Infinite Possibilities (19 page)

“Fire can do that, baby.”

“But the alarms in the house didn’t go off. Not one of them, Liam.”

His expression darkens. “Listen to me, Amy. They brought in bomb-sniffing dogs, but that comes with questions and complications. Don’t talk about this to anyone. Tell them you were panicked and hysterical.”

“I don’t believe this was coincidence, so if there wasn’t a bomb or a fire, why do this?”

“Good question, and exactly why we need out of here and the country before we find out.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Stone.” Liam twists around to glance at the police officer standing at the end of the EMS vehicle, who says, “Can I ask you both some questions?”

“Me,” Liam replies. “Yes. Not her. She’s pregnant. I don’t want her stressed.” Liam doesn’t give the officer a chance to object, turning back to me. “I’ll be right outside. I’m sending the EMS guy in to check you out.” He leans in as he had in the house, pressing his cheek to mine. “We are out of here the instant we navigate the red tape and sooner if I get worried.” 

He’s gone in an instant then and a forty-something EMS worker climbs inside with me. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine now.” The uncertain look he gives me tells me he probably witnessed my meltdown. “Really. I’m fine.” 

He squats in front of me. “Let’s get your stats to be sure.”

The rumble of Liam’s voice lifting, telling me he is near, and the fact that I really don’t want to answer questions, keeps my butt on the bed. “Yes, please.”

A few minutes later, he finishes up. “You’re all clear but I still think you should rest here until we can get you to the hospital to check out the baby.”

“The baby?”

“Is fine,” he says. “But it’s always good to be careful. Safety first.” 

“Right,” I say of the words Liam had used before we’d gone to sleep and for some reason I think of the gun in my purse. “Safety first.” 

A fireman appears at the end of the truck and motions to the man, who excuses himself and goes to speak with him. I strain my ears for Liam and can still hear him but it’s impossible to make out anything he’s saying. The EMS worker returns and squats beside me again. “Special delivery. You have someone worried about you who can’t get past security.” He hands me a folded note and adds, “From your brother, I’m told.”  

My heart begins to thunder in my ears and everything seems to sway and tilt around me. Chad is alive? It can’t be but...I’m alive. 

The EMS tech pats my leg. “I need to call in to my boss on the radio. If you want to get a message to your brother let me know.” He moves to the front of the vehicle and claims a seat.

I stare at the white piece of paper and my heart is in my throat. I’m afraid to open the note and have my fast expanding hope shattered, but I have to know. I flip it open and read the unfamiliar writing.

Amy, 

I wish I could say this in person. This is Meg. I know you think I work at the Denver real estate office but I’m actually your sister-in-law. Chad didn’t die in the fire. He hid like he hid you. They found him right after he moved you to Denver. They took him. Now they want something from us or they’re going to kill him. They think you and I both know what that is. I hope you do because I don’t. We have to save Chad. I’m not sure what is up with Liam. I think he could be involved or after what they’re after. If he’s not and he gets in the middle of this, they’ll kill him like they do anyone who gets in their way. I’m in a cab across the street. I’m sure you know, but cellphones are traceable. Leave yours. Just walk out of the open gate and come to me. No one is expecting that. Hurry before you can’t. Chad’s life depends on it.

I hunch forward. Bile gathers in my throat, the acid burn of emotions that shift and change from second to second, almost too much to handle. Chad alive? Meg is his wife? Liam is involved? I expect to feel joy over Chad and heartache over Liam, but in my heart I believe nothing in this letter. This is a trap. The moment there was a threat to Liam, I was snagged.

Aware that Liam is just outside the vehicle and could return at any moment, I’m left with limited time to think through all the ways every next step I take could go wrong. I open my purse and dig for a pen, my gaze landing on the leather holster, and the weapon nestled in its depths, I say a silent thank you to Liam for the protection it offers. It also tells me he is protecting me. He is not a part of the hell I’m running from. 

Shutting my purse, I decide to leave Liam the note from Meg so he knows exactly what is happening. I know Liam
will
come after me, and he needs a way to find me. If only I had a phone. I inhale and start to write. 

Liam--

I don’t know if Chad is alive. I only know that there is a clear threat to your life in this note. I’m leaving the note so you see you are in danger. I know you will look for me but don’t get killed doing it. Losing you would destroy me.  

I hesitate only a moment, reminding myself life is too short for regrets, and I add, 

I love you,

Amy

I fold the note, write Liam’s name in big bold letters and with great regret, drop it on the mattress. Inching to the edge of the truck, a ball of pressure forms in my chest when I find Liam to my right with his back to me. Nothing would please me more than to run up and hug him and I vow that moment will be sooner, not later. I eye the two police officers who are talking to him, and consider cutting to my left and out of sight around the edge of the truck. But without a view of what awaits, I risk running into Tellar or Derek. 

My gaze settles on some sort of mini fire truck with hoses directly ahead of me and I decided it’s my best coverage. Confirming Liam’s broad shoulders and wide stance offers adequate cover from the cops, I draw a breath and decide to just go for it. Calmly, careful not to bring attention to myself, I climb out of the truck and start walking. And I keep walking, moving past the mini truck and to the gate, then straight toward the exit where the gates remain open with nothing but orange traffic cones as a deterrent to those coming and going. 

I’m on the street with not so much as a question asked of me, and I scan for the cab, finding it to the left of the gate. Glancing over my shoulder, some part of me hopes Liam will come charging after me, while another is relieved he is not. More of that regret burrows deep in my gut, but I know I have to do this. Darting across the street, I slip my hand in my purse, unsnap the case around the gun and slip it free. My hand is on the handle when I stop at the cab, and yank open the door, giving myself a split second to register that it’s really Meg inside. 

