CHAPTER TWENTY
Piper stared over her shoulder at Cade. “What did he plan to do? Shoot me and dump my body in the woods?”
“You don’t want details,” Cade said. “You’ll have enough problems sleeping tonight as it is.”
Smart man. Guess she’d be fighting kidnappers again in her sleep tonight. “Did he tell you his name?”
“John Baker. He offered to share the payout for his work if I let him go.”
Liam stiffened. “He expected us to help him kill Piper?”
“Nope. He recognized that you were emotionally involved with her. The offer was for me. When I protested killing an innocent woman, he suggested a compromise. I get the information from Piper since she trusted me, pass it to Baker, and together we’d fake her death. A win for everybody.”
Liam growled.
Piper smoothed a hand over his heart, comforting him as much as herself. Knowing who probably commissioned Baker, she wasn’t shocked at such cold bartering over her life.
Gavin should have approached the FBI or state police himself. Instead, he’d dragged her into this mess as well as Liam and his teammates, then planned to flee the country, leaving them to deal with the fallout. Liam would have taken care of the problem himself instead of thrusting Piper into danger.
She pressed her cheek against his chest again, holding the ice pack against her mouth. What had she ever seen in Gavin James? Compared to Liam, Gavin was a characterless worm.
“I should have killed Baker when I had the chance,” Liam said. “The information he gave you wasn’t enough.”
Cade lifted a shoulder. “Baker was paid for his work so he’s not one of Barone’s people. That means a paper trail. Zane will follow the money.”
“If we’re lucky,” Trent said. “The person behind this is careful. There might not be a trail.”
Piper groaned. “That is not what I wanted to hear. We have to know who’s behind the attacks to stop them.”
“We’ll find answers.” Liam kissed her temple. “Even if we have to assume alternate identities, we won’t quit.”
The thought of Liam leaving behind his mother and sister made Piper’s heart hurt. The only way to prevent it was to discover who wanted her dead, locate Gavin’s information, and destroy a criminal organization. Piece of cake.
A hard rap rattled the door. Piper jerked.
“Easy, Sunshine.” Liam rubbed her back.
Cade checked the peephole. “Cops.”
Piper loosened her hold on Liam and wrapped the blanket around herself to keep the warmth he’d shared. The shakes were gone and all she wanted to do at the moment was curl into Liam’s arms and sleep.
Liam threaded his fingers through Piper’s. “Tell me when you want to stop answering questions.” When she nodded, Liam glanced at his friend. “Let them in, Cade.”
Barrett and Kerrigan entered. Kerrigan’s gaze landed on Piper’s lip. She frowned, attention shifting to Liam with suspicion in her narrowed eyes.
Piper’s hand tightened around Liam’s. “The kidnapper hit me, not Liam.”
“You sure? Your boyfriend has bruised knuckles.”
“He punched the kidnapper.”
Barrett sat on the loveseat, studying Piper’s face. “Did one of you take a picture of Piper’s injuries before treatment?”
“I did,” Matt said.
The detective rattled off his email address. “Send me the picture for our files.” He turned to Piper and Liam. “Start at the beginning. We left your suite after seven. What happened, Piper?”
“Liam and I ate breakfast in the Copper Kettle. The waitress knocked a glass of tea onto my jeans.”
Beside her, Liam went stock still. She glanced his direction and caught the slight shake of his head. Guess she would ask questions later.
Piper resumed her recitation of events. “I went to the bathroom to dry my jeans. Someone followed me in, moving fast. A bald, muscular man grabbed me and carried me out the back door of the restaurant with his hand clamped over my mouth.”
“How tall was he?”
“Over six feet.”
He glanced at Liam, eyebrow raised in silent question.
“Six two, at least 300 pounds.”
“What did he do when he took you outside?” Kerrigan asked, pen poised over her notepad.
“He carried me into the forest at the back of the lodge.” Goosebumps surged over her skin at the remembered panic and certainty she was going to die without having told Liam she was in love with him. She needed him to know the truth. She planned to fix that soon.
Liam rubbed her arm. “He can’t hurt you now.”
True. Baker, however, was only the next round of thugs waiting for a shot at her. What if next time Liam couldn’t get to her? She wanted to protect herself and knew the perfect person to teach her. Liam.
“Keep going,” Barrett prompted.
“I’m not sure how far he took me. I know I would have a hard time finding my way back without help. Every tree looked alike to me out there.”
The detective turned toward Liam again.
“A quarter of a mile,” he said. “Baldy was in good shape.”
“Baldy?” Kerrigan frowned.
“You haven’t seen the kidnapper?”
