Page 23 of Liam (R.I.S.C. Delta Team #5)

Three days later…

Liam walked out of the bathroom with one towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hand. He went to his bed, where he’d laid out his clothes for the day when the door opened and Allison appeared.

“Good morning.” Her dimples were prominent as she smiled on her way over to where he stood.

Checking the opened doorway to ensure the coast was clear, he leaned in for a kiss. “Morning.”

The past three days had been filled with moments such as these. Hidden glances whenever Maddie would look away. Stolen kisses every chance Liam got. Middle-of-the-night sex that tested both his and Allison’s inner strength to remain quiet.

Only one thing would make the time they’d spent together that much better. Finding some solid dirt on Gallo and taking his abusive ass down for good.

“Are you hungry?” Allison’s gaze searched his. “I thought about making some cheesy scrambled eggs.”

“Add some bacon in there, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

“Do you even have any bacon?”

What kind of question was that?

“I always have bacon.” Didn’t everyone?

“Duly noted.” Laughter filled her beautiful eyes. “I’ll go get it started.”

When she turned to leave, he immediately reached out for her, putting a gentle hold on her wrist. “Wait.” He stopped her. “There’s one more thing before you go.”

Allison swung her focus back to him. “What’s that?”

“This.”

Safety-checking the doorway for the possibility of young eyes, Liam pulled the salacious woman’s body flush with his. With one hand cradling the back of her head and the other still gripping the towel in a loose fist at his side, he kissed her once again.

It was a hard, hot kiss that ended much sooner than he’d have liked.

“You think we could do that again later, when Maddie goes down for her nap?” Allison pulled back with a heated grin.

“Hopefully, we’ll be doing a lot more than that.”

“That’s what I was hoping to hear.” Fire lit up the blues in her eyes.

Liam leaned in close, ready to chance of getting caught for another taste. But when the ringing of his phone stopped him midway, he closed his eyes with a frustrated growl.

“I’d better take that,” he grumbled low.

“Probably a good idea.” She grinned. “It could be important.”

“It damn well better be,” he groused, pouting on the way to his dresser.

Allison’s sweet laughter faded as she disappeared into the hall. Liam grabbed his cell and checked it to see Knox’s name lit up on the screen.

“Cutler,” he answered on the third ring.

“We got him.”

At first, that was all the Seattle detective said. But for Liam, it was enough.

“Please tell me you’re referring to Gallo.”

“The one and only.”

Suddenly, Liam had so many questions. “How? When? Is he actually in custody right this second, or?—”

“Easy, brother. Take a breath and I’ll explain.” There was a slight pause and then, “Is Allison with you? She’s going to want to hear this, too.”

“I’ll get her.” Liam was already walking down the hall. “Hey, Al?” he called out to her.

“Yeah?”

“You got a sec?”

“I was just about to put the bacon in the pan, but it can wait.” She met him in the middle of the narrow space. “What’s up?”

“In here.” Liam turned back around and headed for the master suite.

He glanced into his office on their right. Maddie’s tiny body was engulfed by his black leather chair. Her ears were covered with the noise-cancelling headphones he’d given her for reasons such as this. They offered the freedom to talk about the little girl’s dad without fear of being overheard.

“Liam, what’s going on?” Allison entered the room behind him.

“It’s Knox.” He shut the bedroom door. Liam held the phone between them and put the call on speaker. “Okay, Allison’s here. Now what’s this about you having Tommy in custody?”

“Never said he was in custody,” Knox clarified immediately. “But he will be very soon.”

“How?” Allison joined in on the conversation. “What happened?”

“Someone came forward with information we were able to confirm as valid.”

“What information?” Liam asked.

At the same time, Allison wanted to know, “Who?”

The silence that filled the phone’s speakers formed a pit in the bottom of Liam’s stomach. As soon as Knox spoke up again, he understood why.

“It’s one of the guards at Liberty House.” The other man’s tone was heavy with anger and regret.

Allison blinked with a quick, disbelieving shake of her head. “What? No. That isn’t possible. Those men protected us. They’d never?—”

“Was it the new guy?” Liam cut her denial short. “Stapleton?”

Made sense, given the timing and all that.

“Actually, no.”

It was his turn to be surprised. “Seriously?”

“Tell us who it is, Detective,” Allison ordered.

Knox hesitated a moment longer before dropping a bomb neither of them expected. “It’s Lamont.” He sighed.

“Bruce?” Allison’s eyes flew up to his. “No. That can’t be. You must have the wrong?—”

“Lamont came to me, Allison,” Detective Knox shared. “And to be honest, I don’t know that we would’ve ever gotten solid evidence against your husband if he hadn’t.”

