“How was your day?”
Liam stood on the threshold of Tim’s room. The boy was sitting at his screen—as usual—playing Fortnite or Call of Duty. Liam never knew the difference, and he didn’t care either.
They had drifted apart when Anna got sick six years ago and died a year later. Tim was still angry with Liam for not being there…for traveling and taking care of his career.
And he was right. The boy had been absolutely right. Liam had beat himself up for not prioritizing Anna more back then. But his career had just taken off, and if he was brutally honest, Anna’s sickness was unbearable. He couldn’t stand watching her wither and die. It broke his heart. So, he threw himself into work and said yes to any assignment that came his way, hoping it could take his mind off the many worries and the sadness that engulfed him.
Losing her had almost crushed him. He had barely been able to pull himself up from the dark hole he had ended up in. But working had helped. When he filmed his TV show, he wasn’t Liam, the sad father who had lost his wife. He wasn’t lonely. It was a part he played like an actor in a play, a mask he put on. While doing the show, he could get as angry as he wanted. He could yell at the contestants and act as crazy as he needed to. It became his outlet for his many frustrations…for his helplessness when seeing the woman he loved die while he stood by and could do nothing.
Tim couldn’t forgive Liam for not being there in the weeks that followed when he needed him the most. But Liam had been such a mess. He didn’t think he could have been there for anyone.
“What’s it to you?” Tim answered without turning around.
“Just asking. Out of curiosity and genuine interest in your life,” Liam said.
Tim didn’t say anything; he kept playing. The boy was fifteen now. Five years had passed since then, and it wasn’t getting better between them.
Liam stood for a few minutes, staring at his back. He was wearing the old gray hoodie that his mom had bought for him when he was nine, but had been a couple of sizes too big back then. Now it was tight in the shoulders and the sleeves were a little short. Still, he refused to wear anything else. He would only take it off when Juanita, their housekeeper, scolded him and said that it was a dirty rag that needed to be washed.
Poor kid.
Liam thought about the meeting with the crazy lady earlier in the day. Thinking about her made him angry again. Where did she get off telling him something like that? Was it just to taunt him? Did she just want him in pain; was that it?
I believe someone wants to kill your son.
Why would she say something like that? Had everyone in this world gone completely mad?
Liam chuckled, then walked down the hallway and checked the alarm. His house was among the best-secured homes in the area. Even if she was right and someone tried, there was no way they could get in.
Chapter 9
I stared at my watch, heart pounding harder and harder in my chest. I still had the TV on when it struck eight-thirty. I was just staring at the screen, at the twenty-four-hour news channel, not really listening to what was being said. From what I could make out, the news anchor talked about a story of a teen being charged after driving around with his sister on the hood of the car. After that followed the story of how a university doctor from a local university allegedly had inappropriate relationships with his students and is now being investigated.
All were ordinary stories on an ordinary Wednesday night.
I exhaled and rubbed the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and trying to calm myself.
Just for this one time, Lord, let me be wrong. Let me have misinterpreted the messages; let me just be crazy enough to read things into what I see that aren’t really there. Just for this once.
I looked at my watch again. Eight-forty-one. We were getting closer. I tried to think about something else and went to the window to look out at the city in front of me. I had taken a small bottle of white wine from the minibar and poured it into one of the glasses in the room. It didn’t taste very good. It was kind of bitter, and I grimaced after every sip, but I still drank it.
The city with its sea of lights seemed so peaceful. I couldn’t even hear sirens or anyone yelling.
Calm before the storm.
I had chosen one of the cheap hotels where a night’s stay cost only eighty-five bucks. It was called Red Roof Inn and was pretty nice for the price. I couldn’t complain. I wasn’t exactly rich like my sister, the Hollywood actress, so it was what I could afford for the time being.
Eight-forty-eight.
I bit my lip, trying to think about something pleasant instead. I pictured my children back at the house, hanging out with Matt and my mother, eating dinner. Gosh, I suddenly missed them. Things hadn’t been easy for them since their dad died two months ago. Both of the girls had struggled with getting back to daily life after the funeral. Chad had been their everything when growing up, especially since I hadn’t been around much, and he had taken care of them while I climbed the career ladder within the FBI. And now, he was gone. I was a single mom of three children. Luckily, I had Matt in my life. We had known each other since early childhood. We were dating before Chad was shot and killed. But right before it happened, Chad had asked me to get back together again, and I had almost accepted. Matt didn’t know this, and I wasn’t going to tell him. But the fact was, I had thought we’d be a family again. Just for a few seconds, I had believed we could.
And then it was taken away once more. With the snap of a finger. Just like that. My children would never have a real family again.
I cursed myself for not having been there when Matt and Elijah moved in today. I could have been if I hadn’t been so preoccupied with saving Liam Berkeley’s son. The kids all loved Matt, but still. I should have been there. Now, it was too late. The damage was done, and I still hadn’t managed to save Tim Berkeley.
I turned my head to look at the screen just as the numbers showed eight-fifty-six on the clock beneath it.
Chapter 10
He had just fallen into a deep sleep, dreaming about Anna and the life they used to have when he heard the ruckus, and it woke him up. Liam opened his eyes with a gasp and felt his heart begin to race in his chest. He shot up and looked at the clock.
It was only a little past nine.
He had only been in bed a few minutes as he always went to bed at nine because he had to get up at four-thirty. Had he been dreaming? Was it because of her that he had woken up? Or was it something else?
What’s that noise?
Liam hurried to the window and pulled the curtain aside. He glanced down into the driveway but could hardly believe what he was seeing. There were about a dozen police cars parked outside, their red and blue lights blinking and lighting up the trees in his front yard.
Liam mumbled under his breath, “What the heck is going on?”
Confused and with his heart pounding, he stared down at the police activity when he saw officers in protective clothing, body armor, helmets, and who were heavily armed run up toward the house. A chopper circled the house from the sky, lighting up the ground below.
“Tim!”
Liam ran for the door and into the hallway just as the front door was kicked in. Heart racing in his chest, Liam rushed toward his son’s room when there were rapid footsteps on the stairs, and seconds later, he was surrounded by black boots, guns pointed at him. The officers were yelling commands at him loudly while pushing him down and blocking his way so that he couldn’t get to his son.