“Amy.” She breathes out my name like it’s relief when it feels dangerous on her tongue, wrong.   

“Hurry,” she urges. “Before you’re seen.”

I don’t move. I can’t seem to make myself get in the car. 

She shoves a photo at me and I stare at it, then gasp at the image I haven’t been able to fully form in my mind of my brother’s face, staring back at me, his arm wrapped around Meg’s shoulder. He’s with her. I can’t breathe all over again. 

“He’s...he’s alive.”

“Not for long if we don’t do something. Help me save him, Amy. Please. I beg of you. Help me save him.” 

Chad is alive. Chad is alive! I get into the car and slam the door shut.

Chapter Fourteen

“Go!” Meg shouts at the driver and I cannot help but think of the moment at the Denver airport with Liam chasing after me. When I’d been running from the wrong thing and the wrong person.

The cab pulls away from the curb and Meg throws her arms around me. “Thank God you’re okay.”

Reluctantly I return the hug that seems meant more for family than virtual strangers, unable to fight my unease. Shifting away from her, I take the photo she holds, staring at the image, thankful for the city of passing lights that allows me to soak in the way Chad’s blue eyes are lit up with a smile and how his longish blond hair curls just a bit at his forehead and brows.

My gaze lifts to Meg’s, her pale blonde hair a shade not so unlike my brother’s, and I see no discomfort at my intense inspection, just more sympathy, though I’m not sure for what. Pain, maybe? Fear? Confusion? Do these things I feel so completely in this moment radiate off of me the way control and confidence do with Liam?

Her hand covers mine where I’m holding the photo and I don’t miss the obvious symbolism of the choice. “I have more pictures of him. He’s alive, Amy,” she vows. “We have to keep him that way.”

My lips part and there is a burn at the back of my throat and in my belly. I’m not ready to believe yet and risk the heartache of loss all over again. “Tell me everything. I need to know everything.”

She glances at the driver and back at me. “Not until we’re alone. I don’t trust anyone. I just don’t.”   

I sink down on the cushion and flatten the picture onto my chest.
Don’t trust anyone.
The same lesson my handler—my brother?—had given me quite effectively without any real conversations, but then, actions speak louder than words.

Meg sinks down next to me to me, close, too close I think. She laughs without humor. “Ironic, right?” 

My brows dip. “What?” 

“I just told you I don’t trust anyone and now I want you to trust me.”

Ironic. Yes. Very. “I just want Chad back.”

“Then we want the same things.”

No. If that were true, Liam would be here. “I have questions. Lots of questions.” 

“As you should.”

“Why didn’t you tell me who you were before now?”

“Not now,” she cautions. “When we’re alone and safe. We need to focus on safety and the speed of our departure. A man like the one you just left behind will shut down this city to stop you if he can.”

I get her discretion, but I don’t like how she’s avoided his name. “What do you mean, a man like him?”

“Rich and obsessed. It’s a dangerous combination.”

My defenses prickle. “He’s far more than you give him credit for.”

“Oh, I give him plenty of credit, which is exactly why I told our driver to take us to the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. We need out of this city before he can stop us.” 

I cut my gaze and stare out of the window, repeating her words in my head.
Out of this city.
I would have said the exact same thing forty-eight hours ago and I guess that should be comforting. She is thinking like I was thinking. Even Liam was screaming we had to leave fifteen minutes ago. But together. We were supposed to be together. 

Thirty-minutes later, I’ve spent the drive replaying conversations I’ve had with Meg in the past, looking for warning signs, but there isn’t much to go on. We exit the cab at a chilly subway station and I eye Meg’s blue jeans, black knee-high boots and black leather jacket with envy. “Where to now?” I ask, hugging myself and not looking forward to being braless in a subway, especially at whatever time it is. I don’t even know.  

“I left my car in Albany.”

“How far is that?”

“Three hours, and one stop where we have to change trains. That is, if we can catch the last train out at 12:30. Otherwise we have to find a cheap hotel and hole up, which gives anyone looking for us time to organize.” She eyes her dainty silver watch. “We’re cutting it close. We’d better run.”

We dart forward, and unbidden, Liam’s voice plays in my head,
run to me, Amy, not from me.
I’m trying, I think. I really am trying and I hate the hell I must be putting him through. 

An hour later, Meg and I have finally completed the short trip from one stop to another and have boarded the train to Albany, settling uncomfortably into the hard plastic seats, with cool air rather than heat blasting me from a vent somewhere above. With no one near us for several rows front and back, we are in the perfect place to talk without eavesdropping. 

I lean against the window and face her. “Tell me about Chad. Tell me everything.”

“He’s everything to me and I’ll do whatever it takes to get him back.”

She says the words with conviction and emotion, so why am I struggling to believe her? “How did you meet him?”

“I was a full-time student working at a diner to pay the bills when he started coming in during my shifts. We’d flirted quite a bit. Still, he never asked me out. I wasn’t sure what to think. Then one night this creepy customer was drunk and he tried to...he was inappropriate. Chad punched him and I was rattled. Really rattled. It reminded me...” She cuts her gaze a moment and draws a breath. “I had some bad stuff with my stepfather and I left the diner in the middle of my shift. Chad came after me, clearly worried. No one had worried about me for a very long time, but he hadn’t ever asked me out and I was afraid he just felt sorry for me. Like he had some kind of hero complex about saving damsels in distress. But I found out later he was worried about his job and my safety.”