“What’s Lamont saying?” Liam asked next.

The other man went on to share all he knew up to this point.

“Bruce came into the precinct this morning and said he needed to confess. Said he’s been taking money from Gallo under the table ever since Allison and Maddie left Seattle.”

“Money for what?” Allison crossed her arms at her chest. Pain from the friendly guard’s betrayal had clearly cut deep.

“Intel,” the detective shared. “Tommy paid Bruce a shit ton of money to find out where you and Maddie went.”

Backstabbing bastard.

Liam thought back to that day not long ago at the Seattle shelter. He remembered how kind Bruce had been, and how affectionate he’d acted toward Allison and Maddie.

Bruce was Maddie’s favorite guard.

Allison’s words from that day rang clearly in his head, making him even more enraged than he was a moment before.

“How did he know where to find them?” Liam asked. “Sloane told us that day in her office that she keeps all that information on her home computer.”

“She does,” Knox confirmed. “She also frequently invites her employees to her home for things like cookouts and holiday meals.”

Allison frowned. “ Bruce hacked into her computer?”

The woman’s skepticism was well-founded. Lamont didn’t exactly strike Liam as the tech-savvy type, either.

“He had some help in that department.” Knox continued to explain. “Guy by the name of Salvatore Borelli. Who, by the way, was same guy you saw with Joseph Cali in the park that day.”

“How did Borelli help Bruce hack into Sloane’s computer?”

“Apparently, among the other talents guys like Gallo find useful in a man like Borelli, the guy’s also some sort of genius hacker.

According to Bruce, Borelli gave him a thumb drive shortly before one of Sloane’s get-togethers.

Bruce snuck into her office during the party, slipped the drive into her computer, and voila.

They had an all-access pass telling them your new name, address, license plate number…

” Know paused. “Basically everything a stalker needs to find the object of their obsession.”

“Okay, so we know the how,” Liam pointed out. “But why?”

Allison angrily swiped at her falling tears. “That’s what I need to know,” she seethed.

The woman was beyond livid, and he didn’t blame her one bit.

“From what he’s saying, Lamont owed a lot of money to a lot of people. Between his gambling debts and a hefty back stack of child support, the guy’s drowning.”

“That’s it?” Allison sounded even more furious than before. “The man sold me and my daughter out so he could pay off a few bills?”

“He said he owes enough back child support that he was afraid he’d wind up going to jail. Of course, now his ass will be behind bars regardless, so I guess things didn’t go exactly as planned.”

“What about the two men Allison saw at the park?”

“They’re in lock-up being processed as we speak.”

Allison’s brows shot up high. “You already arrested them, too?”

Knox scoffed. “Yet another interesting piece to this convoluted puzzle. According to Bruce, word got around to Gallo that we were finally starting to close in on him, so he ordered Cali and Borelli back to Seattle to start in on the clean-up.”

“They’re erasing any evidence of Gallo’s wrong-doings.”

Did that include silencing witnesses? If so, Bruce was lucky his ass was in jail.

“Anyway,” Knox continued, “the Feds were at the airport waiting when the two pricks’ landed. Slapped the cuffs on them before they ever got the chance to collect their luggage.”

“That’s something, at least,” Allison muttered low. “But what about Tommy? You said he hasn’t been arrested yet?”

A natural silence fell between the three, and Liam used the moment to process all they’d been told. Bruce gave up Allison and Maddie’s location for money so he could pay off his debts and stay out of jail. Only by confessing to all he’d done, he’s going to end up there anyway.

Which made him wonder aloud, “Why come forward with all of this? And why now?”

“That’s the other reason I called. We’re still confirming the details of Lamont’s statement, so I don’t want you to get too alarmed.”

“But?” Liam asked. Because there was definitely a but to the other man’s statement.”

The sound of Knox’s sigh filled the phone’s speakers. “Lamont said Gallo’s there. In Seattle.”

“He’s what? ” Liam had to work not to yell.

Beside him, Allison whispered a terrified, “Oh, God.”

He gripped the phone so tightly, he was surprised the damn thing didn’t shatter in his palm. “How long?”

The other man took what felt like forever before answering with a deep, regrettable, “Since last night.”

“Last night? ” Allison repeated Knox’s shocking words.

No, no, no, no, no.

This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not after having the most wonderful last few days.

“I don’t know that for sure, and even if Gallo is there.” Knox continued. “I don’t even know that he knows how to find you.”

“He knows.”

Another voice came through the phone. This time, it was a woman.