by Camy Tang
She checked her phone. If Liam was all right, he’d have called her to tell her what happened, but there was no call.
She couldn’t fool herself anymore. Liam had come to mean a lot more to her than she wanted him to. She had to save him. He had to be all right.
Oh, God, please help me! Even as the prayer formed, she felt guilty. She hadn’t prayed in years, since her mother took her to Sunday school. Why would God listen to her now?
Because God was best buds with Liam.
That thought somehow calmed her, helped her think more clearly. At a stoplight, she put her phone on speaker and dialed Detective Carter.
“Hey, Elisabeth.”
“Liam’s been attacked.”
“What?” The detective’s voice sharpened. “Where?”
She gave him the address of the parking garage and where the borrowed car was parked. “Please hurry.”
The light turned green and she disconnected the call and shot forward. Within a minute, she was in sight of the garage.
Then a silver Camaro caught her eye.
That had been the car that had followed Liam. It was parked a couple blocks away from the parking garage. Liam had said he’d lost the car tailing him, which would be easy to do if he took shortcuts and alleyways, going places the car couldn’t follow.
But once the Camaro lost Liam, it must have doubled back. Maybe its driver had guessed at what point Elisabeth had realized they were being followed. It would make sense that up until that point, she had been heading somewhere specific, and that Liam would make his way back in that direction eventually.
If the Camaro belonged to the Tumibay who’d followed Liam, that meant Liam was still at the parking garage. Elisabeth had the keys to the borrowed car in her purse. The Tumibay hadn’t taken Liam away.
She pulled alongside the street and parallel parked. Remembering her idea for the shipping container’s trailer, she looked in a toolbox in her trunk for her needle-nose pliers, then went to the Camaro’s tires. She removed the valve cap and used the pliers to unscrew the valve cores entirely. Air whooshed from each tire as she worked her way around the car.
Elisabeth had to take a moment to catch her breath as the panic began to well up again. No, she had to stay in control of herself. She couldn’t help Liam if she lost it.
She hadn’t realized how much she’d come to depend on Liam, on his strength and abilities, on his calmness. Even his faith had had an impact on her.
She hadn’t depended on anyone in a long time. She hadn’t wanted to get close to someone else who would hurt her.
But Liam had sneaked under her defenses. He was dedicated to his loved ones, despite his PTSD and his shoulder injury. He wouldn’t let his loved ones down. He wouldn’t let her down.
Her fist clenched her shirt over her breastbone. She wouldn’t let him down, either.
FOURTEEN
“Hey, wake up.”
The sharp slap on his face snapped Liam out of darkness. He tried to open his eyes and immediately regretted it as light made pain radiate from his temple. It felt as though his skull had been smashed in. He groaned and turned onto his side.
Liam had heard the man coming up behind him a footstep too late. By the time he’d realized someone was there, the attacker was too close. Liam had tried to strike out, but the blows had only glanced off the man’s shoulder and ear. Then the man had swung hard and the lights went out.
There was a hard kick to his shin. “Get up,” a man growled.
He opened his eyes and saw his cell phone on the ground, underneath the car. Elisabeth. He’d been talking to her. She’d have no idea what had happened to him.
And she was coming here now.
Another kick, harder this time. “I said, get up.”
His running had made him slow and tired, but he shouldn’t have let down his guard like that. He’d just put Elisabeth in danger. Again.
He wasn’t going to let anything happen to her.
He got onto his hands and knees, and a wave of nausea clenched his stomach. Tiny bits of gravel bit into his palms, and he concentrated on the slight pain to keep himself from getting sick all over the cement ground.
“Come on, I ain’t going to carry you.”
So that was why he’d woken Liam up. He had seen Liam at the car and probably guessed he would be using it, but he couldn’t get into the borrowed car without setting off the alarm, and Liam didn’t have the car keys. He’d have to transport them with his car, which was probably not in the garage. Liam got into a sitting position, leaning against the car tire.
