After talking with Aubrey, reassuring her he was on the way, and telling her to stay with the bodyguard, he’d called Malcolm Pitts, the man who had been assigned to watch over Becca. Giving the man a piece of his mind had done nothing for the situation. Pitts hadn’t offered much more information than Liam already knew. A dark colored SUV had slammed into Becca’s Audi, running her off the road. It hadn’t stopped, and no one had been able to get a license plate number or description of the driver.
It was a dead end for now.
After talking to Pitts, he’d put in a call to Serena. Though she was in Germany with the team, she had been able to give him a brief update, which had been both frustrating and eye-opening.
“I still don’t have a lot, Liam. I saw nothing in Aubrey’s parents’ background that looks the least bit shady. Her dad, Matthew Starr, was a well-respected English professor at a local community college. Her mom was a high school biology teacher. Their standard of living was commensurate with their income. No arrests, not even a parking ticket. Aubrey was a typical only child. A little spoiled but basically a good kid. She got good grades, was never in trouble. She was on the swim team and was the star of several school plays.”
As much as he wanted to know these things about the woman he loved, they weren’t pertinent. On top of that, he had some massive guilt for having her family investigated without telling her what he was doing. It had made sense at the time, but maybe all of this could have been prevented if he’d told her what he suspected. Serena’s next words had confirmed his fears.
“Her uncle, on the other hand, there’s something off about him.”
She hadn’t had much, but it was enough to prompt a deeper dive, and it gave Liam something to focus on during the long flight to LA.
Syd Green would be arriving in LA soon. He’d been informed he would receive a police escort from the airport, having been told it was a courtesy because of his celebrity status. Whether Syd believed that was the truth, Liam didn’t care. He had only two priorities right now. Making sure Aubrey stayed safe and having a very candid talk with her uncle Syd.
Exiting his vehicle, Liam stayed aware of his surroundings. No one should know he had any connection to Aubrey, but he was discounting nothing at this point. It was obvious that this was bigger than just Ferante and his sick perversions. How far it went and who was involved, he didn’t yet know. But he would keep digging.
Twelve years ago, Aubrey had been targeted. Not a chance abduction, but a well-planned, well-coordinated event. But why? He was going to find out.
The elevator rang, announcing the third floor ICU unit, and the door slid open. Aubrey was there, looking both devastated and heartbroken. She had a bruise on her chin, a small bandage on her forehead, and her right wrist was wrapped in gauze. Her eyes were red from crying and filled with tears the moment their gazes met. He stepped out of the elevator, and she was in his arms in an instant.
“Thank God you’re here,” she whispered against his chest.
Liam closed his eyes as the magnitude of his feelings for this woman overwhelmed him. He had loved her from that first moment in a dark, damp prison cell. He would love her forever.
Pressing a kiss to her head, he asked, “How’s Becca?”
She shook her head and let loose a sobbing sigh. “I think she’s just holding on till Uncle Syd gets here.”
“Come on. Let’s go sit down.”
He gave a nod of dismissal to Malcolm Pitts who’d been standing a few feet from Aubrey. Thankfully the man didn’t seem to want to stay around and offer more excuses. Liam was in no mood to hear them. He waited until Pitts had disappeared before leading her to a private corner of the waiting room.
As soon as they were seated, Liam said quietly, “Tell me.”
“I messed up so badly, Liam. It’s my fault. All of it. If I had taken the time to think, I never would have come here. On the same day Ferante is killed, Becca gets fired. Whoever’s responsible knew she would call me, and I would come running. I put her in danger.”
She was in no way responsible, but telling her that would sound like platitudes and empty words. Once her uncle arrived, they would get to the truth. Until then, he would steer around the responsibility factor and get the facts.
“When did you know you were being followed?”
“I didn’t. I was on alert, though. The two-hour plane trip gave me time to think. By the time we landed, I knew I’d made a mistake.”
“Did you say anything to Becca?”
“No. Maybe I should have. She was just so upset. She’d gotten fired, and then the guy she’d been dating dumped her. I didn’t know how to tell her that all of it might have been just a ruse to get me out in the open.”
“Telling her wouldn’t have prevented anything. No one could have predicted this.”
“I just don’t understand. I didn’t have anything concrete on Ferante. Not really. And now that he’s dead, the threat against me should be gone. Shouldn’t it?”
He didn’t understand all of it either, but now wasn’t the time to tell her that her uncle was knee-deep in some kind of coverup. He needed something concrete before completely destroying the image she had of the man she’d loved and trusted all her life.
“Tell me about the accident.”
“We were on Century Boulevard. It was raining, just a steady drizzle, but enough to make the streets shiny and visibility a little difficult. Becca wasn’t driving fast. Everything seemed normal. She was in the middle lane, and this dark SUV veered into our lane. I couldn’t tell much about it. It was dark and rainy, making it hard to see.
/> “Becca managed to avoid him…I think she blew her horn. She just thought he was a reckless driver, I guess. Anyway, it veered over again, but this time he hit the front fender of Becca’s car. She lost control and hit a guardrail. I think the car rolled a couple of times before it landed at the bottom of a big ditch.