Page 34 of Relentless

“The MO is different for both break-ins, Brent.”

“He might have hired a trained professional since you work for Fortress.”

“How would he know?” Piper asked. “I haven’t talked to my uncle since I left Alabama. Gino doesn’t know I’m involved with Liam.”

“People pass through Otter Creek all the time, especially since the community college is so large. Who would notice another stranger in town? A little reconnaissance and Barone would have the information. People talk. Go to Delaney’s Diner, mention Wicks, and I’d bet the waitress would talk about the staff at Wicks and their significant others. The whole town’s been watching your relationship with Liam slowly come to life.”

“It’s my fault Liam is a target.” The knowledge she might be to blame for another threat to Liam made her insides knot.

Liam pressed a kiss to her temple. “We don’t know that. When we identify the culprit, we’ll track him down and find out why he chose my house. Brent, the security cameras at my house might have caught an image. Given the professional nature of the search, I’m not holding my breath on that.”

“I’ll have Zane check anyway. If the security breach is connected to you, which direction we should look?”

He was silent a moment. “I was involved in an incident six months before I mustered out of the Marines.”

“Spencer?”

Liam chuckled. “My file is supposed to be classified.”

“Nothing is out of Zane’s reach.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to see that. Start with Spencer and Major Conrad Graham.”

A soft whistle. “You don’t mess around when you tick someone off, do you? I’ll get back to you.”

After the call ended, Liam glanced at Piper. “Ask.”

“Do I have a neon sign on my forehead?”

“It’s natural to be curious. I’d be surprised if you weren’t.”

“Who are Spencer and Graham?”

“Spencer was in my unit and Conrad Graham was our CO.”

“Why do they have a grudge against you?”

“I turned Spencer in to our CO for stealing artifacts and selling them for profit. Turned out Graham was in on the scheme and I almost died in my effort to keep the Marine Corp’s name clean. Spencer and the CO were sentenced to prison for antiquities theft. They were dishonorably discharged and will forfeit their pension.”

“What happened to you?”

“Our unit was sent on a mission in Afghanistan to retrieve an HVT.”

“Wait. HVT?”

“Sorry. High-value target. Anyway, we walked into an ambush. I lost three good friends that night.”

“I’m sorry, Liam. Were your other teammates hurt?”

“Two had minor injuries.”

“And you?”

He remained silent.

“You were shot, weren’t you?”

Liam nodded. “Once in the chest, once in the abdomen.”

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