Jesse looks near tears with relief, and I’m trying to pretend I don’t notice the thrill in Liam’s expression. It’s probably not even enough for Jesse to pick up on, but I’ve gotten to know Liam so well that I can see when he’s latched on to a new fixation. I’m just worried where this fixation might lead him.
“I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this,” Jesse says, looking first at Liam and then at me. “All of my life, I feel like I’ve been a complete fuckup. I’ve never cared what happened to me. But when I realized that Liam was assigned to this case, I knew it was all over, and for the first time in my life… I was devastated. I finally cared about myself, only to realize it was all over.”
“I wish it hadn’t taken so long for you to care about yourself,” I tell Jesse as I reach out and squeeze his hands. Liam narrows his eyes at them, like I’ve made some grave mistake by comforting someone who isn’t him. “I’m sorry life hasn’t been the best to you, but I really want you to know that we are here for you. We’re now in this together, so we’re going to get through this and we’re not going to fuck up.”
“Thank you. I really… thank you.”
“And if you tell anyone we were involved, I will destroy you,” Liam states, as though it’s as simple as that. “I will make you regret every decision you’ve ever made in your life if you doanythingto my Gabriel.”
Jesse snorts, actually snorts when he hears Liam’s threat. “Your precious Gabriel is as safe as can be.”
Liam’s eyes narrow. “I will haunt you.”
“I said I wouldn’t say a damn thing! Why would I toss myself in prison? And even if I get caught by someone else, I will never breathe a word about this to anyone. I promise that I would never do that to two people who have promised to help me.”
“Good. Oh… and get better at hiding bodies,” Liam barks.
I give him a look since I’m pretty sure that’s not a requirement here. “No! He’s not hiding any more bodies, so he doesn’t have to get better at it!”
Liam shakes his head like he’s disappointed in Jesse. “It was a disgustingly pitiful attempt.”
“I want to see you do better,” Jesse says with a laugh.
The grin Liam wears is ridiculous. I’m positive he’s over there thinking how he could show him, or maybe how he’d have done it. Hell, I don’t even know what he does with the bodies, but I’m not quite sure I’m interested in asking. I just have to trust that he is careful and that no one will ever find the bodies of his victims.
And now my mind is running off without me. There’s something terrifying about knowing that the man I love has put himself in such a risky situation. I can’t fathom the idea of having to visit him every day in prison, or what if something happened to him?
Jesse looks concerned by my expression. “I was just… joking. I’m sorry. This has to be really stressful for you.”
“No, I just was getting caught up in my thoughts. What’s more concerning is that Liam’s over there thinking about howhe’d have gotten away with murder,” I tease. “I promise it’s okay. We’ll get through this and we’ll hopefully never have to deal with it or talk about it ever again.”
“It’ll be fine,” Liam assures me. “Have confidence; I do.”
“I know you do,” I mutter. “You’re too confident all the time.”
“Let’s go and make the magic happen. Jesse, go get Zach’s clothes, and Gabriel and I will meet you. Got it?”
He nods. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“And it goes without saying that no one but the people in this room will know about this,” I warn. “Do not tell Lacey. Don’t ever mention it again, okay?”
“Of course.”
“Now take your pie and off with you,” Liam says as he shoos him off.
Jesse gets up, holding the pie, but continues staring at us like he’s not yet done expressing how much he appreciates us doing this for him. Liam just balls up his napkin and throws it at Jesse. It bounces off his forehead, leaving an assessing look on his face.
“It’s like… you’re so evil that I just keep assuming this is a trick,” he says.
“Good. I want you to live in a state of confusion,” Liam replies, sounding proud of himself.
“I feel almost giddy. Iamgiddy.” Jesse seems uncertain which emotion to focus on while he heads out to his car. Liam takes a minute to quickly clean up the diner so it doesn’t look like we were ever there—besides the missing pie—and then walks out to my car with me. I notice he’s taken some cleaning products with him and assume he has some plan for them.
“Would you still have done this for Jesse if it weren’t for the killer he told you about?” I ask as I get into the passenger seat since he’s claimed the driver’s. “Like… would you have decided you liked Jesse enough to do this?”
“This feels like a trick question to which I say, you look mighty fine this evening,” he responds, glancing over at me.
“Not the answer.”
