Chapter Nineteen
Liam pulled her to the edge of the counter, closer to him. It forced her legs to make a choice—block him or accommodate him. Blake chose the latter.
She wrapped her legs around him and his towel so there was no space left between them. Not that there was any to begin with up top.
Liam’s kiss had lost its surprise. Now it had given way to something else.
Something heated.
Blake opened her mouth to let him in and Liam gladly accepted the invite.
His tongue swiped inside as one of his hands tangled up into the back of her hair.
He lightly pulled so her head tilted back.
It made it easier to consume her that way, she decided.
Because even with her up on the counter and him standing, his impressive height was still very much there.
Much like what she had felt that morning when she had been the one to kiss him.
She wanted him.
She didn’t know why exactly, but she did.
She wanted him.
And she wanted him to want her.
Which she now knew, considering she could feel him through his towel, the desire was mutual.
With one arm fastening her against him and the other hand holding her head, Blake decided to do some positioning of her own. She let her hands blindly explore the wet body of the man against her, trailing his chest and back until she decided that it wasn’t fair that he was the only one so exposed.
Blake pushed against him hard enough to let him know she wanted to stop.
Maybe it was too hard.
Liam not only stopped; he took two steps away from her.
His lips were red and swollen, his face was flushed, his expression was turning to apologetic.
“I—I’m sorry,” he said uneasily. “I just think you’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met, and it was driving me crazy not to—”
He cut himself off, stopping amid his frazzled statement.
Probably because Blake had just thrown her shirt off from over her head and tossed it on the floor.
For a moment, Liam reminded her of a teenage boy. His eyes dropped dramatically, landing on her bra. That gaze didn’t flinch as she undid said bra and let it hit the floor too.
“Turn the shower back on,” she ordered, breathless but proudly still in control. “Then prove to me how incredible you think I am.”
That shy, inexperienced teenager facade absolutely died on spot.
Liam was nothing but all man as he whirled around, turned the water on, and then came back to her. His lips crashed into hers while his hands did work.
One steadied her, the other slid beneath her shorts and underwear and expertly pulled both down in another fluid movement. No sooner were they on the floor than his towel joined them.
Then it was just Blake and Liam pressed against each other with nothing in between.
Still, Blake wanted to explore.
Liam was now the accommodating one.
With one arm, he helped guide her into the shower, not once breaking their stride. The back wall of it was cool to the touch, the water above them was warm.
When Liam finally made his way inside of her, Blake felt nothing but blessed heat.
By the time they left the shower, the water had long turned cold.
HIS HIP HURT.
Liam didn’t mind. The pressure against his leg in the dark more than made up for any discomfort.
Blake’s even breathing let him know that she was still asleep.
She seemed to be comfortable too. Her leg and arm were thrown across his and his chest. Her head was on her pillow, but her hair was fanned across his shoulder.
He smelled his own shampoo on it.
He couldn’t help but smile at that.
The sun hadn’t yet risen, and the only small source of light was coming from the baby monitor on the nightstand next to him. He wondered if someone on that end had been what had woken him, but a quick look showed that all three people, young and old, were still asleep in the room next door.
He started to wonder if he’d simply just woken when a noise pulled his attention farther across the nightstand.
It was his phone.
Someone was calling him.
Liam picked the phone up off the table so the vibrating wouldn’t wake Blake.
With as much care as he could, he detangled from the sleeping woman and hurried downstairs.
By the time he was confident he hadn’t woken anyone, the call went to voicemail.
Instead of checking it, he called the number right back.
Price answered on the first ring.
“Sorry if I woke you, Sheriff,” he said in greeting. “But I think we might need you.”
Liam glanced at the time on his phone. It was just after four.
“What happened?”
The sound of movement shifted between them before he responded.
“A few minutes ago, there was a shooting at the hospital. Ray McClennan is dead.”
Liam was wide awake now.
“What?”
“There were no other causalities or injuries. The guy walked into the ICU and shot Ray quick. Then he rabbited before the security guards on duty could do a thing. Now the whole hospital is a mess.”
Liam was walking back up the stairs but kept his voice low.
“Any idea who the shooter was?”
“Deputy Little is on scene and said that so far, she can’t find anything that identifies him. Getting a statement from the staff is kind of chaotic too. Before he bolted, the gunman made a mess of the ICU. I can head there now or do you want me to—”
“Come here and watch the house,” Liam finished for him. “If Ray was targeted, I want to see by who, but I’m not leaving this place unprotected.”
If he was abusing his power to use one of his deputies as protection for Blake, he didn’t care. Price must not have either. He agreed and said he would be there soon.
The call ended just as Liam was thinking about where he had left his work clothes. He found them when the lamp next to the bed flicked on. There was a pillow imprint on the side of Blake’s face. However, her eyes were sharp.
There was no reason or need to withhold the truth from her, so Liam bowled right in with it.
“There was a shooting at the hospital. Ray McClennan is dead. I need to go help with the aftermath and manhunt. Price is on his way here until I can come back. I’ll have my phone on me, but if you can’t get a hold of me for whatever reason, Price will help find me.”
Blake was quick.
