It hurt bad enough to last a lifetime. He wouldn’t betray Cassidy’s memory again. He did something he shouldn’t have, out of grief, and it would forever tarnish what he once had with his wife. It didn’t matter how long she had been gone at the time. It still wasn’t right. ‘Til death do us part wasn’t a loophole. It was a life sentence, and just because one had left the relationship, it didn’t excuse the other. He vowed to love his wife forever. It didn’t matter that she died before forever came. He wouldn’t falter, not again, not for anyone – even Felicity.
Though his commitment to his dead wife was solid, and his vow not to let Felicity in concrete, he couldn’t help the heaviness it all created. Love wasn’t easy. It was damn hard, and it ached in the deepest parts of you and devoured your soul. It was all-consuming and earth shattering. It could hurt you and heal you. Define you and break you. It was a burden that brought joy, contentment and unease. Love was complicated. It was life. Love made you whole but left you empty.
Liam knew all of those things, lived them every day. He also lived in temptation. It was Felicity. She was his daily battle which was why he knew he was doing the right thing, said the right thing earlier in the afternoon, and cared so deeply that he had hurt her feelings. Again.
“City…” he said, using her nickname, something he never did.
“What?” she snapped, whipping her head in his direction. “What do you want, Liam?”
Her question was a loaded one, and he wasn’t sure where to start – with what he wanted or what he could have. Those were two different things, and the answer to what he wanted was simple. It just wasn’t his to have. Before he could answer her, his view shifted to the rearview mirror and had his attention. He watched for a moment, then two, as the black sedan that he noticed earlier still trailed them.
“I think we’re being followed.” Not the answer he had been constructing in his mind but one he had to address now that they weren’t alone on the road.
“What?” Felicity quickly turned in her seat, looking out the rear window. “How long? How long have they been following us?”
“A while,” he replied, keeping his eye on the road, only taking occasional glances in the mirror. “Turn around and face forward. Don’t turn back again. Okay?”
“Liam. Why. What are you going to do?”
“Luke,” he said, putting his brother on speaker, “we have a problem.”
“I know. We’re already headed your way,” Luke said. “Your program got a hit. We’re fifteen minutes out, bro.”
“A hit?” Liam asked. “A black sedan maybe?”
“Yeah,” Luke said with surprise. “That car Dunham and Lainey bought in City’s name? Bought it in Hillsboro, just outside Portland. They’re here, Liam.”
“You have no idea.” Liam chuckled. “Got a black sedan on our ass. Let me guess – they bought a black sedan.”
“Son of a bitch,” Luke yelled. His fist could be heard hitting something on the other end of the phone. “We’re coming in fast but may not be fast enough. I don’t like this, Liam. What do you want me to do?”
“Hang on. Let’s see how much trouble we’re dealing with,” Liam said as he pulled the car slightly to the right and slowed down, allowing the car to pass. “He’s not passing me. He’s here for fun.”
When Liam sped up, so did the car trailing him. Liam moved to the right, so did the black sedan. Swift move left, the black car mirrored him.
“He’s my shadow, Luke. He wants to play. Car’s blacked out – color, windows, wheels – all black. He’ll be the guy on my ass when we cross paths.” Liam gave the description of the car to his brother despite the pursuit itself making it obvious. “Kind of fitting. We’ve been chasing a shadow.”
“I really don’t think that’s funny.” He heard Felicity’s nervous waver in her voice.
Liam grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“I can get local police there in half the time it’s taking us. Want me to make a call?” Luke offered.
“No. We handle this our way until we know who we’re dealing with. Too messy,” Liam said. “Let’s leave PD out of it unless we get too close to town. Less clean up that way. This asshole doesn’t get to put a spotlight on Brother’s Keeper.”
“10-4, bro. We’re ten minutes out,” Luke fired back.
Liam looked to Felicity. “You ready?”
When she nodded her head, he released her hand, gripped the steering wheel and took off. The trailing car matched their speed around every curve and corner of the road. When Liam slowed again, the black car came in hard, hitting them from the rear.
Liam maintained control of the vehicle, despite the attempt from behind. “He’s done playing, Luke. That was a hard hit. Here we go.”
“Shit,” Luke said over the speakerphone. “Don’t be stupid. We’re almost there.”
“I’m the smart one, remember?” Liam laughed, despite the serious predicament they were in.
Dick sat up in the backseat and began barking ferociously at the approaching black car until it hit again, knocking him into the backs of the front seats. Felicity screamed from the force of the last hit. Something about her emotion settled in Liam’s gut, and his fury grew.
“It’s okay. It’s just a hit, City. We’re fine.” He tried to comfort her but didn’t take his focus off the task at hand – staying alive.
When the car pulled forward to Liam’s side of the car, he let it. He matched blow for blow as the other car rammed into them from the side and tried to knock them off the road. The car was taking a beating, but they were going to come out of this unscathed. Liam was determined.