It was the same man from the gas station who had held Elisabeth at gunpoint, and who had been at Brady’s house, the one with the fishhook-shaped scar on his face. Lamar Garcia. He looked a little worse for wear with a purple bruise over one eye and over his cheek. But his hand holding the gun was steady as he pointed it at Liam.
“Get up,” he ordered.
“You were at the gas station.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen enough of you the past couple days to last me a lifetime. Your brother’s house is nice, by the way.” He gave a snakelike smile.
“Nice shiner.” Which was probably what Liam had given to him when he’d tackled the man.
Garcia’s smile flattened. “Stand up. We’re going to take a ride.” Liam started to get up when the man added, “Oh, and toss me your cell phone.”
Liam slowly retrieved the phone from under the car, then threw it to the man’s feet. He frowned at Liam, but kept the gun pointed at him as he bent to pick it up.
“You were on the phone with her, I’m guessing. I heard you while I was sneaking up on you.” He chuckled. “Didn’t think that would be so easy.”
“Yes, you’re very smart,” Liam said drily.
“She’s coming here, isn’t she?”
Liam stilled.
“Let’s roll out the welcome wagon.” Keeping his eyes and gun on Liam, Garcia pocketed Liam’s phone and pulled out his own. His eyes flickered from his phone to Liam as he dialed.
Liam considered attacking, but he was still dizzy and didn’t like his chances against the man’s trigger finger. There had to be something he could do to protect Elisabeth, but his pounding head made it hard to think. Fear began to build in his chest. What could he do?
Cast adrift, he mentally reached out for something to cling to and hit on the calm certainty of his faith. He wasn’t truly alone, he reminded himself. God was with him.
His worry and fear receded, but he still couldn’t figure out what to do. He had to do something. He had to think! Elisabeth depended on him.
The Tumibay was talking into his phone. “The girl’s going to come here. Parking garage on the corner of Miles Street and City Avenue. Get here fast.” He disconnected the call, then jerked his gun at Liam. “Walk.”
Liam’s legs were leaden, and he had to strain to put one foot in front of the other. He stumbled toward the stairs to the parking garage and hung on to the railing as he walked down. He started regaining his strength but kept his movements clumsy.
They headed down the deserted sidewalk. “Why do you want Joslyn?” he asked, figuring he might as well make the most of this chance to gain new intel.
“The Bagsics want to kill her,” Garcia replied, “which means they’d be willing to pay to have her.” The man’s confidence was making him chatty.
“They won’t pay you for her. If you have her, they’ll come after you.”
Garcia laughed. “We can handle them. Keep going.” They went another block, then the man said, “Stop here.”
Liam recognized the silver Camaro. The Tumibay pulled his keys out of his pocket and clicked the fob. The car unlocked and the trunk popped open.
Liam didn’t have much time. “Capturing us won’t do you any good. When Joslyn left the shelter, she didn’t tell anyone where she was going.”
“Sure she didn’t.”
Liam gave him a sidelong look. “Why don’t you ask Faye? Shouldn’t she know where
her own cousin went?”
The thug used the butt of his pistol to hit him, the metal crunching into his cheekbone. The pain was like an iron spike hit straight into his skull, and metallic warmth spurted over his teeth.
“Don’t get smart with me.”
Liam bent over and spit out blood. That was when he noticed the tires. He wiped his mouth. “You’ve got a flat.”
“Yeah, right.” Garcia moved to get a better look. “Hey!” He bent over to look at the tire. Then he turned toward the back tire and saw that it was flat, also. “My rims—!”
Liam knocked his gun away and it clattered on the sidewalk. Then he jumped him, and the two of them rolled to the sidewalk.
The blows to his face had made Liam too dizzy, and he was too slow to block a punch from the man that connected with his ear. Ringing exploded in his head.
“Hold it!”
Elisabeth.
She stood several yards away, her gun in her hands. Her hands were steady, but Liam could see the intensity of her eyes. She walked forward a couple paces and kicked the Tumibay’s gun farther away.
