Page 60 of More than a Memory

“Love it!” Darcy replied.

“Are you okay? You look pretty wrung out,” Mitch observed.

“I’ve been better. Let’s not go there, but thanks for asking.” She smiled warmly at Mitch.

“Well,” Gina demanded, “what did Liam say and why hasn’t he called me? He let me continue to think that he could be dead! Where is he now? Why didn’t he return with you?” she asked in rapid-fire succession.

“He just freaked out, got scared, ran for his life. He feels terrible, if it is any consolation. He wanted me to convey to you how sorry he is and how much he loves you. He said that he’s going to be focusing on your future and setting things up for you to be together if you still want him,” Darcy shared.”

“Did he say anything else?” Mitch asked.

“Well, he basically told me the same story that Gina did, except he filled in the blanks on what happened after he left her house the last time. He was attacked in his own home, which we already surmised. He fought for his life and came out the victor, but in the process thought he had killed one of his assailants. At that point, he figured his only option was to flee.”

“Why won’t he call and tell me all of that himself?” Gina asked.

“No idea. I asked him the same thing,” Darcy said. “Probably some mixed-up idea of chivalry. He wants to make sure everything is perfect for you before pulling you back into his life,” she surmised. “Bottom line, he is not going to bring you back into his crazy world until he knows you will be safe in it. Speaking of which, either I was followed to North Carolina or someone else hired their own people to find Liam, and were successful, because Liam was ambushed last night and almost killed right before my eyes.

Eyes wide with terror, Gina said, “Oh no! What happened? Is he alright?"

“Yes, he is fine. There is a missing link here, and I’m wondering if either of you have any thoughts on what it could be?” Darcy asked.

“What do you mean?” Mitch asked.

“Well, first of all, I can’t believe Conrad would go to these extremes over an affair he must have known about since its inception. Why now? What changed? I know you said you had talked about leaving him, but was that the first time you had discussed it?”

“No, we had been talking about that for some time,” Gina admitted.

“See what I mean? So, what changed? Is there anything you have not shared with me? Do you have any idea if Liam was hiding something. did you have any suspicions before things got crazy? I want you to think really hard on this… about the weeks leading up to his disappearance.”

Gina scrunched up her face, deep in thought.

“I do remember one thing I thought was odd at the time he said it, but I didn’t give it much thought afterwards. He told me to be patient, that he was working on something. I think he said, ‘to set us free’ so that we could be together for the rest of our lives,” she said. “I assumed he was looking for places for us to move and set up in a brand-new location, another job…far away from here.” Gina continued, “Sorry, I know it’s not much but that is the only thing I can think of.”

“Well, it’s something. It confirms my suspicions that he was up to something, which may be what got him in trouble in the first place.”

“What exactly was his job at Cohen Technology? Did he have high-level clearance?” Darcy asked.

“Yes, he completed his degree in information technology while he was still enlisted, not to mention that he is extremely intelligent and capable. After all, special forces only take the cream of the crop. He had quite a bit of responsibility at the company,” Gina explained.

“This makes me wonder…” Darcy said.

“What? Do you think he might have stumbled onto something he shouldn’t have at Cohen?” Gina asked Darcy.

“There is that possibility, and if he naively believed it could help your cause, that would explain a lot.”

Mitch reasserted himself in the conversation. “I doubt it was that. I think the affair would have been enough to set Mr. Cohen off. As I said before, if he overheard them talking about Gina leaving him, that would have never gone over with Conrad.”

“You may be right, but when I get that hit in my gut that something doesn’t add up, I’m usually right,” Darcy said. “And, the fact that they planned on running away together was nothing new, they had been discussing their future for some time….”

“Well, the way I see it is that we have you to thank for finding him and confirming that he is alive and unharmed. We really appreciate all of your hard work, Darcy,” Mitch said gratefully. “Mission accomplished!”

“Yes, thank you, Darcy. I’m so relieved to hear that Liam is alright, but devastated that he didn’t come back with you and go to the police with this information. I just don’t get it. Especially since he now knows he didn’t kill that man.”

“Fear makes one do crazy things,” Darcy said, the irony not lost on her.

“Give me a week or two to collect all of my receipts and mileage. I just need to know where to send my bill,” Darcy said.

Mitch gave Darcy a PO box number for forwarding the invoice. They threw away their empty Chinese food cartons and departed, with promises to keep in touch.

---