Giving up, or so Liam thought, the other car pulled ahead and sped up, provoking Liam’s pursuit. When they reached top speeds, and Liam was gaining momentum, the other vehicle slammed on its brakes, causing Liam to do the same. Despite standing on his brakes, Liam wasn’t able to stop in time, so quick thinking turned his hit into a tactical maneuver often used by police. Rather than a blunt rear hit, Liam steered the car in such a way as to hit the rear corner of the car in an effort to cause a disabling spin out.
“You got this bro?” came through the speaker. Somehow his brothers saw what they were doing – maybe a drone, maybe the onboard surveillance – he didn’t care. He just needed to disable the other vehicle and bring everything to a halt. Felicity was terrified, and it was killing him that she had to endure the events before them.
With the final clip of the rear, both cars briefly lost control in a sort of slow motion. Liam watched the other car spin, more than once, only catching glimpses as his own car was moving uncontrollably from left to right. When his car finally came to a stop, he was facing right while the other vehicle faced left, straddling both lanes.
He caught his breath for a moment before he turned to Felicity and looked her up and down while his hand stroked her arm. “You okay?”
She didn’t immediately respond, just stared straight ahead at the other car, jaw slack, face void of color.
“City!” he shouted. “Talk to me!”
Shaken from her trance, she let out the breath she had been holding and relaxed in her seat, “Yes. Yes, I’m okay. What the hell was that?” Her hand clutched her chest, and she turned to the backseat to check on Dick who was laying across the floor between the front and back seat, moaning.
“I don’t know.” He really didn’t. Liam wasn’t the combat and action guy. Sure, his brothers trained him in everything from hand to hand combat to even tactical driving, but he’d never had to engage on such a serious level. He was the computer guy.
“I need to know who’s in that car,” Felicity said.
“No. You’re safer in here,” he said, but her demeanor changed from fear to determination, and he didn’t like what that implied. “Stay in the fucking car, City. I mean it. You’re a moving target out there.”
“Aren’t we in here too?” she questioned.
“Not like you are ou
t there. You don’t know who’s in there and what their end game is.”
“But the car is just sitting there. What if they’re hurt, or dead? That car took it harder than we did. They can’t hurt me if….” she defended before Liam cut her off.
“Or what if they’re not? What if they’re just sitting in there behind those blacked out windows, watching you, hoping that’s what you’ll think? They’re goading you. Don’t fall for it. Stay in the fucking car.”
“There may not even be a driver in there – another remote job,” she offered.
“Not with that kind of driving. There’s someone in there.”
“Liam…”
“He’s right, City,” Luke said over the speakerphone. “Stay put. Don’t get out of the car. We’re almost there.”
“What if…what if they’re…dead?” she nearly whispered.
“Only one way to find out.” Liam took off, weaving around the other car which followed in pursuit.
“You got me on GPS, Luke?”
“Affirmative,” Luke replied.
“Five more miles, and you call in help. We’re getting too close to civilization – need to shut this asshole down,” Liam said.
Luke grunted. “No worries. I’ll see you in two.”
The black car approached and slammed into the back of Liam and Felicity, not once but twice, before a fork in the road came into view. Liam veered left toward Portland, his brothers in the oncoming lane, but the black car didn’t follow. It veered to the right on to parts unknown.
Liam came to a screeching halt on the side of the road and watched as Luke blew past him, skidding around the sharp corner in pursuit of the black car.
“Meet my brother, asshole,” he said.
Liam and Felicity got out of the car as Dace pulled up next to them. When he got out of his vehicle, Dick jumped through the front seat and out the door, right past Liam and into Dace’s car.
“I don’t think he likes your driving.” Dace laughed, watching the dog climb into the passenger seat of his car.
“Fuck you.” Liam shot his brother a go to hell look. “We could have died back there. Your jokes aren’t funny.”
“No. You wouldn’t have died.” Dace leaned against his car with one ankle crossed over the other and his hands in his pocket. “They were trying to scare you, not kill you.”
“How can you possibly know that?” Liam questioned.
Dace nodded to Felicity. “Her. She has his money, remember? She’s no good to them dead.”
Liam looked hard at Dace, but he couldn’t discredit his brother. He was right. “Good thing you didn’t get out of the car then.”
“Any idea who was behind the wheel?” Dace asked, breaking the silence.
Liam snorted. “Yeah, Felicity.”
“Me?” Felicity huffed.
“No plates, temporary permit in the window – that was the car bought in your name. Given what Luke said, it makes sense,” Liam said. “And random people don’t tend to engage in car chases like that.”
“Oh my God,” Felicity whispered.
“He’s here. If what we found earlier didn’t make it clear, it’s clear now. He’s here,” Liam said.
“They…” Felicity said with a sinking feeling. What if her sister was in that car? “They’re here…”
CHAPTER 12
“Why aren’t you following them?” Felicity asked. “What if Luke needs…you.”
Liam snorted at her attempt to play on the heart strings. “Luke can take care of himself. And I’m not getting into another chase with you in the car. It isn’t safe, Felicity.”
“We’re back to Felicity.” He’d dropped the nickname already, and they were back to the brick wall that was Liam’s emotions. “I was just in the car a few minutes ago for the first round.” She sat with her arms crossed, frustrated with his bully tactics.
