Page 19 of A Simple Mistake (Deadly Mistakes #1)

NINETEEN

Gabriel

Present

What the hell was that? What the hell has Liam gotten caught up in now?

I hurry down the stairs to find Chris and his brother Hector watching MMA.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asks.

“Um. Liam needs something; I’m going to run out real quick.”

“You think it’s safe to go alone? Wait a second, I’ll go with you.”

I quickly shake my head, knowing that taking Chris to Liam sounds like a horrible idea, and I don’t even know why. Am I expecting to walk in on Liam chopping someone up? If I were, why would I ever go to him? “No, that’s okay. I’m going to be in my car the whole time and I won’t get out until I’m with Liam.”

He doesn’t seem convinced, but there’s no way I’m taking him. Instead, he walks me out to my car and makes sure that there is absolutely no way someone’s hiding in it.

“Even if this thing breaks down, do not get out of the vehicle, do you understand?” he asks. “I will have my phone on me, so call me immediately.”

“Yes. I promise.”

He stands in the driveway and watches me until I’ve pulled out. Quickly, I drive to the location Liam’s sent me and find myself out of town and turning onto a dirt driveway that takes me back through some trees as my mind races.

What the hell is he getting me caught up in? And what the hell is he doing?

Anxiety tightens in my stomach as I question if I’m going to step out onto another crime scene, but as my headlights flash over his car, I see Liam lying on the ground outside of it.

Panic strikes me. I slam the car into park, grab my gun, and rush out to help him. “Liam!”

“Hey, handsome,” he says.

I nearly trip over my feet at the sound of his cheery words.

“Didn’t expect to see you in this neck of the woods,” he adds.

“What the fuck, Liam? When I pulled in and saw you lying on the ground outside your car, I thought something happened to you!” I grab my chest as my heart runs wild. “I thought you were hurt.”

“No, nope. Not at all. I thought maybe you’d want to kick back and watch the stars with me,” he says as his car starts bouncing.

“Liam?”

“It’s a nice night,” he comments, like he doesn’t notice the issue with the car at all . “And you’re looking rather handsome.”

I look down at my cat pajamas and an old t-shirt that’s two sizes too big… but is that really the issue here?

“What the fuck is that?” I ask as I wave toward the car bouncing up a storm.

“Would you like me to play some music? It is rather quiet out here.”

“You think a lack of music is the issue?” I ask in disbelief.

“Sure wouldn’t hurt.”

“What the hell would it help ?” I ask as I rush over to him and jab a finger at the trunk. “What’s in there?”

“About a hundred and eighty pounds of the vilest trash you’ve ever seen.”

For a split second, I question if it’s the killer, but there’s no way he could’ve grabbed the killer and not killed him by now. I don’t care what kind of promise he made me, there’s no way he could have kept himself from doing it.

“Does this vile trash have a name?”

“Vile Vance.”

Vance? Vance… oh shit… I remember that name. I haven’t heard it in a while. It was never one of our cases—the man never killed anyone, which dumped the case on another department—but the unjustness of it ran through the precinct as everyone talked about how the guy got away every single time he went to court. It wasn’t often that a man received nothing more than a slap on the wrist after drugging and raping women.

And now he’s in Liam’s trunk.

Liam is still lying on the ground as I walk over to him before looking down as he stares up at me. He has a soft smile on his lips, and I can’t comprehend the expression.

“Why’s he in your trunk?” I ask.

“Because I was angry.”

“You were angry because I made you leave?”

“No, I was angry that the killer could try to take you from me.”

“It’s not healthy, Liam.”

“Never claimed it was.” His expression never changes. He just looks… happy that I’m here.

I eye the trunk then look back down at him. “Why are you on the ground?”

“Because I think if I was standing up, I would be one step closer to taking him out of the trunk and making sure he never touches a woman again. He’s already proven the law can’t stop him. He’s already proven that he’s above it. And he’s already proven he’ll do it again. He was holding a gun to a young woman’s head not even an hour ago. He was fully aware of what he was going to do.”

“So why didn’t you go through with it?”

“Because I promised you I wouldn’t. Can we negotiate this promise?”

Why does it make me feel good that even after all this time, even after he put a fucking man in his trunk… he’s chosen to protect that promise to me?

“What if I lightly kill him?” he asks.

“You can’t lightly kill someone.”

“Sure you can. Like… I’m going to lightly stab him… oh shit… oh no… he’s stopped breathing. I will lightly try to resuscitate him. And then I will lightly guide him into this unmarked grave in the middle of nowhere.”

I stare at him.

He stares back.

“All of that was clear murder,” I remind him.

Liam sits up, eyes still on me before reaching out to me. I refuse to give him my hand, but my body seems to be drawn to him as I step toward him. He wraps both of his arms around my legs, squeezing me to him.

“You can’t kill him,” I say.

“‘Can’t’ is such a strong word. What about ‘you probably shouldn’t, but if it happens, whoopsies.’”

“Whoopsies, my ass,” I grumble as his arms tighten around my thighs.

There’s something terrifyingly comforting about it.

Oh fuck… fuck me. Fuck this. Fuck him…

Why is it so hard to pull away from him? Why is it so hard to back away? Why does he make everything so difficult?

“If I can’t kill him… can I cut off his balls?”

“I don’t think you should.”

“But can I?”

I sink my fingers into his hair as he looks up at me with such a hypnotizing expression. It makes me want to lean down and kiss him. It also makes me want to pull away and run. Yet… it’s impossible to pull away.

“You are not good for me,” I tell him.

