Treacherous Intent (13 page)

Liam’s mouth hardened. “They had staked out Brady’s house and followed us when we left.”

The skin around the detective’s eyes tightened. “That means...your father...”

“Could you have a squad car watch his house?” Liam asked.

“Not a problem. But I don’t have jurisdiction to order an officer to watch out for Brady here in Geyserville, where the police force is stretched thin right now.”

Liam nodded. “Elisabeth and I have already arranged to stay with him.”

“Good.” The detective relaxed.

But Elisabeth didn’t. The guilt gnawed at her. She was used to protecting women and children, not making people targets. It had been one thing when the danger was only to herself and Liam, but now the gangs had pulled his family into the mix. They were being boxed in by wolves who were circling, getting ready to attack.

“Will you two be all right?” There was genuine concern in the detective’s gray eyes. In working with him at the shelter, Elisabeth had always respected him professionally, but now he felt more like a friend. And she hadn’t let herself have many friends for the past several years.

“We’ll be careful,” she said, and Liam nodded agreement.

After the detective had left, Liam took her aside. “The Tumibays are involved in why Joslyn is on the run from Tomas.”

“And it might not be because of her father’s murder, but because of that shipping container,” she said, nodding in agreement. “We have to look into it.”

“If we can’t nail Tomas for the murder, maybe we can nail him on something to do with that shipping container.”

Elisabeth glanced at the policemen wrapping up their work at the gas station. “I think they’ll let us leave soon. I’m worried about your brother and his wife. The Tumibays know where your family lives.”

“Let’s go back to Brady’s house. We can’t protect him at work, but we can at least be at the house with Debra and Ryan. We can call Shaun to give him the heads-up about Dad’s house, and while we’re at Brady’s, we can do some research.”

After Elisabeth remembered to fill up the gas tank, they drove back to Brady’s house. Instead of parking in their driveway, Liam directed her to a nearby dirt access road about a hundred yards away from the back of the house.

“Their driveway only has one exit.” Liam got his things out of the car and led the way across Brady’s backyard, spacious with a large garden plot and a small pond. “And there’s trees and bushes on either side of the driveway, so if the gang blocks the entrance to it, we’ll need a different escape route.”

As Elisabeth followed Liam, she realized another advantage to hiding their car. The gang wouldn’t know right away that they were here. If they checked the garage, they’d only see Liam’s brother’s cars.

They crossed the lawn, passing a large fir tree strung with Christmas lights, surrounded by trimmed rosebushes rather haphazardly decorated with more lights. Elisabeth didn’t know Brady or Debra well, but she guessed that while Debra had done the decorations in the living room and front door, Brady had done these.

Debra answered their knock at the back door. “Come on in. Where did you park?” There was that faint air of resentment despite her polite words. Elisabeth supposed she didn’t like strangers in her home, or perhaps she simply didn’t like disruptions to her scheduled plans.

“On the access road. It leaves your driveway clear,” Liam answered.

“Whatever you like. Just don’t track in mud from the garden.”

Elisabeth followed Debra through the kitchen toward the guest bedrooms. The one-story home was built as a square with a spacious central courtyard including planted fruit trees. The guest bedrooms were next to each other and the hallway bathroom. The rooms had been decorated in shades of sand and taupe, matching Elisabeth’s apartment decor. As she saw the room now, she realized how arid and lifeless the color scheme was. Perhaps she ought to redecorate her home when this was all over.

Would it ever be over? She was exhausted from the adrenaline rushes of the past few days coupled with little sleep. Yet Liam still looked strong and alert. And he hadn’t lost that protectiveness over her. Strangely, she’d gotten used to it.

When this was over, her life could go back to normal. Safe. Predictable.

Isolated.

Was that what it really was? Was that what she really wanted?

Liam looked strangely hesitant as he stood in front of Debra, who had her arms folded in front of her. “Debra, did you have any plans to go out today?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I need to go grocery shopping.”

“It may not be safe—”

“This again? You admitted you didn’t know if the two men at your father’s home were connected to the gang that’s after you.”