She shook her head. “One of the patrol cops drove him to the hospital. We’ll interview him after he’s received medical attention since he took a beating.” She glanced at Liam’s hands.
He snorted. “If I’d beaten up the guy, he’d have more injuries than a broken nose. Baldy kidnapped my woman and pulled a gun on me. He’s lucky to be alive. Anyway, he didn’t introduce himself. We had to call him something, Baldy was the default name.”
“So Baldy took you into the forest, Piper. What happened when he stopped?”
“I broke free and ran. He caught me and punched me. Baldy threatened to kill me if I didn’t give him what he wanted.”
“Which was?”
“Information. He said he wanted the information my boyfriend gave me and didn’t mind hurting me to get it.”
Kerrigan turned her accusing gaze toward Liam.
“Baldy meant Gavin, not Liam,” Piper insisted.
“What information?” Barrett asked.
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me and neither did Gavin. Like I told you before, I haven’t spoken to Gavin in three years.”
“What happened next?”
“I asked questions, stalling to give Liam time to find me. Liam told Baldy to drop his gun but he refused. He tackled Baldy, took away the gun, and restrained him. Then Liam brought me to Matt.”
His gaze dropped to her mouth. “Did Matt stitch your cut?”
She nodded.
Another frown from Kerrigan. “Doesn’t he need a license?”
“I’m a certified EMT as well as a medic for Fortress Security,” Matt said.
“You carry medical supplies with you?”
“Sometimes we’re deployed at a moment’s notice. I carry my mike bag wherever I go.”
“Handy.” Her word dripped with sarcasm.
“Do you have anything to add, Piper?” Barrett asked.
“No.” She leaned her head against Liam’s shoulder. Man, she needed a long nap. “I’ve told you all of it.”
Barrett turned to Liam. “How did you know Piper was in trouble?”
“I heard her muffled scream. Cade and I ran to check on her and found Piper’s purse on the bathroom floor. She was nowhere in sight.”
“What did you do?”
“Checked out the back door of the restaurant and heard Piper scream again. We tracked her and Baldy to where your patrol cops found him with Simon.” Liam continued to recount events until they returned to the suite.
Barrett watched Liam for a moment. “Why do I think you’re not telling me everything?”
“You have to go through proper channels. We don’t.”
“Hints or suggestions?”
“Run a ballistics test on his weapon.”
“Planned to, but why?”
“I didn’t shoot Gavin. Neither did Simon. We know there’s a third shooter involved. Perhaps he’s our mystery shooter.”
“Why are you asking for help?” Kerrigan demanded of her partner. “We’re the professionals, not this band of mercenaries.”
A shrug. “Saves time. Liam’s right. He doesn’t have to follow our rules. If he says something that sends us in the right direction, we’ll catch the killer sooner.”
“He could be misleading us to protect his own hide.”
Anger heated Piper’s blood. Some of her fury must have communicated itself to Liam because he glanced down at her and winked.
“He hasn’t so far. Why start now?” Barrett looked at Liam again. “Anyone else I need to talk to about this latest incident?”
Liam inclined his head toward Cade. “Cade was my backup.”
After the detectives questioned them a second time, the detectives left to view the crime scenes in the bathroom and the woods.
As soon as they were gone, Liam turned to Cade. “We need to talk to the waitress.”
“Caught that, did you? I wondered when you’d remember what she said.” Cade smiled. “I’ll track her down.” He waited until the detectives left the floor, then searched for the waitress.
“What’s that about?” Trent asked.
“The waitress was upset when she learned Piper was missing. She said that wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What does that mean?” Piper asked.
“I don’t think she knocked over the tea by accident. I believe someone asked her help in getting you to the women’s restroom.”
“I might have gone to the suite instead of the restaurant’s restroom.”
“Baldy still would have targeted you,” Trent said. “Attack Liam in a deserted hallway and he’s free to grab you before anyone interferes. Or, better yet, incapacitate Liam at the door to the suite, force you both inside, and interrogate you without interruption.”
Piper frowned. “I would have screamed until I attracted someone’s attention.”
“Not if drawing attention meant a bullet in Liam’s head.” Trent phone signaled an incoming call. His face lit. “It’s Grace. I’ll take this on the balcony.”
Matt took the ice pack from Piper. “We’ll apply another in two hours. In the meantime, rest. I’ll be back in a minute with a soft drink. Drink part of it before you sleep.”
When he left, Liam turned Piper’s face gently toward him. “How do you feel?”
“You were right about the adrenaline dump. I’m tired and my muscles ache.”
“You fought hard to escape.”