“I’m not good for anyone,” he says, and the words cut through me, making me feel guilty for some reason. Like the man is over here contemplating how to talk me into letting him kill someone, and I’m the one left feeling guilty. His fingers loosen as he starts to pull back. “I’m sorry for calling you. I just needed you to remind me of what not to do because sometimes it’s hard for me to stop myself.”

My hand tightens on his hair. I don’t want him to pull back. I know I need to draw back, but I don’t want to. My mind is in absolute turmoil.

Liam’s watching me now, unsure of what I’m going to allow him to do. My words are telling him to pull away, but my hands aren’t letting him.

“I think we should focus on the trunk,” I say.

“I suppose that makes sense,” he agrees, and when I hold a hand down to him, he takes it to get up to his feet.

“I can’t let him go without repercussions. We already know that the ‘allegations’ against him can’t stand up in court.”

I nod, understanding what he’s saying because I also don’t want this man to hurt anyone ever again. “Okay. People like him who get away with what they do have nothing to hide. Do you have his cell phone?”

“I do,” he says as he rushes off to retrieve it. But when he hands it to me, I see that it requires a fingerprint to get in.

“We need a fingerprint,” I tell him.

“Good thing we don’t have to go far to get it,” he says as he hurries off to the trunk and pops it open. The guy starts kicking up a fuss when he does. If I thought the car was moving and bouncing before, it’s nothing compared to what’s happening now as I hear the muffled screams for help.

“Don’t you need the phone?” I ask as I realize that I’m still holding it.

Liam slams the trunk shut, looks at me holding the phone, then cocks his head before looking down at what he’s holding in his hand. “In my defense… you didn’t specify.”

“Did you cut his fucking finger off?” I growl.

Liam is silent for a moment, like he has to think about this question. “It’s a long way from his heart and you told me to get his fingerprint.”

“I meant for you to take his hand and press it against the phone! What the fuck!”

“I hear what you’re saying, but this way we don’t have to make the long trek back to the car every time the screen locks.”

I’m staring at him in disbelief. “The long trek? It’s like two feet!”

“Tomatoes. To-mah-toes.”

What… the… fuck? “This isn’t a tomatoes, to-mah-toes situation! This is ‘Hey, we could use his finger to open his phone’ versus ‘Let’s saw his finger off.’”

“What do you take me for? An amateur? My knife is quite sharp. There was no sawing required.”

“I’m glad you’re proud of your knife,” I say with ample sarcasm.

“You know what would be hilarious? If I cut off the wrong finger,” Liam comments. He even chuckles a little at that.

“ Would that be hilarious?”

“ I’d find it hilarious,” he says as I look away while he unlocks the phone. I feel it’s best if I don’t look right at the amputated finger.

He starts flipping through the phone as I glance down. It’s almost sickening how quickly he finds the videos. The vile man even has his own little folder of them, like he’s so confident he’ll never get convicted that he’s never once contemplated hiding the video proof of what he’s done. The quick glimpses I get as Liam checks the videos makes me sick, and suddenly I can’t find myself minding that Liam took a finger… and part of me wonders if he should have taken more.

“I’ve sent all of the videos to the police,” Liam says.

“I’m… really glad you caught him,” I admit. “I’m really fucking glad. We can’t let him get away with this again. You sent it to someone who won’t let him get away with it?”

“I sure did. I also sent one that doesn’t have the victim’s face in it to the local news. They’re not going to let this slide. And if they do, I will make him disappear… if you let me.”

“We’ll… make that decision if the time comes.”

“Well, this was delightful. I had fun,” Liam says.

“You act like this was a date we had.”

He laughs. “Best date I’ve had in a while.”

“You are something, you know that?”

“Thank you.”

“It’s not a compliment.”

“Sure is in my books.”

“What set you off?” I ask.

Liam pauses before reaching into his car and pulling out an envelope. Unsure that I want to see what’s inside, I hesitantly reach out and take it from him. I start to slide the first photograph out, but the instant I realize what it is, I push it back in, not wanting to see any more.

My stomach clenches as I realize what this means, but Liam steps in and pushes my hair back before kissing my forehead. “I will not let him have you.”

I nod, not sure what else to say or do, but I believe him. “Okay. I’m tired. Let’s head back,” I say, not trusting myself to be around him for too much longer. Who knows what kind of mistakes I’ll make.

“I’m not letting him out here. I’ll pull over outside of town and he can run home. But I’m going to follow you back to Chris’s.”

“Okay. What if he catches our license plates?”

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Liam says.

“Please don’t remove his eyes.”

“I would never.”

I stare at him as he smiles innocently at me.

“Can I tuck you in as Chris watches?” he asks.

“That sounds unbelievably awkward.”

“Good.”

“I can tuck myself in, thank you. Go tuck Lucille in.”

“Lucy Fur doesn’t like me. She chitters death threats at me every time she sees me. She hacked a hairball up on my shoes earlier today.”

“That’s how she shows her love.”

“Uh-huh… sure,” he says as he heads over to his car.

“Hey,” I call before he can disappear inside the car. “We’re going to figure this out, okay? So… thank you for worrying about me. But we’re going to do this.”

He’s quiet for a moment before saying, “Thank you for giving me another chance.”

“It’s just so I can use you,” I lie.

“Let me tell you a secret. You can use me all you want.” And with that, he slips into the driver’s seat of his car and waits for me to do the same. It isn’t until he pulls off on the side of the road that I wonder what he did with the finger. Knowing him, he tucked it and the phone in Vance’s pocket before the man was left bolting off into the woods with fear in his heart… having no idea how his life was about to turn out when he finds the police waiting for him when he gets home.