“Two gang members just attacked us at the gas station down the road. They told us they followed us from your house.”

Debra started. “What do you mean? What kind of trouble have you brought on us, Liam? Why can you never keep any of your business to yourself?”

Liam’s eyes fell and a muscle flexed in his jaw, indicating that her words held some deeper meaning for him. It was strange how Liam was so easy and friendly with Brady, and yet he and Debra circled each other like Siamese fighting fish.

Liam opened his mouth to speak, but Elisabeth forestalled him. “Debra, we’re so sorry for all the inconvenience we’re causing for you. Our jobs involve protecting people, and right now we just want to protect you and your baby.”

Liam’s grateful look warmed Elisabeth, although she looked away quickly. She focused on Debra’s pinched expression rather than how Liam made her feel.

“You really are making things difficult for me.” Debra’s tone was petulant, but she was also a little less belligerent than before.

“We’re sorry. If you could stay home only for the next day or two...” Realistically, they wouldn’t be able to continue in this situation much longer than that.

Debra sighed. “Fine. I suppose I can go shopping tomorrow.”

They’d deal with it then, Elisabeth supposed. “We don’t want to get in your way. Is there somewhere we can get online?”

“You can use Brady’s office.”

Brady’s office faced the backyard, with a soothing view of the lawn, trees and pond. The room was meticulously neat, but there were also stacks of folders on tables and bookcase shelves. “What does Brady do?” Elisabeth asked Liam.

“He’s a forensic accountant. He investigates finances and fraud. He invited me to join his investigations firm when I came back from Afghanistan, but...” Liam grimaced. “I prefer less sedentary investigations, I guess.”

She wasn’t surprised to hear it. Elisabeth had noticed that he was most comfortable when in motion, though he was clearly capable of focusing on intense computer work. She admitted that he was better at the computer research, whereas her strength in her investigations was interviews. In that sense, as they were looking into Joslyn and Tomas, they complemented each other.

She shook her head. She had to stop thinking like that.

“Let me call Shaun.” Liam got out his cell phone and told him about the attack over speakerphone.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep us safe.” There was a steely confidence in Shaun’s voice, and Elisabeth could imagine he had been a formidable border patrol officer. “Dad’s got a good security system, and we’ll be careful.”

Liam visibly relaxed at his brother’s words. “Thanks.”

“Just...take care of yourself and Elisabeth, all right?” The concern in Shaun’s voice made Elisabeth look away. Shaun was a stranger to her, and yet he’d thought of her. With the brutality of her life, and the way she’d protected herself, the kindness of others crept through a chink in her armor, catching her off guard.

After hanging up, Liam dialed Brady’s number at his office. “Maybe I can convince him to work from home for the next few days. He doesn’t have great security in the building where his office is.”

“Are there are a lot of people around? The gang members might not do anything to him with so many witnesses.”

“True. He’s also in the middle of Geyserville. There are traffic and security cameras.” Liam put his phone on speaker. “Hey, Brady.”

While Liam explained again what had happened, Elisabeth glanced around the office. In addition to the file folders, Brady had lots of pictures of his brothers, his wife and son, and what looked to be some extended-family photos. She liked the ones with all the O’Neill men, because they always seemed to be laughing together over something.

At Liam’s father’s house, the closeness between Liam, his brother and his father had unexpectedly touched her. She dealt with so many women with no one to turn to, and Elisabeth herself had no close family. Seeing Liam’s family’s love for each other, their teasing and playful interaction, had given her a glimpse into what she might be missing.

Even Liam’s interactions with Brady, despite Debra’s coolness, showed how much the two brothers cared for each other. She had known that kind of relationship existed, but she’d never seen it firsthand. And it made her feel strange.

Lonely.

She turned her attention back to Liam’s conversation. Brady was surprised, but he took the threat more seriously than his wife had. “But I can’t leave my office today, Liam. I’m meeting with a deputy attorney general about a case.”

“Well, we’re here with Debra and Ryan, so you won’t need to worry about them.”

“Thanks, bro.” There was relief and warmth in Brady’s voice.