She was out of bed in a flash. To his surprise it was to hand him his shirt.
“I’ll make you a quick cup of coffee. Price too.” She was absolute speed-pulling on her own jeans and hurrying out of the room.
It wasn’t until he was fully dressed and downstairs that he took a moment to think about the night before.
After they had shared more than a few moments in the shower, they had settled into the bed in a contented quiet.
They hadn’t yet talked about the two of them.
About what their time together then meant for the future.
If the stress of everything had made them impulsive.
If, when they finished with the investigation and the need for close proximity ended, they would still want to be close to each other.
They didn’t talk at all.
They just slept, holding on to each other.
Now didn’t seem like the right time to talk about it either.
So they didn’t.
Blake handed him a coffee and told him to be safe.
Price showed up soon after, and together they told Liam not to worry.
Yet, as he drove away from the little house, now all lit up, he couldn’t help but feel a new weight pressing down hard against his chest.
He didn’t want to leave them.
And, only later in hindsight would he realize that he shouldn’t have.
THERE WAS A lot of movement at the hospital. That didn’t slow once the sun came up, and it didn’t slow by the time shift change happened. Liam became the man in charge at the scene and directed his deputies in a search for the gunman. Then he helped Darius Williams speak to Ray’s mother.
Doc Ernest helped her when she broke down in tears.
Ray’s father was absent.
The security footage didn’t help anyone. The man wore a mask, had been fast, and had known exactly where he was going.
“He targeted Ray,” Liam had said to Darius while both standing outside of the security room.
The detective had nodded.
“Now I think we might know why our dear Glenn isn’t saying a word,” Detective Williams said.
Glenn Lowell had been the man in the baseball cap who had broken into Blake’s home.
Although he had finally given up his name, he had refused to explain anything else.
Considering he was from a small town in Alabama and seemingly had no connection to anyone involved, his presence was still a mystery.
One that now he might be more inclined to keep unsolved.
“It could be the fourth guy, the bald man in the rain jacket, tying up loose ends,” Darius had added. “Ray didn’t have any law attached to his bed because of the state he was in. Mater had Deputy Little outside of his room. So maybe he went for the easier target.”
Still, it didn’t sit quite right for Liam.
“Killing him seems like an extreme consequence, but for what?” Liam had asked. “The chance that they might talk about their plan for why they broke into the Bennet house?”
Darius had shrugged.
He still didn’t know the whole story or about the laptop connecting Missy and Beth together. Liam was about to let him in when Liam was called to the hospital front desk.
He went there, for a moment thinking it might be Blake, when instead he was met with a stone-faced and determined teenaged boy.
The boy didn’t waste any time.
“I need to talk to you,” he said. “In private.”
Liam quirked an eyebrow.
“And who are you?”
The teen lifted his chin a little. Liam noticed his eyes were a little swollen.
“My name’s Cooper. Cooper Han.”
Liam did the mental math fast. He was the best friend of Chase McClennan.
“I need to talk to you,” Cooper said again. “Now, please.”
Liam said okay and directed them to the closest, most private area they could find. They sat on either side of a small table next to a cluster of vending machines. Liam could tell the boy was serious, but he could also tell he was nervous.
Still, the nerves didn’t win.
He got straight to the point.
“I hid Chase McClennan away, and I’m not telling anyone where he is until you arrest the man who killed Ray and the man who told him to do it.”
Liam was gobsmacked.
“Come again?”
Cooper didn’t back down.
“While Chase made a mistake listening to Ray during the car chase, nothing that has happened has been his fault,” he said.
“He just fell into his cousin’s problems and didn’t know how to get out.
So I decided to take him out of all of this until all you professionals get it fixed.
You can’t see or talk to him until I know it’s safe. ”
A part of Liam admired the conviction and obvious care. The other part, the sheriff taking the demands of a teen without any background information, wanted more to go on.
“The car chase? When you say he fell into Ray’s problems, what do you mean? Does Chase know who killed Ray? And you said there’s someone else behind that gunman? Does Chase know who?”
Despite his nerves, Cooper seemed to have come prepared for the questions.
“Ray was the one with all of the answers, Chase doesn’t know anything.”
Liam tilted his head to the side a little in disbelief.
“Then why would he be in danger if he doesn’t know anything?
Because, to me, it seems like Chase and Ray shared some anger, and that anger somehow got to me and maybe even one of my friends.
Now that anger has led to a murder and I’m still trying to put all the pieces together to make sure nothing else bad happens.
How can I do that? How can I protect anyone if I don’t even know who I’m protecting them from? ”
This question stumped the boy. His brow knitted together, he bit at his bottom lip. Then, that resolution that had demanded the sheriff to do his job all at once disappeared.
Cooper balled his fists and squeezed his eyes shut. His words came out quick but clear.
“Chase isn’t the one who knows anything. It’s me. I’m the one who told him about the code, and Ray’s the one who overheard me do it. I’m the one who started this. I’m the one who—”
Liam froze.
His question didn’t.
“The code?” he interrupted. “What code?”
Cooper opened his eyes. He looked pained again, but his answer was as clear as day.
“The code that I gave to Missy before she died.”