“No, Felicity. It’s a big ass no. Okay? It isn’t safe, and I already regret putting you in danger in the first place. That could’ve ended…” he paused, trying to maintain his composure when what he really wanted to do was lose his shit. He’d do that later when he was alone.
“Why? Why do you get to make the rules?” she fought. “My sister could be in that car! We could find out all of the who’s, what’s, and where’s.”
“No.”
“Why, because I’m a girl? Newsflash – I’m tougher than I look. I kicked your ass, remember?”
“Newsflash – no!” he fired back quickly.
Felicity huffed, turning her body toward him. “What is your problem?”
“You! Okay? You…here…in the car.” Liam’s tone was sharp and his words loaded.
Felicity fell back in her seat in disbelief. His words stung. Her voice dropped to nearly inaudible. “Do I really bother you that much? Do you despise me so much that…”
“I was scared!” he said, cutting her off before she could finish.
Felicity was speechless. Liam had her emotions all over the grid and she didn’t know where to land on his last admission. Scared? Of her? Of feeling? They sat in a long silence, each trying to decipher what his words meant.
“You were in the car, and I was…scared.” Liam finally spoke. “I was afraid for…you. I couldn’t have…if something happened…”
“Oh…” Felicity was starting to understand, or so she thought.
“It would crush Reagan,” Liam clarified.
Just when she thought they were having a break through, Liam pulled away. She shook her head in disappointment. “Reagan…right.”
“That’s…not what I meant…damn it.” Liam’s frustration was beginning to overwhelm him. He couldn’t find the right words because his head and his heart were at war with each other, one wanting her and the other wanting to push her away.
“I know what you meant. I get it, okay?” Determined not to show him just how hurtful his words were, she dug her heals in and went for a low blow. “Reagan couldn’t lose her substitute caretaker.
“What the hell, Felicity? That’s not it at all! You know you’re more than that to…”
“Forget it, Liam, okay? I think I finally know where I stand and that it will always be on the outside.”
“We’re almost back to Watermark. Let’s talk about this later.” Later because he wasn’t good at expressing emotion and feelings and needed a break so he could get it together and say what he really meant. What she really meant…to him.
“I think you said everything that needs to be said, Liam.”
He hadn’t said everything, but he would. They sat at the gates of the steel bridge that crossed the Willamette River. A barge or ship of sorts must’ve passed through as the lift was up in the middle, hence the stalled traffic. When the gate went up, Liam proceeded with a handful of other cars before he noticed the gate was back down, and traffic halted again when he referred to his rearview mirror.
“Shit,” he said, sitting forward, looking out his window.
“What, Liam?” She didn’t like how he was acting, or maybe it was his tone. She recognized it as meaning something was wrong…again.
“Do you see a barge or anything on your side of the bridge?” he asked.
When there wasn’t anything on her side either, she turned around to see what had Liam suddenly alarmed. The bridge was closed.
That all too familiar chill raced down her back. “No. There’s nothing, Liam.”
“Shit, neither do I.” When he glanced back at the gate, he saw Dace’s car pull out of line and race the other direction. He had followed them back in case they ran into their friend in the black car again. “It’s a damn trap.”
There was a violent shake as the car crossed the bridge. It was lifting. The dozen or so cars that were ahead of Liam in line had cleared the vertical lift, the last one nearly a casualty as his bumper caught briefly before moving on. But Liam, and the handful of others on the center section of the bridge that was now lifting, were trapped.
“Son of a bitch. How does he know w
here we are?” Liam looked at the cars around him, trying to decide if any of them were on that lift with him – for a reason. “I don’t see the black car. Why trap us up here. What’s the next move?”
Here it was, fate intervening, making him see things for what they were. The situation on the bridge was frightening, and obviously dangerous, but his concern came right back to one person. Felicity. His worry wasn’t for himself or the other people trapped on the damn bridge with them – it was her. No matter how hard he tried to deny the feelings that constantly nagged at him, they were still there, louder than ever. He needed to get her the hell out of there.
If anything was made clear at this point, it was that they wanted her and wanted her bad, and he would do anything and everything to protect her. Liam may have disabled GPS tracking to the outside world only traceable by his own system, but if Liam figured out how to chase a ghost, Wells likely did too, and Wells had the upper hand at the moment.
“What do we do?” Felicity pulled Liam from his thoughts. “He can’t keep us up here all day. Port Authority and, or the police will be here soon, and he doesn’t want that kind of attention.”
“I don’t know, but we can’t sit here.” He referred to his rearview and side mirror again as people started to exit their vehicles in panic. The person after Felicity could be among them, but he wouldn’t see them coming because they still didn’t have a face for the ghost chasing them.
Liam made eye contact with an elderly man in the car next to him and wondered if he was Wells. He could be anywhere.
“He could be in one of these cars, ready to grab you, shoot you…throw you off the damn bridge. Who knows.” Liam hadn’t meant to say any of that out loud. He didn’t want to scare her, but he knew he did. “We need to get out of here…”
Brother's Keeper II_Liam Page 11