“Get up,” Elisabeth said.
Garcia slowly stood with hands raised. “Don’t shoot. I wasn’t going to hurt him.”
“You can tell that to the police. I already called them.”
The man paled, making his fishhook scar stand out against his temple. Liam rolled over and sat up, but he had to pause to catch his breath before trying to stand.
“Look, he needs help.” Garcia gestured to Liam.
“You’re such a Good Samaritan.” Liam wiped his mouth with his shirt, but the bleeding had stopped.
Sirens sounded in the distance. The man suddenly turned and ran.
Then Elisabeth was crouching next to him. “Oh, my, your face...” She was close enough that he could smell oranges and tuberoses.
“I’m fine.” He looked into her eyes. Their gazes held a long moment.
Then she leaned forward and softly pressed her lips to his.
* * *
Elisabeth didn’t know exactly why she kissed him. She’d been so relieved to see him safe, she hadn’t thought about her actions. She’d simply wanted to be close to him.
When her lips touched his, something clicked. It was as if she’d been completed. It wasn’t just how it felt to be kissing him, it was how he was always looking out for her, how he valued her abilities, how he made her feel special. When he looked at her, in his eyes were both admiration and honor.
No man had ever looked at her like that.
But look at how the other men in her life had treated her. Hadn’t she chosen to be alone because she couldn’t pick up the pieces of her life again a third time? She wouldn’t be able to.
And certainly not after Liam.
She leaned back. She met his eyes for a brief moment, then looked away. She wouldn’t be mesmerized by his eyes again.
Elisabeth rose to her feet as the sirens grew screamingly close. She ran to Officer Joseph Fong. “The man who attacked Liam ran that way. His name is Lamar Garcia. Black jacket, jeans, fishhook scar on his left cheekbone.”
He took off on foot down the alley. She was glad the police were here, but they were a minute too late. “I should have gone after him,” she muttered.
“No, you shouldn’t,” Liam said, still sitting on the ground. “You don’t know if he’d have led you straight to his friends.”
She hadn’t thought of that.
“They were supposed to meet him here, but they might have taken off when they saw the squad car.” Liam got to his feet, his knees shaky. His face went white for a brief moment, and he closed his eyes.
“Liam.” She went to him to grab him if he fainted.
Some color came back into his cheeks. He opened his eyes. She was about to step back when his hands came up to frame her face. His touch was like a whisk to her brain. She couldn’t hold a coherent thought.
“How did you know?” he asked.
“Know what?”
“That I was in trouble.”
“Oh.” She blinked, remembering. “I didn’t disconnect the call right away, and so I heard you struggling with him. And then I heard only one footstep, and it wasn’t yours.”
He stared at her. “You just happened to hear it all?”
His expression made her realize for the first time how odd it had been that she hadn’t hung up right away, that she’d heard everything. “It was such a freak thing.”
He shook his head, and his eyes were serious, and wondering, and reverent. “I think it was God,” he breathed. “I think He saved me.”
With his hands cupping her face, she had a hard time objecting to his words, especially because she knew she couldn’t explain the coincidence.
By that time, a second squad car had pulled up and the officer approached. “Are you both all right?”
“He’ll need—”
The officer interrupted her. “I’ve called the paramedics.”
At that moment, Officer Fong appeared, breathing heavily. “I don’t know where he went. Sorry, folks.”
Liam clearly chafed at the delay as he submitted to being patched up by the paramedics and gave his statement to Officer Fong. However, neither Elisabeth nor Liam mentioned Joslyn or the reason they were at the parking lot.
Detective Carter arrived, and soon after, Shaun and Monica. Liam’s brother looked grave and even a little dangerous, and Monica gave her husband worried looks as she hurried alongside him.
“How did they find you?” Shaun said.
“We’re not sure,” Elisabeth said.
She recounted everything to Detective Carter, who sighed when she finished. “That’s it. You two are coming to the station with me. You’re getting an officer to protect you—”
“We can’t.” Elisabeth lowered her voice. “Joslyn is in danger.”
