Page 9 of Liam (R.I.S.C. Delta Team #5)

Liam pulled in a deep breath and dove right in. “I haven’t pressed you on the topic of your husband before now because I wanted to give you and Maddie some time to relax and regroup after all you’ve been through.”

“I appreciate that.” Her baby blues slid to where her daughter still lay sleeping before coming back to him. “We both do.”

“I’m glad.” He genuinely was. But then, “The other night, after I followed you from the office to the shelter, I spent some time looking into your husband.”

After I watched you and Maddie on the shelter’s playground like a freaking stalker.

Trepidation poured into her mesmerizing gaze as she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. “Okay…”

Liam opened his mouth to reveal all he’d discovered, but the phone in his back pocket chose that exact moment to begin ringing. He pulled it free and glanced down at the screen.

About damn time.

“It’s one of my teammates.” He lifted his gaze back up to hers. “I need to take this.”

“Of course.”

“I’ll be right in the other room if you need me.” He toward the opened pathway between their connected suites.

“I’ll be here.”

Holding her stare a moment longer, Liam dipped his head in a single nod before turning and walking away. Once he was inside his own room, he pushed the door behind him, so it was still open…but barely.

“Hey.” He answered the call on the fifth ring.

“I was about to give up on you, brother,” Jagger drawled.

“Needed to get someplace I could talk. What’s up?”

“I finally heard back from Knox.”

“Your Seattle detective friend?”

“The one and only. Anyway, he’s got time tomorrow for a sit-down to discuss your girl’s hubby.”

“Set it up.” Liam ignored the comment about Allison being his girl “Just let me know what time I need to log in.”

“Yeah, so….that’s the thing. Knox said he’ll only meet to discuss what he knows about Gallo in person.”

In person? “Jagger, the guy’s like five states away.”

“So we’ll take the jet. You know Hunt won’t care.”

Christian Hunt was Delta’s team leader and medic. And no, he probably wouldn’t balk at taking the firm’s private jet to Washington State given that they’d be traveling for company business. But still…

“Why the in-person demand?”

“You’re the one who looked into the husband,” Jagger reminded him. “You tell me.”

Liam recalled the intel he’d gleaned from his initial dig into Tommy Gallo. The guy was a an abusive sleezeball of epic proportions, but that wasn’t the only nefarious skeleton hiding in the asshole’s closet.

Well, shit.

Flying to Washington State definitely wasn’t on his Bingo card for tomorrow. But if he wanted to get the skinny on Allison’s bastard of a husband, it sounded like he didn’t have much choice.

“All right,” he relented. “You said we’d take the jet, so I’m assuming you’re offering up your services?”

“Pilot’s license doesn’t do me much good if I don’t put it to use once in a while. And I’m sure between Hunt, King, or Rocky, one of them won’t mind taking over for you there while we’re gone.”

Liam nodded with a sigh. He really hated the idea of playing musical bodyguards. Allison trusted him to keep her and Maddie safe. Not Hunt. Not King. Not Rocky.

Me.

The poor woman had already gone from person to person in search of safety and peace.

And now he had to go back in there and tell her he was leaving her in yet another stranger’s hands because Jagger’s detective friend couldn’t risk creating an electronic trail that would link him to the team currently protecting Tommy Gallo’s wife.

“Fine.” Liam sighed. “Text me the details for the meeting when you have them. I’ll give Hunt a call after I fill Allison in on the plan.”

“Will do. Y’all need anything else in the meantime?”

“Nah, I think we’re good for now.”

“Roger that. I’ll send you what I’ve got when I’ve got it. Otherwise, give me a holler if you think of anything else.”

“Will do. Oh, and Jag?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“Any time, brother,” Jagger drawled.

Liam tapped his screen and ended the call before sliding the phone into his back pocket. A slight nagging pulled at the deepest parts of his gut as he thought about having to leave Allison and Maddie behind.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his teammates to keep the mother-daughter duo safe. He literally trusted every member of Delta Team with his life.

So, no. Whatever he was feeling had nothing to do with his trust in their abilities as private security operatives. But if that wasn’t what had his stomach tying itself into knots, then…what?

You know what. You don’t want to leave them behind.

Liam immediately rebuked the ridiculous notion. Allison and Maddie were his clients. Relative strangers he barely knew.

It’s not like this was the first time he and the guys had played tag-team with clients for the sake of the job, and he’d be willing to bet his next paycheck it also wouldn’t be the last. Truth be told, there wasn’t a single, logical reason for him to feel badly for temporarily placing them in someone else’s care.

Then why are you still standing here, putting off the inevitable?

A low curse escaped from under his breath as Liam made his way back to Allison’s room. He’d bring her up to speed, and then he’d call Hunt. After that, he’d double-check his go-bag to make sure he was ready come morning.

“Is everything okay?”

The sweet voice pulled his focus to his right where Allison stood. Her beautiful face was tight with nervous anticipation, and damn if the guilt didn’t try digging its way back to the surface.

“Yeah.” He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “That was Jagger. He’s one of the guys on my team.”

“Oh.” She nodded, as if what he’d said explained everything.

Tell her.

“He’s friends with a detective who lives in Seattle. Guy by the name of Knox. You know him?”

“Knox.” Her brows crinkled in the center as she thought about the question. “The name sounds familiar, but I’m not sure if he’s one of the ones I’ve spoken to in the past. You said your teammate is friends with him?”

Liam nodded. “He said Knox is solid police.”

