by Elle Thorpe
My heart sank a little, but I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing. I’d had my moment to mope, and I wasn’t going to dwell on it. I’d started this, and I was going to see it through. “Fine. If they won’t investigate, then we will.”
24
Mae
Mae
The midday sun was blinding when Liam and I made it back out to the parking lot. I was grateful to sink into the cooler depths of Liam’s car, air-conditioning cooling my heated skin.
He got in behind the steering wheel. “Well. That didn’t exactly go the way I’d hoped it would.”
“I know.”
“We need more suspects than two cops, Mae.”
“I know.”
We both sighed in unison.
“I am going to call the police chief, though. I’ll report everything Heath said about this DeWitt guy and a hit on Jayela. That’ll include the possibility of Boston working with this gang… You good with that? You and he seemed kind of tight at Eve’s place last night.”
I nodded. “He’s always been like an older brother to me. I honestly can’t believe he would do something like that. He and Jayela were both so morally straight. Their compasses never even twitched.”
“I’m sure you’re right. This DeWitt guy is probably just running his mouth. It happens a lot on the inside. Criminals aren’t exactly known for being truthful. But I should report it anyway.”
I agreed. “You have to. Jayela would have.”
Liam started the engine and steered us out of the prison gates. I’d be back here to teach my class in a few hours, but until then, the day was my own. I had nothing to do except go home and try not to think. I didn’t like my chances. I needed to go through Jayela’s things and see if there was anything in there that might give us a clue as to who really killed her. There had to be someone else. A better option than cops and random gangbangers. But every time I thought about opening the door, I flashed back to that morning and her unseeing eyes as she lay murdered on her bed.
My fingers trembled, and I shoved them beneath my thighs so Liam wouldn’t notice. I knew it had to be done, but I wasn’t ready. Not yet. And I didn’t want to be alone, thinking about it for the rest of the day.
“Do you want to come back to my place?” Liam asked, like he could read my mind. “I’ve told the office I’m not coming in. I’d really like to talk to you some more. I want a whole list of people your sister knew, or hell, even a list of people she might have once met. I want to be able to point the finger at least half a dozen people by the time this goes to court.”
I agreed quickly, and it was only a few minutes before Liam hit a button on a key fob. Automatic garage doors on a very fancy-looking building in the middle of Providence rolled up, smooth as silk.
“Your apartment building is about as swanky as your office.” I gazed up at the tall structure, taking in the sleek, modern lines and we drove beneath into the basement parking area. Liam parked in a space marked reserved, right by the elevators.
“Do you like it?” Liam got out of the car and headed in my direction.
I opened my door and went to climb out, but that stopped Liam in his tracks. He pouted at me.
I froze. “What?”
“Get back in the car.”
“Why? You can’t kick me out before you’ve even let me in.”
“I’m going to let you in, you dork. I just like to open the door for you. You wreck my fun when you open it for yourself.”
I stifled a smile. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. So shut your door and let me open it for you.”
I fought back a laugh, kind of giddy. Yeah, okay. It was a 1950’s thing to do. But I liked it and I was happy to play along. It was a nice moment of lightness after what had essentially been a pretty bleak morning. I pulled the door closed and waited with a smile for Liam to open it again.
“After you, madam.” He chuckled, offering me his hand.
I took it and let him lead me across the parking lot to the elevator. Inside, he hit the button for the penthouse.
Of course. Knowing Liam’s love of all things fancy, I would have been more shocked if he’d lived on the ground floor.
The interest in seeing Liam’s penthouse was swamped by the realization he was still holding my hand. He was warm and sweet and here with me. Fighting for something I knew he really didn’t believe in but fighting for it anyway. Because I’d asked him to. He didn’t owe me anything. I wasn’t even paying him.
“Why are you doing this?”
We exited the elevator onto the top floor, and he glanced over his shoulder at me, key poised in midair above the lock to his place. “Opening the door?”
He ushered me inside, and I blinked around at the huge open-plan space. My place wasn’t exactly small. It was no top-floor luxury penthouse or anything, but it was a standard-sized two-bedroom condo. But Liam’s place was bigger than even my father’s. And my condo would have fit in his living room alone. “No. I mean, why are you helping me help Heath? You said yourself, this is a losing case. You could have just said no.”
“I wanted that date with you.” He led me into the industrial-style kitchen and dropped his keys on the countertop. He spun around, caging me in against the island bench, his hands sliding over my hips. To my surprise, he gripped them tight and hoisted me onto the countertop.
I let out a squeal of surprise and gripped his shoulders for balance. I’d worn one of my long floral skirts, my favorite one with the tiny daisies on a deep-navy background. The material brushed my ankles, so even when Liam pushed his way between my knees, I was still completely covered.
I kind of wished I wasn’t.
He planted his hands either side of my ass, fingers wrapped around the edge of the granite countertop. We were similar heights, with me sitting on the higher surface and him leaning in. And when he brushed his lips over mine, my core did a happy little flip, yearning for him to fit his body completely against mine.