The detective frowned. “I can send an officer—”
“She won’t go with him.”
He sighed again, closing his eyes and massaging his forehead with his fingers. Then he said, “You’ve given your statements?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Then go.” Detective Carter stomped away, clearly unhappy.
“At least he didn’t arrest you,” Shaun said cheerfully. “He looked mad enough that he might have, just to keep you out of trouble.”
Monica smiled. “He arrested my sister once, and my aunt laid into him. He’s just worried about you two. He called us right after you called him.”
“The Tumibay saw the borrowed car,” Liam said. “I was standing at the driver’s-side door when he attacked me. We shouldn’t use it.”
Shaun nodded. “Brady guessed that when he heard where you were attacked. He had an idea. We’re going to meet him.”
He gave them the address and Liam and Elisabeth left first in her car, while Shaun and Monica hung back. They’d follow after a few minutes just to make sure they weren’t followed. Elisabeth was grateful for the precaution, but she still watched for a tail. It was odd to have these strangers be so concerned for her. No, they were probably just concerned for Liam.
She was surprised to turn into a used car dealership and see Brady talking to a salesman. The dealership wasn’t very reputable looking, which might have been why Brady chose it.
When Brady saw Liam carefully lever himself out of Elisabeth’s car, his brows drew down over his eyes and he looked as fierce as Shaun had when he’d arrived at the parking garage. “You all right?”
Liam waved away his brother’s concern. “It looks worse than—”
“Don’t lie to me.” Then Brady grinned. “You’re such a baby when it comes to pain.”
“I’ll show you pain.” Liam grabbed his brother in a headlock.
Elisabeth exchanged long-suffering looks with the car dealer, a tall, wiry man with short blond hair and a large nose. “Anytime you gents are ready...” he said with a faint British accent.
Shaun and Monica drove into the lot a few minutes later, an
d Shaun, Liam and Brady began talking to the car dealer in earnest. Monica and Elisabeth stood a few feet away.
“Is Brady really going to buy a used car just for us?” Elisabeth couldn’t imagine something like that.
Monica shrugged. “You two are in need. A woman’s life is at stake. Besides, have you seen Liam’s truck?”
Elisabeth thought back, finally recalling the beat-up pickup truck at the women’s shelter. “I suppose Liam could use an upgrade.”
“Liam wouldn’t accept a gift from his brothers, but he would accept the help when he was in need, especially if it allowed him to help someone who was relying on him.”
Yes, that sounded like Liam.
“We’re glad you’re all right.” Monica rubbed Elisabeth’s shoulder.
“I’m glad I arrived in time to help Liam.” She didn’t want to think what might have happened if she hadn’t been able to get there so quickly. “If I hadn’t overheard the attack on the phone...”
“Shaun and I have already thanked God that you did.” Monica studied her brother-in-law. “Liam’s been struggling a bit since he came back to Sonoma. This might help reaffirm his faith, give him some peace.”
“He mentioned God, too. He said God saved him.”
“You don’t think so?” Monica’s look was questioning.
“I don’t know much about God anymore.” Not since her mother had died and He’d failed her.
“It’s hard to know God,” Monica said. “There’s so much we just don’t understand. But faith in God can give us strength.”
“How can you have faith when God doesn’t always answer prayers?” Elisabeth hadn’t meant to ask that, but it just came out. And she realized she really did want to know.
Monica thought a moment before answering. “I don’t know why there are some prayers He doesn’t answer. I know He sees when people do awful things to each other, and I don’t know why He allows that.” She reached out to clasp Elisabeth’s hands. “But I do know that even in the midst of suffering and pain and loneliness, He’s there with us. He loves us, and we’re not alone.”
Monica’s words had a ring of authority and confidence. She wasn’t just uttering phrases to comfort herself or Elisabeth; she believed in the absolute truth of what she was saying. It was different from anything other people had said to Elisabeth before. It was as if the words had power.
