She shook her head.
“Even if I had a house full of valuables, why would you bringthatmuch manpower? Why bringfourmen, armed, to a home when everyone’s supposed to be sleeping?” She met Liam’s eye again. “And why, even if that’s your plan to break in and steal, do you send only one out when you know resistance is probably going to happen?”
Liam was sure of it now.
“They had no idea I was there,” he agreed. “They expected only you to be a threat.”
Blake tapped her finger against the table again.
“Which brings us to another question we might have an answer to,” she said. “Why not wait until we weren’t home? We have a set routine taking the kids to daycare and doing errands when none of us would be home. When there wouldn’t even be a chance of resistance. But instead, it’s like they came prepared for battle...a battle they didn’t think you would be there for.”
Price’s eyebrow rose.
“What are you thinking?” Price said.
But Liam had already followed her thought process.
He wasn’t a fan of where it led.
“They came for you.”
APARTFROMSOMETHEORIES, they didn’t have a strand of evidence to make sense of the men or their actions. Sitting there talking about it wasn’t helping either. Try as she might to appear the epitome of composure, Blake was finally starting to openly struggle.
Not only had she missed sleep and gone through a traumatic experience in which she’d had to shoot someone, there was the simple and annoying fact that she had a cold tugging at her. Her head hurt, her nose was starting to stuff up again, and although she didn’t feel as if a fever was hanging around, there were a few body aches that were nagging her.
When Liam said it was time for her to go, however, she was split between agreement and a stubborn need to stay. She pushed; he didn’t budge. He told her no once more to her suggesting she go in to talk to Mater or the man who’d worn the baseball cap with absolute resolution.
“Running yourself ragged isn’t going to help anyone,” he said, standing tall in front of her in his office. “Not you, your family, or solving whatever is going on here. So let’s go.”
Even though the sheriff had been a lot more social with her in the last twenty-four hours or so, Blake found that it was her turn to hesitate at the sight of him. It wasn’t the first time she had wondered how she and her family would have fared if he hadn’t been there to help. She eyed his bandaged bicep and the sling keeping his arm steady.
Her mind wandered to perhaps the real reason she wasn’t ready to leave.
If she hadn’t already been preoccupied, she would have avoided his next movement.
Liam stroked a warm thumb down between her eyebrows, smoothing out the crinkle there.
“Go ahead and tell me what you’re thinking,” he said. “That way I can join the conversation.”
The touch might have unsettled her before, but now she sighed as it withdrew.
“Let’s say that I really am a target. Is it because of you? Because of me? Because of Missy’s case? Or what if it’s belated revenge from me turning on Mater back when we were young with an added bonus of Ray helping?”
“There’s no way we can know yet,” Liam pointed out.
“Exactly. Which means, how can we know if Rain Slicker Guy isn’t out there waiting to try again? Whether it’s against me or you.” She put her hand to her chest. “I’m good with me being in a bull’s-eye, but what about the kids? Lola? Won’t me being with them put them in danger again?”
Liam did something so unexpected, all Blake could do was stare.
He laughed.
“What did you think I was about to do?” he asked when done. “Send you off alone?”
Blake didn’t respond. That’s exactly what she thought.
He shook his head. His voice thrummed low and strong as he explained.
“Until we have this whole thing figured out and settled, I’m not leaving your side. Sorry to say, you’re stuck with me now, Sheriff Trouble. And that’s that.”