But Liam kept it PG. He moved back before I could deepen the kiss or pull him closer. And it gave me enough time for my head to clear, and to remember that I’d been asking him something. “I don’t think so. You could have just asked me out, like any other guy.”
“You would have said no.”
“Probably. But we both know you’re persistent. I hate to admit it, but you’re kind of charming. You would have worn me down eventually. So I don’t really buy that the reason you took this case has anything to do with me.”
Liam backed away, not answering the question. “You hungry? I’m a good cook. I’ll make something to eat.” He turned around to open the pantry door. Or to hide in it.
To my surprise, the pantry was at complete odds with the rest of his house. It was of the huge walk-in variety, with floor-to-ceiling shelving and deep enough for a grown man to stand inside. But unlike the rest of his very minimalist apartment, the pantry overflowed with food. It was almost like he’d opened the door to his own personal supermarket. There were multiple boxes of cereal, at least a dozen packages of dry pasta, and enough canned goods to feed a small army for a month. They were stacked ten or more deep, disappearing into the darkness at the back of the shelves.
“What do you feel like? Stir-fry? Salad? Toasted sandwiches? Name it.”
“Are you preparing for the apocalypse? You have so much food. Do you have a secret family I don’t know about? A horde of teenagers as your roommates?”
Liam’s shoulders stiffened.
I pondered over what I’d said and why it would have bothered him. But couldn’t think of anything.
He grabbed a pack of burger buns, an onion, and a handful of seasonings from a rack, before dumping them on the countertop. “I just like to be prepared.”
“You’re a prepper?”
He glanced over at his stash of food, like he was only just realizing how much of it he actually had. “Not exactly. Like, I don’t think zombies are coming. I don’t have a bug-out bag, if that’s what you’re aski
ng. But yeah. I guess I like knowing I can feed myself for an extended period of time if something was to happen.”
I mulled that over. It seemed an odd habit to get into for someone as wealthy as he was. The man could buy anything he wanted, at any time. He hardly had a need to horde all this food. “What would stop you from just going to the supermarket, though? If not zombies.”
“Could be anything. Illness. Supplier shortage. Plus, money doesn’t grow on trees. If I lose my job, this all goes away tomorrow.”
I scoffed at that. “You’re one of the best lawyers around. You work for the top firm in the city. I don’t think this is all going away tomorrow.”
He took a package of ground meat from his refrigerator and dumped it into a bowl. “Doesn’t hurt to save for a rainy day, though, right?”
He avoided looking at me, and so I suspected there was more to the story than he was letting on. But I decided to let it go. The pungent smell of onions filled the kitchen as Liam sliced through them with a fancy knife, so I slid down from the countertop and wandered around his place. “Did you just move in?” I asked after a while.
He paused in his chopping. “No? I’ve been here two years.”
“Oh.” I found that hard to believe. There was nothing personal in sight. Not even so much as a jacket on a stand, an award on a wall, or a photograph on the side table. The furniture was so minimal it was about as homely as a store display. It was almost surprising that there wasn’t plastic on the couches. They certainly didn’t seem as if anyone had ever sat on them.
The sizzle of meat on a hot frying pan caught my attention, and I wandered back to Liam’s side, touching a hand to his lower back, leaning over to see what he’d created. The meat patties were perfectly round and full of colored spices. “That already smells amazing. Can I help?”
“Nope. Go sit your pretty little ass on a seat. I’ve got this. It’s my turn to ask questions.”
I dragged out a stool from beneath the other side of the island counter. It was so long, there was enough stools for eight people. I took the one right in the middle. “Okay. Fair enough. I was being kind of nosy. Ask away.”
“Start talking to me about the people in your life. And the people in Jayela’s life. Let’s forget her work for a moment. Go personal. She didn’t date, right? Not since Heath?”
“Right.”
“Friends?”
“Besides me?”
“Unless you’re putting yourself on the suspect list, then yes. Besides you. Were you two close?”
“Sort of? I mean, we lived together. So yes. We probably spent more time together than most sisters do. But we have other friends.”
“Who? Tori?”
“Yes, Tori. And Will, her husband.”
Liam rolled his eyes. “Okay. Any friends who haven’t been in your life since you were five years old?”
I thought about it for a moment and came up pretty blank.
Liam glanced over his shoulder at me and raised an eyebrow. “Have you seriously made no friends since high school?”
“How many have you made, Mr. Popularity? I saw you at Jayela’s funeral. You were with the same guys you hung out with in high school. So don’t give me attitude.” I gave an indignant huff, but it was good-natured.
He chuckled beneath his breath. “I have a very demanding job. I don’t have time to make new friends. What’s your excuse?”
“Same.”
“Okay, so we’re both workaholics. Noted. Jayela, too?”
“Worse than I am. Her whole life was work.”
Liam sighed. “Okay. So we’re back to the work thing again. Exactly what we’re trying to avoid. Let’s try a different route.” He paused to grab some paper towel and lined a plate with it. Then he lifted each of the burger patties onto the paper and pulled the buns from the oven. He assembled our burgers as he spoke, layering the buns with cheese, and lettuce, and the meat. “What about family? You lived with your dad in high school, right?”
