Shawn contacted me once we were settled in Colorado. We hadn’t been there two weeks before he said we had to move. He was afraid that my father had active contacts in the FBI who could leak our location. In the middle of the night a friend of his, who’d been a cop in LA, showed up and drove us to another state.
Liam was never far from my thoughts. Shawn insisted I not contact him. In fact, Shawn didn’t contact me either.
But now that the trial was over, I would ask Aiden, the cop who was our new contact, if I could send Liam a letter. There was so much I needed to say.
Though my father had been convicted, the prosecution couldn’t get first degree murder charges to stick. Those had been tossed out early on. He’d been charged under RICO laws for racketeering including drug trafficking, bribery, money laundering and obstruction of justice. He wouldn’t get life for that. Sentences would come later, but it was a maximum sentence of twenty years.
I had to hope they gave him the maximum.
So far he hadn’t found us. So far we were living a quiet life with new names. Mom was doing better here. Though the air in our small town had been fine, Montana had given her lungs new life. She’d had fewer infections so far.
There was only one thing missing. Liam.
I had no idea if he even still loved me. I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t. I knew there would be no other great love of my life except him.
Twenty-Four
Liam
Seeing the verdict was the freedom to find my woman. Though I didn’t know if she was still mine. It was possible she’d found someone else. I hadn’t.
I flagged down a cab and caught a ride back to Lizzy’s old apartment which I was still occupying. By the time I arrived, I was sober enough to call Kalen and Connor and sound somewhat coherent.
“Can you find her?” had been the first question I asked on the video call. If anyone could, they had the resources to do it.
“Liam,” Connor began.
“Don’t patronize me. I did what everyone wanted and stayed away. I can’t do that any longer. If you won’t help me, I’ll do it on my own.”
“Matt is on an assignment. It may take a few days to get in touch with him.”
Matt being Shawn, or whatever he was calling himself these days while working undercover, had called a cop friend he knew in LA who had grown up in a small town in the Midwest. He had Natalie and her mom wait over a week after they’d been placed before Matt pulled them out of an abundance of caution, in case her father had connections in the Bureau. His friend got them set up in some nameless small town and that was where they were.
As far as witness protection was concerned, they disappeared. That alone had allowed me to breathe easier at night. I’d feel better when their location was given to me.
“Just get their location,” I said.
Connor sighed. “You need a plan. You can’t just go directly there. You could be followed.”
This had been told to me time and time again when I got too restless waiting. “I know. I’ll pack light.”
It would probably end up taking a combination of train, bus and or car to get wherever they were located. I would have to keep my eyes open for anyone following me.
I’d had enough time waiting to plan it all in my head.
Days later when the information came along, I’d driven back to Maryland to meet Dad and Grant to discuss. There was no longer a question as to whom my father was. The test had proven Uncle Ted was really my father.
I pulled up in my truck, knowing it was likely the last time I’d drive it for a long time, if not ever.
“What’s up, son?” Dad greeted me.
Grant rolled his eyes because Dad always called him ‘boy’.
“I’m leaving.” I’d packed the stuff I had in New York and came home to tell them all goodbye.
Grant wasn’t surprised and came in for the hug with several thumps on my back for good measure. “I’m happy for you.”
“Me too.”
Dad didn’t look so. “Couldn’t this wait. Your mother is going to be devastated.”
I’d already warned her of my plans that would take place the day after the verdict was known. She had cried but understood.
“She knows and I can’t.” I pulled out an envelope that had been waiting for me at Mom’s house. There hadn’t been a return address, so Mom hadn’t thought it was important to send to me in New York. I told her I’d get it the next time I was home. I handed it to my father. He opened it. The only thing inside was a small picture with no writing on the back.