“Brady, when you’re ready to go home—”

“I’ll try to come home early, and I’ll ask a security guard to walk me to my car. I’ll be careful.”

When Liam hung up, she blurted, “You’re really close with your family.”

A glow came into his dark blue eyes. “I guess so. We drive each other crazy, but we’re always there for each other.” He regarded her for a moment, and it was as if he saw inside her. “Are you close to your family?”

She looked away. “No.” Her voice came out snappish, and she regretted it. He had only asked an innocent question after all. She added in a softer tone, “I’m an only child. My mother died when I was sixteen, and...I was never close to my father. If I have any extended family, I don’t know about them.”

Liam’s brow wrinkled. “You never looked?”

“I looked up my mother’s family, but couldn’t access the records in the Philippines.” She hadn’t bothered to try to find her father’s family.

“I’m sorry.” He looked stricken. “I’m always so annoyed by my family, I’ve never thought about...not having anyone.”

She didn’t want his pity. She needed to be strong, because she’d learned the hard way that it was the way to survive. “Don’t be sorry,” she said. Desperate to change the subject, she looked around. “Where should I set up?”

Liam ended up seated at Brady’s desk while Elisabeth sat at a small circular table in the corner of the office. She opened her laptop. “So here’s the question of the day: Why do the Tumibays want Joslyn?”

Liam leaned back in Brady’s leather chair. “They might want her simply because they know the Bagsics want her. They could get leverage with the Bagsics if they have Joslyn, knowing Tomas would give up a lot to have her. But that Tumibay also knew about the shipping container that Tomas lost. What does that have to do with Joslyn and the murder?”

“And how did a San Francisco gang find out about a Bagsic shipping container in L.A.? Maybe these are two unrelated things, but they’re both tied to Tomas.”

“You think Tomas might be after Joslyn for something to do with the shipping container rather than because of the murder?”

She shrugged. “It’s possible. They sent in a cleaner to the murder scene, and apparently they have a lawyer who has gotten gang members off from murder charges in the past. They don’t seem to have much to worry about in terms of the murder, so why all this effort to find Joslyn?”

“I’ll look for the ship and the shipping container,” Liam said. “I think you said it was called the
Pansit?
”

“That’s what the Bagsic at the club said. I’ll look up that Tumibay gang member who attacked us, Lamar Garcia.”

The first time they’d been working side by side like this, at her apartment, she’d been distracted by the fact that he was there in her personal space, at her dining room table. He had made her nervous.

Now their working together made her feel like part of a team. There were moments she felt that way when she worked with some staff at the shelter or when she was contracting with law enforcement. But this was different. She felt like a vital part of a whole. It made her feel needed in a way she hadn’t felt before.

And it was because of Liam, because he respected her. Because he was almost someone she could trust.

“I’ve got nothing.” Liam threw down the pen he’d been using to take notes and flung himself against the back of the chair. “There’s no record of a ship called the
Pansit
ever docking in the Port of Los Angeles.”

She was surprised. He’d been on the phone, making calls down to L.A., and she had assumed he’d find out something. “They might have found a way to keep it off the records.”

Liam rubbed his hand across his face. “Some of the skip tracers I know wouldn’t hesitate to break a few laws to find out. And I have to admit, the more frustrated I get, the more tempted I am to bend some rules.”

She could hear the frustration in his voice, and at the same time, there was a noble quality to it. “But you won’t do it.”

“But I won’t do it.”

She respected that about him. She paused, then asked, “What keeps you from doing it?”

He didn’t answer her right away. Finally he said, in a halting voice, “I know God wouldn’t want me to. I don’t want to disappoint Him.”

She’d known he was a Christian, but she’d never heard him speak of God like this before. “Do you really think God cares about something so insignificant as finding a ship from the Philippines?”

“It’s not insignificant to us. And yes, I do think He cares.”

“Then I think that there are more important things that He should care about.” Her voice came out sharper than she’d intended, but she couldn’t help it. She thought about the loss and pain and betrayal in her life. Where had God been then? Why hadn’t He considered it significant enough to save her?