Page 11 of Liam (R.I.S.C. Delta Team #5)
Liberty House Shelter
Seattle, Washington
“Well, now. There are two faces I never expected to see.”
Liam watched the man approaching them with a carefully trained eye as he, Allison, and Maddie made their way toward the gated property known as Liberty House. His muscles relaxed a second later when he heard Maddie’s excited voice.
“Bruce!” The little girl took off in a sprint toward the middle-aged man.
“Hey, Miss Maddie!” The guard—whose name was apparently Bruce—scooped the tiny blonde up off her feet and gave her a big bear hug.
Allison leaned in closer, her dimples growing deep as she explained, “Bruce was Maddie’s favorite guard when we stayed here.”
She turned her attention back to the interaction between her daughter and the friendly guard, but Liam kept his eyes on her. It wasn’t the time, and it sure as hell wasn’t the place, but he was so awestruck by the woman’s big, genuine smile, he couldn’t find the strength to look away.
My God, she’s beautiful.
Maddie was carefully lowered back down to her feet as Bruce huffed out a chuckled, “Never expected to see you ladies again.” But then his face fell flat as he gave Liam a slow once-over before returning his focus to Allison. “Ah, hell. Don’t tell me that SOB’s at it again.”
“He found us, Bruce,” she shared quietly. “Twice.”
The other man ran a hand over the strawberry blonde scruff covering his jaw. “You’re sure it was Tommy?”
“I saw him with my own two eyes.” Allison nodded. “He showed up in Nebraska a few weeks ago, and then two of his men were watching me and Mads at a park in Chicago the other day.”
“Chicago?” The other man was clearly surprised at how far the determined mother had travelled. “Damn. I’m sorry. But I have to ask…why come all the way back here?”
“We need to talk to your boss.”
Bruce’s suspicious gaze turned Liam’s way. “And you are?”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry,” Allison rushed the belated introduction. “Bruce Lamont, this is Liam Cutler. He’s my?—”
“Friend,” Liam shot her a quick look before offering the other man his hand.
Despite the glint of confusion seeping into her baby blues, she didn’t attempt to correct him.
Good girl.
“Nice to meet you, Liam.” Bruce’s grip was nice and firm. “I gotta say, it’s a relief knowing these girls have someone lookin’ out for them.”
He dipped his chin and released the other man’s hand. “Sounds like you’ve done your fair share of looking out for them yourself.”
“Just like I do for every other woman and child who walks through those doors.” Bruce motioned toward the building behind him. “It’s the whole reason I’m here.”
“You and Hank both do a wonderful job keeping this place safe.” Allison smiled. “It was really nice knowing that one of you was always here.”
“That’s kind of you to say.” Bruce grinned. “But hey, it’s not just the two of us anymore.”
“Sloane hired someone new?”
“Yup. Name’s Jeff Stapleton. He’s young, like the two of you. Seems to have a solid head on his shoulders. Plus, with Jeff added to the rotation, Hank and I actually get a day off from work now and then.”
“Good, because you both deserve it.” Allison put a friendly hand to the man’s upper arm. “But speaking of Sloane, we should probably get in there.”
“Is she expecting you?”
“I called her this morning to let her know we were coming.”
“Alrighty, then.” Bruce unclipped the small radio from his belt. “I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thank you.” Allison rose to her tiptoes and gave him a hug. “It was good seeing you again.”
“Take care of yourself, Allison.” He hugged her back before dropping down into a low squat. With his arms wide open at his sides, Bruce sent a smile to the little girl kicking at a few tiny, nearby pebbles. “And you, too, Miss Maddie.”
Maddie looked up at the sound of her name. Seeing her old friend was waiting, Allison’s daughter ran back over to him for another quick embrace.
Once the hug was over, the friendly guard stood upright and proceeded to get on his radio. While he gave his boss a heads up on their arrival, Liam, Allison, and Maddie made their way across the small, gated lot to the shelter’s main entrance.
As they walked, Liam kept his head and eyes on a constant swivel.
His gaze remained sharp, his focus homed in on their immediate surroundings as he searched for the slightest possibility of a threat.
Bruce seemed like a nice guy and all, but he wasn’t about to rely on another man to protect those in his care.
Allison took the lead when they reached the door, pulling it open and waiting while he and Maddie entered the building. “Sloane’s office is at the end of the hall down there.” She pointed to Liam’s left. “But we’ll need to check in at the reception desk over here first before we can?—”
“Hey, lady. I heard you were looking for me.”
