“And tonight he was with Ray,” Blake repeated.
Price shook his head.
“I’m guessing that Ray really could be targeting you, Sheriff,” he said. “First they go after your dinner companion in the field and now this? Ray might’ve hired Mater to help, and Mater’s been hard up on cash, so he said yes to it. That’s best I can guess as to why Mater would get involved. As far as I know, Mater doesn’t have a connection to Missy, her father, or her case. I wish we could just ask Ray though. At least get him to tell us who Rain Slicker Guy and Baseball Cap Guy are.”
Liam had been able to leave the hospital within an hour of the ambulance dropping their party off. The bullet wound in his arm had been only a little more severe than a graze. He’d needed stitches, sure, but he could manage just fine now. Ray, on the other hand, was in much worse shape and fighting to stay alive. The bald man had done a serious number on him.
Which was one more reason why Liam felt the urgency to find him, the savage one who had managed to run off earlier. The other man with the baseball cap who hadn’t even attempted to understand his surroundings, had buttoned up his mouth with speed. No one had recognized him, but Detective Williams would make quick work of him, Liam was sure.
Mater wasn’t one to help with this problem either. He was in the hospital post-surgery for his gunshot to the leg. Despite his yelling, he wouldn’t say much of anything with or without a lawyer.
“I still don’t understand why they’re coming after you,” Price said after a moment, turning his gaze to Liam. “I mean I kind of understood misplaced anger coming in from his dad because you’re looking into Missy’s death, but grabbing three other guys and busting into a family home just to—what? Scare you? Hurt you? I don’t get it.” Price dragged his hand down his face. “Darius is talking to Chase McClennan in a few hours, so maybe we can get some kind of answer there if Darius can’t grab anything from Baseball Cap Guy.”
Chase McClennan’s alibi had been solid. He definitely wasn’t at Blake’s home that night. Still, that didn’t mean he didn’t know the men who had been.
Liam looked sidelong at Blake.
He was angry for many reasons, but the grief that Blake had been put through topped the list. Seeing her worry over the kids and Lola had made him exponentially more so, considering he was the reason they had been traumatized in the first place.
He should have kept his distance from the woman.
That’s why he had kept so quiet during the last week. That’s why he had asked to put the truck in the garage while he was at her home—to sidestep gossip, sure, but to also keep his associations with her as limited as possible in the public’s eye.
He should have actually kept his distance instead, not offer himself up the second she came around.
Now she was going through trouble again because of him.
Liam could feel the anger in his chest boil again. It hadn’t left since the night before.
If he hadn’t been around, they would be enjoying their morning together in peace, not sitting in the department scared.
“But they didn’t know you were there.”
Liam’s eyes widened as Blake spoke. For a split second he wondered if he had spoken his last thought aloud.
“What?” he asked.
Blake was staring at the fist she had made earlier. She brought her gaze slowly up to Liam’s before repeating herself.
“They didn’t know you were there.”
The men stopped. Liam tilted his head a little, thoughtful.
“We didn’t plan on you coming to my house last night,” she explained. “Your truck was locked up in the garage and out of sight, and then we all fell asleep. You stayed late on accident. Ifwedidn’t even know you were going to be there, then how would they?”
“They could have followed you?” Price said.
“But why did they seem so surprised when Liam started fighting?” she ventured. “Surely they would have expected him to do so. Instead, Ray and Mater waited before coming in. They—”
“They didn’t plan on me,” Liam interrupted. “Ray seemed genuinely surprised when I appeared. I thought maybe because it was late and they expected us to be asleep, but the sight of me made him hesitate.”
Blake nodded, unclenched her fist and used her index finger to tap out another point on the tabletop.
“They followed me last week. Maybe they really had no idea you were driving behind me. You weren’t ever in their plan.”
Price was shaking his head.
“So—what?—you’re saying that they came just to break in? To what? To rob you when they knew you and the kids would be home? There’s got to be easier places to get a nicer score, no offense.”