“And Jagger…he trusts him?”

“He does.” Another nod. “And I trust Jagger, so…”

The tip of Allison’s tongue swiped across the seam of her rosy lips. “Okay, so what does this detective have to do with Tommy?”

“I don’t know yet, but I will.” Tell her. “Allison, Jagger and I are flying to Seattle tomorrow for a meeting with Knox.”

“You’re leaving town?” Her big eyes swung back to where her daughter lay sleeping before meeting his once more. “What about us? What if Tony’s guys find us here while you’re gone?”

“I’m going to put a call in to my team leader in a bit.” Liam did his best to put her worries at ease. “Either he or one of the other two guys on our team will stay with you and Maddie until I get back in town tomorrow night.”

At first, the tormented woman appeared to accept the situation for what it was. He watched as she turned and walked back over toward the couch. Toward the most important person in the loving mother’s world.

But then?—

“No.”

The word was spoken so softly, Liam thought for a moment he’d imagined its whispered existence. A beat later, when Allison turned a more determined gaze his way, he knew he was wrong.

“No?” he repeated quietly. “What do you mean, no?”

“I mean, we’re not staying behind while you go to Seattle.” She walked back over to where he stood.

“Allison—”

“I’m going with you, Liam.” She crossed her arms at her front like before, only this time with an obstinate jut of her adorable chin.

The innocent repositioning of her arms pushed her luscious breasts up higher beneath the fitted white t-shirt. Forcing himself to remain focused and on-task, Liam ignored the tempting sight and kept his eyes locked with hers.

“My teammates will keep you both safe until I get back.”

“I’m sure they would, but that’s not why I want to go with you.”

“Then why?”

“I’m from Seattle,” she explained with a touch of bite he hadn’t yet seen. “I know the city. The people. And most importantly, I don’t trust anyone connected to the SPD.”

Liam wasn’t sure where this newfound spunk of hers was coming from, but damn if he didn’t like it. Even so, he needed to remind her of what was at stake should she accompany him on the one-day trip.

“The whole point of you leaving Washington was to get as far away from your husband as possible,” he pointed out the obvious.

“He found you in Nebraska, and you’ve recently spotted two of his men here, in Chicago.

Now my guess is since you didn’t see Tommy, himself, he’s most likely running the show from back home… in Seattle.”

“I get that, but my car is still parked at the shelter, and we snuck out through the back and left in your team’s unmarked SUV.”

“So?”

“So, for all they know, Maddie and I are still holed up inside our apartment, which means they’re probably just sitting somewhere nearby while they wait for us to leave.”

Understanding finally began to sank in as Liam stood a few short feet from her. “You think they’ll tell your husband there’s been no movement, which will lead him to believe you’re still here, in Chicago.”

“There will be no reason for Tommy to suspect that I came back to Seattle.”

The woman had a point, and damn if it wasn’t a good one. But the protective side of him hated the thought of her being anywhere near an asshole like Gallo.

“There’s still a risk of him finding out.” Safety was never a guarantee. “I’ll protect you and Maddie with my life, but you need to know the risks going in.”

“I do.” Her delicate throat worked with a swallow. “I just don’t care.”

The unexpected sentiment had him taking broad step toward her.

“Damn it, Allison, you should care.” Epecially given what I know about your husband’s so-called friends.

“Just…think about it for a minute. Think about how hard you’ve worked to get yourself and Maddie away from that place, and how much you’ve sacrificed to?—”

“I have thought about it, Liam.” She held her gaze steady with his.

“And you’re right. I’ve done everything in my power to get my daughter and I away from the life we had there.

But even after everything I’ve done…despite all the risks I’ve already taken.

..” Her blonde curls swayed back and forth with a shake of her head.

“We’ve bounced from shelter to shelter and city to city.

I changed my name…my daughter’s name…and for what?

Even that wasn’t enough. It’s never freaking enough! ”

A single tear fell down over one of her flawless cheeks. He started to reach for her, to make erase the evidence of her pain, but Allison beat him to it with an angry swipe of her palm.

“Please, Liam.” She slowly inched closer.

“I trust you and your team to keep me and Maddie safe. I really do. And maybe it won’t ever make sense to you, but I need to be there.

I need to look this Detective Knox square in the eyes and know for sure that he’s not working for Tommy.

Because for all we know, he’s just as deep in my husband’s pockets as the other guys in his department.

And if that’s the case, he’ll just feed you a line of bullshit and try to turn this whole thing around on me. ”

“I’m pretty good at sniffing out bullshit, Al.”

But Allison refused to give up.

“If I go with you, I can get you into Liberty House. Given Sloane’s connections, she probably knows more about my husband and his dealings than any detective in the city.”

She was referring to the manager of the Seattle shelter who’d helped with Allison’s and Maddie’s initial disappearance. The philanthropic woman was no doubt an invaluable asset, but not one that required Allison’s in-person presence.

“I can go by the shelter myself.”

“You could.” Allison shrugged. “But I know Sloane. Delta Team or not, she’s going to be much more forthcoming about me and my situation if I’m there with you.

Plus, the woman adores Maddie, so I know she’ll let Maddie stay at the shelter’s on-site daycare while you and I meet with Knox.

Please, Liam.” The persistent woman begged a final time. “ Please take us with you.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to deny the woman’s heartfelt request. But as he stood there, held hostage by her gorgeous, pleading stare, all Liam heard himself saying was, “We fly out first thing in the morning.”