Liam followed Allison’s gaze to find a smiling woman in jeans and a sweater heading their way with a smile. Sloane Richardson was tall with a long, straight blonde ponytail. Even from here, he could spot the intelligence sparkling within her light blue eyes.
According to the intel he’d found during his initial deep-dive, Sloane was two weeks from turning forty-six. Surprising, since the woman didn’t look a day over forty.
Allison went to her. Without a word having been spoken between them, the two women shared a long embrace. A few seconds later, Maddie’s little hand reached up to give a gentle tug on the hem of Sloane’s knitted sweater.
“Hi, Sloane!”
The tall blonde’s smile grew wide as she released Allison and bent down to greet Maddie. “Hey, Mads.” She gave the child a spirited high-five.
“That was a good one!” Maddie giggled before turning his way. “Liam, did you hear how loud that was?”
“You kiddin’? I’m pretty sure Jagger heard that all the way across the street.”
With a promise to catch up with his detective friend later, teammate had stayed in the SUV to keep watch in case there was trouble.
“I bet he did!” Maddie laughed even harder than before.
Sloane turned her attention his way and held out a hand. “Liam Cutler, I presume.”
“The one and only.”
The two shook.
“When Maddie called to say the three of you were headed this way, she also mentioned something about having a sit-down with Detective Knox.”
Liam nodded. “We’re supposed to meet up with him once we leave here. I take it you know him?”
A slight curve of her lips appeared as she gave her head a nod. “I know Travis well.” Sloane looked down at Maddie. “How would you like to go see Miss Nancy while your mom, Liam, and I talk about some super boring adult stuff?”
“Are you going to talk about my daddy?” Madison asked with a gut-wrenching frown. “Mommy thinks he found us in Chicago. I really hope not. He’s not very nice.”
The rapid-fire comments may have been directed at Sloane, but they were like four sharp daggers carving pieces of Liam’s heart.
From what he’d witnessed over their short time together, the sweet little girl behaved like a normal, well-adjusted kid.
Still, he’d wondered more than once whether Maddie knew the kind of man her father really was.
Guess I have my answer.
The disheartening scene left his chest tight, but Sloane handled being in the hot seat like a pro.
“Your mom is very smart.” She squatted down, bopping the pad of her index finger against the tip of Maddie’s tiny button nose before adding, “And so are you. In fact, I bet you’re smart enough to remember where we keep all the best toys in the playroom.”
“I do!” Maddie’s blue gaze grew wide with an enthusiastic nod. “’specially the building blocks. They’re my favorite.”
“And you remember where they are?”
“Yep. Come on, I’ll show you!”
Maddie grabbed Sloane’s hand and began to pull, but the patient woman held her ground with ease.
“I will absolutely let you show me once I’m done with your mom and Liam, but I know Nancy will be super impressed that you still remember so much about the playroom. Look! Here she comes, now.”
They all turned to see a twenty-something brunette making her way toward them.
“Nancy!” Maddie took off down the tiled hallway, practically jumping into the other woman’s opened arms.
“Hey, girlie.” Nancy laughed. “I heard someone special was coming to play with me today.”
“I still remember where the building blocks are.”
“No way. I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true. Come on…I’ll show you.”
Nancy shared a look with both Sloane and Allison before taking Maddie’s hand and walking away. As soon as they vanished around the corner, Sloane turned her serious expression their way.
“I didn’t want to say anything in front of Maddie, but now that it’s just us, I wanted to give you a heads up. Detective Knox is here.”
Knox is at Liberty House?
Liam frowned. “Allison and I were supposed to meet with him after we left here.”
“I know.” Sloane’s blue gaze held steady with his. “He told me as much when I called him this morning.”
“Wait.” Allison chimed in. “You called Knox? Why?”
“Because I know how deeply your distrust for the SPD goes, and I needed you to see that Travis is one of the good ones. I figured it was better if the four of us had this particular conversation together. Plus, this prevents the two of you from having to traipse across town, which significantly reduces the risk of someone spotting you and reporting back to Tommy.”
Damn. She’s good.
“You act like you’ve done this sort of thing before,” Liam commented with a sideways grin.
“Not my first rodeo, Mr. Cutler.” Sloane winked, motioning toward the opposite end of the hallway. “Shall we?”
Liam and Allison fell in line behind Sloane. As they walked, he rested a hand to his client’s lower back. It was an unconscious move he hadn’t planned on making, but one she thankfully didn’t seem to mind.