Page 29 of Relentless

CHAPTER TEN

Piper noticed the change in Liam’s demeanor. “What’s wrong?” She didn’t see anything amiss, unlike the disaster at her place.

“My security system if off.” Liam pulled a gun from his holster. “Stay here while I check the house.”

“Same song, second verse,” she murmured. “At least they left your house intact.”

As he searched for signs of intruders, Piper studied Liam’s living room. Big, masculine furniture covered with a rich brown leather. Couch, loveseat, and recliner, heavy wood coffee table and matching end tables. Paintings and drawings, all outdoor scenes, decorated his walls. His choice of artwork wasn’t surprising given his job. Piper couldn’t see Liam behind a desk for hours at a time. His rugged physique wasn’t developed in a gym.

Liam returned with a duffel bag, his expression grim. “I need to take you out of here.”

“But…”

He placed his forefinger on her lips. “Wait,” he murmured.

Why didn’t he want her to talk? A moment later, she sat inside his SUV, his gear stored in the cargo area.

Liam climbed into the driver’s seat and grabbed his cell phone. He called his team leader. “Trent, you’re on speaker with Piper. I need a tech team at my place.”

“What happened?” Despite standing watch in the hospital hallway all night, Trent sounded alert.

“Someone disabled my alarm system in a way that didn’t alert Fortress to the breach in security. Piper’s house was also broken into, but her place was tossed. Stella is processing that scene.”

“Different intruders.”

“The ones in Piper’s place were amateurs. The intruder in my home was professionally trained.”

“Black ops?”

“That’s my guess.”

“Ask Z to run a deeper check for new threats against you.”

Threats? Piper gripped Liam’s hand. Having a crime boss and his best friend targeting her was bad enough. Someone else could be after Liam.

He entwined their fingers. “As soon as I end this call.”

“Take extra measures to protect Piper.”

“I have her covered. Alert the others in Bravo and Durango. If a terrorist located me, he might go after the rest of you and your families.”

“Want me to notify the cops about your B & E?”

“I’d rather our tech team handled it, but we need the break-in on record.”

“I’ll call Stella and convince her that the tech team needs to go in with the crime scene team. Otherwise, we could have a leak.”

Piper frowned. A leak? What did that mean?

“I’ll let you know what we find at your house. In the meantime, watch your six. Hopefully, we’ll catch the break-in artists before they up their game.”

When Liam ended the call, he turned to look at Piper, regret in his eyes. “I’m sorry, Sunshine.”

“For what?” She prayed he wouldn’t walk away from her. Liam had already burrowed his way into her heart.

“Looks like I should have waited to start a relationship with you.”

“Why?”

---