouring every feeling she offered right back at her.