Despite the fact I tried to stop it, my molars ground together at the mere mention of my father. “Yes.”
Liam glanced up from putting ketchup on his burger. “You want to elaborate a little? He still around?”
“No.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear that. When did he pass away? I didn’t hear anything about it.”
I forced my jaw to work normally. “He’s not dead. I just kind of wish he was.”
Liam paused with his hand halfway to the spatula. “Wow. Okay. I was not expecting that. Sounds like there’s a story there, though, so start talking. If you want him dead, is there any chance that he wants you dead, too? Or more specifically, Jayela?”
I balked at the idea. “I’m exaggerating, Liam. I don’t really wish death on the man. But honestly, he may as well be, considering how little he’s been in our lives since we finished school.”
Liam put the finishing touches on his burgers and capped them with the top of the bun, before sliding one across the countertop to me. My stomach gave a rumble of appreciation, and I took a huge bite, flavor exploding across my taste buds.
“He always seemed like the doting parent whenever there was a school function. He was always in the front row, clapping and smiling.”
“All for show. He went to Edgeley Academy, too. So he’s well-known in those circles. He’s much like you and me. Still friends with the same people he went to high school with. So he has to save face. I don’t think he could have cared less whether Jayela and I even graduated from high school, if it wouldn’t have looked bad in front of his friends. But we had to graduate, and we had to do well, because otherwise his life would look less than perfect.”
“What about your mom?”
I swallowed hard, suddenly not so hungry. “She actually is dead. Died when I was a baby.”
Liam chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “Shit. I’m really sorry to hear that. It’s hard to grow up without a parent.”
I glanced over at him. He was staring at his plate, lost in his thoughts. His sympathy wasn’t that of someone who still had both his parents in his life.
“Who did you lose? Your mom or your dad?” I asked.
“It’s hard to lose somebody when they were never in your life in the first place.”
I racked my brain, trying to remember the joint graduation ceremony we’d had with Edgeley Academy. I’d had my photo taken with my father on the stage after I’d gotten my valedictorian certificate. They’d invited him up, and he’d stood beside me, his arm around my shoulder like a proud parent, and beamed at the crowd who all clapped politely. I remembered vividly, because it had made me so damn angry. I’d worked my ass off to be top of my class. It was no easy feat at a school where excellence was expected from every student. He’d done nothing to help me, except pay my school fees. He’d never been around when I had a question on my homework. He’d never helped me with my science fair projects. The most involved he’d been was reading my report cards at the end of the year, and making sure I had all A’s. And yet he’d stood up on that stage, like my victory was somehow his. Even years later, it made my fingers clench into fists.
But when Liam had been announced as valedictorian for Edgeley Academy, there had been no photo with his parents. It had been his grandfather who had gotten up on stage with him, from memory. “Did you live with your grandparents?”
“Not exactly.”
I frowned, taking the last few bites of my burger. “Who did you live with then? I don’t think I ever saw either of your parents at school events. I can only remember your grandfather.”
He pushed his plate away and swiveled on his stool to face me. “We’re supposed to be talking about your family, remember?”
“My family story is boring and depressing. I’d much rather talk about yours. I feel like I don’t know anything about you.”
“Better that you don’t. You like me now. You might go back to hating me if you knew more.”
I poked lightly at his chest. “I doubt it. You’ve kiss
ed me. And there was a lot to like about that kiss. It would take a lot to undo it.”
He reached forward and fingered the button at the top of my blouse. “It wouldn’t take much to undo this…” He popped the top button free from the hole.
He was trying to distract me. And though my breath had stuttered in my lungs, I wasn’t quite willing to let him off the hook so easily. “You’re avoiding the question.”
He bit his lip and undid another button. “I know. But honestly, Mae? I don’t want to talk about my grandfather, or my parents. Not now. Not when you’re letting me undress you.”
I glanced down and watched him slip the last two buttons from my shirt. I swallowed hard as he brushed the material away, exposing the lacy white fabric of my bra and the bare skin of my stomach. I sat up a little straighter, fully aware we were in broad daylight. It had been a long time since I was even this naked with somebody during the day. Most of my sexual experience came from late-night hookups and one long-term boyfriend who wasn’t exactly the ‘afternoon delight’ type of lover. More like the ‘roll on top of me in the middle of the night, three quick pumps, and all over red rover.’ I’d never really felt self-conscious with them because they’d never looked at me in the way Liam was staring at me now. Liam’s gaze devoured me, raking over my cleavage, my bra, and the skin beneath. My belly wasn’t the flat, toned abdominals my sister had. Though I was a bit overweight, I liked the shape of my body generally. But I did have belly rolls when I sat. And my ass jiggled when I walked. Even without seeing Liam shirtless, I knew he probably had the body fat percentage of a cucumber.
He pushed my shirt from my shoulders, and we both watched as it fell to the floor. He finally lifted his gaze to meet mine. “Is this okay?”
“It’s okay.” I found I meant it. “I like the way you look at me.”
He stood and moved in closer, working his way between my legs again, and forcing me to stare up at him. “How am I looking at you?”