Matt returned and handed Piper the drink plus a straw. When she finished half, he placed the bottle in the refrigerator. “I didn’t have a chance to ask about your injuries, Liam. You have injuries I should check?”
“Bruised ribs, nothing that needs attention.”
“I want to check.” Matt had Liam strip off his shirt.
Piper’s breath caught at the sight of his discolored rib cage. Her fingertips brushed over the mark. “You should have mentioned you were hurt.”
“The bruise will disappear in a few days. If I’d sustained a serious injury, I would have told Matt.”
The medic examined Liam’s ribs, his fingers checking each rib for breaks, then listened to his breathing. He straightened. “Bruised but you’ll live. An ice pack every two hours will help but I won’t browbeat you into it this time. I’ll check on you two later.” He left.
Liam shrugged into his shirt, then cupped Piper’s face between his palms. “I’m sorry.” His gaze dipped to her injury. “I messed up, Sunshine. It’s my fault you were hurt. I promised to protect you and I failed. Again.”
“You saved me a second time, Liam.”
“I should have accompanied you to the restroom. If I had, Baker wouldn’t have taken you.”
“No matter what you did, Baker was determined to force me to give him the information. I wish Gavin had been man enough to handle this himself instead of dumping the problem on me. If he had, he would be sunning himself on a beach somewhere with Brandy.”
“You sure he’d go to the beach?”
“Gavin avoided the mountains unless he was in the mood to ski. He preferred sun, sand, and surf. This isn’t your fault, Liam. Don’t blame yourself.”
“I wasn’t responsible for the incident in Otter Creek. This one, however, was on me. I wasn’t careful enough with your safety. Why would you trust me after that colossal failure?”
“Easy. I was in the kidnapper’s hands for ten minutes before you found me. You’re the reason I’m alive.” Piper kissed him gingerly. “Half my mouth is numb.”
He chuckled, the shadows disappearing from his eyes.
Now or never, she thought. Liam needed to hear the words and Piper needed to say them. The operative had more courage than ten men. He could handle the truth. “When Baker took me into the forest, I thought I would die before you found me.”
He flinched and started to respond.
Piper laid her fingers against his mouth, her touch light. “Hear me out. I didn’t say that to hurt you. In those minutes when I was on the ground and Baker had his gun pointed at me, I realized if he killed me, my biggest regret would be not telling you how I feel about you.”
Liam pressed his forehead to hers. “I know your feelings run deep, Sunshine. So do mine.”
“I love you, Liam. You’re so deep in my heart I’ll never let you go. I dream of a future with you, a home, a family, a dog or two.” She kissed him again. “I dream of growing old with you, greeting each morning with my arms wrapped around you, and falling asleep with my head pillowed on your chest. My life was empty without you. I never want to go back to that emptiness.”
Piper fell silent, running out of steam and courage. What if he rejected her? He’d said he was half in love with her and that gave her hope.
“Thank God,” he whispered and brushed a long series of butterfly kisses over her lips, careful to avoid her stitches. “I love you, Piper. I dream of that same future with you. I’d love a house full of children and a pack of dogs.” Liam smiled against her lips. “No cats, though.”
That gave her pause. “You don’t like cats?”
“I’m allergic to them. Ten minutes around one and my eyes are bloodshot, itchy, and swollen.”
“Wow. No felines in the McCoy clan.”
“Piper McCoy,” he murmured. “I love the sound of that.” Another kiss, then, “You will marry me, right? I didn’t just imagine you calling yourself a McCoy?”
“Piper McCoy sounds like the perfect name. I’d love to marry you.”
“Soon after we’re home, I’m buying you a ring. I want the men in Otter Creek to know you belong to me. I also want you to meet my mom and sister. They’ll love you.”
“I’d like that.” She couldn’t wait to meet the woman who raised Liam to be a man of honor and strong character. “What if we can’t go home again, Liam?”
He shrugged. “There are jewelry stores in every city across America. If Mom and Marissa don’t come into witness protection with us, I’ll ask Maddox to work out a meeting with them. As long as I know you love me, I’ll make it work.”
Trent opened the French door and stopped, eyes twinkling. “Should I leave and come back later?”
Liam smiled. “Not necessary. How’s Grace?”
“She told me to hurry and save the world and come home. She misses me.”
“Sounds good.” He shared an intimate smile with Piper. “We have plans to make.”
Another knock sounded on the door. After a speculative look at Piper and Liam, Trent opened the door for Cade.
“What did you find out?” Liam asked as soon as the door closed behind his teammate.
The operative sat nearby, his expression grim. “We need to get Piper out of here as soon as possible.”