Page 63 of A Forgotten Mistake

“If I tell you what you want to hear, you’ll find my wife? They told me how amazing you are. You’ll find her?”

“I’ll at least think about it,” Liam says, voice cold.

“As soon as I had the money, I ran out and bought Liz a ring. I bought it on the way home. And then, I was going to put a down payment on a house to get my baby girl out of the shitty neighborhood we were in where hearing gunshots wasn’t even surprising anymore. I was going to raise my baby girl somewhere good so she couldbegood. So she wouldn’t grow up like the other kids in the neighborhood. Hell… it seemed like so many of them didn’t even get to grow up.

“But when I heard what happened… I hid the money. My wife got in a car accident, so I had to dip into it months later, and I felt so sick using it that I couldn’t stop sobbing. I just wanted the fucking money. I just needed it. I didn’t want any of that shit to happen. I swear to you, I never fathomed anything would happen to any of you. But you’re right… I knew he hurt you. I knew he could have killed you throwing you down the stairs. I knew I should have gone to the police, but I didn’t want to go to prison. I thought everything would work out, that he just wanted to fuck with your father… that as soon as he did that, he’d take some money like I did and leave… but he didn’t. I’m so fucking sorry that he didn’t. I’m so fucking sorry that I didn’t do anything.”

Liam watches him for a long moment before saying, “My father was a good man. He donated so much money to charity because he started in a place like you did. He knew what it fucking felt like to not have food on the table. My mother organized food drives. She supported holiday dinners for people who couldn’t afford it. But none of you fucking saw that, did you?”

Kenny shakes his head. “I just cared about myself and my family. And I care about them so much that I will fucking rot in prison for Liz. Please. Please, find my wife.”

He drops to his knees before Liam, and when he grabs for him, Liam steps away so Kenny can’t touch him. Kenny’s handsfall and hit the road Liam’s standing on. “Please? I don’t even know what I’m begging for. My Liz? For you to forgive me? For these fucking nightmares to end. Do you want the money back? I don’t have all of it, but I can pay it back. I’ll pay it back.”

Liam’s expression is cold and a little shut off. He’s hard to read when he gets like this. Before I knew his secrets, I used to believe he was just thinking, but now I wonder if he’s thinking about what it’d be like to kill him. Then I find myself wondering how often he has the desire to kill. And how often he goes through with it.

“I’ll pay it all back. I’ll give you everything,” Kenny pleads.

Liam’s stare is icy as everyone in the department watches the scene. I feel like someone needs to break the tension, and maybe that someone should be me, but I don’t know what to do or say. So I just reach out and take Liam’s hand.

For an instant, he seems unsure of what to do with it before his fingers tighten around mine. His gaze shifts over to me, and he watches me for a second, like he’s not sure what expression to make or what action to take.

“What kind of dog was it?” he asks.

Kenny appears so startled that he doesn’t seem to know what to say before he realizes what Liam’s asking. “Liz’s dog that she went out with? A bloodhound.”

“Does the dog ever get loose?”

“Y-Yes.”

“So if he got loose, being a hound, he’d have chased an animal that would have likely moved toward the trees,” Liam says as he takes a step back.

He pulls me after him as he heads into a patch of trees surrounding a small creek that runs between two neighboring houses.

“You okay?” I ask as the two of us move along the creek.

“Perfectly fine. Thank you.”

“Liam,” I say as Matthew jogs over to catch up. Seeing that Liam is still holding my hand, he reaches over and takes Liam’s other hand.

Liam freezes and looks over at Matthew. “What the fuck is this?” The grip he has on Matthew’s hand doesn’t look pleasant at all, but Matthew puts up with it for some reason.

“Well, I thought if Gabriel’s touch could make everything better, my touch would be likeecstasy,” Matthew says.

“Michaels! Matthew is sexually harassing me again!” Liam calls out, even though Michaels is back at the department. It’s funny how he’s gone years harassing others but the moment someone harasses him back, he wants immediate reprimanding to take place.

“Just shut up and enjoy it,” Matthew hisses.

“When the fuck did he become so mean?” Liam asks as he tries pulling his hand free, but Matthew won’t let go. “And why’s he so strong? Is this your jerking-off hand? Is that why it’s so muscular?”

“This is what friends do,” I inform him.

“Hold them down with their jerking-off hand? Also, when the fuck did Matthew and I become friends? That’s the last thing I want to do with you.”

“If that’s the last thing, then hand holding must not be too bad,” Matthew says as he gives Liam’s hand a little shake. Liam is over there shaking it for a whole different reason.

“Everyone is staring at us,” Liam complains as he looks behind us.

“Out of jealousy,” Matthew assures him. “Gabriel and I have tamed the beast and wowed the others.”

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