Page 137 of Somebody's Watching Me
Liam’s jaw clenched tight, the muscle in his cheek pulsing ominously. “Sinclair’s involvement could be boiled down to him pursuing Zanmi because he’s found an easy flock to take over.”
“But why would he need Zanmi when he has his own group?”
“Klausen’s sweeps have netted close to a hundred people. Men, mostly. None with military records or a connection to Sinclair.” The ticking muscle in his cheek picked up its pace. “And there’s so much evidence. All of it laid out nice and neat. Crimes that have nothing to do with Zanmi but are giving Klausen enough to hold these people on federal charges.”
“Michael is cleaning house.”
Liam’s dark gaze narrowed. “Excuse me?”
“If the charges have nothing to do with Zanmi, then what are they for?”
“Mainly drug or child pornography related. Dad went digging and said there were some with embezzling charges. One or two with warrants already in place.”
She smiled, the truth dawning on him as he spoke. He would have seen it earlier if he weren’t so tired.
Liam flopped back on the bed, angry at himself. “All the things that make them not trustworthy.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you can’t build a perfectfamilywith a group of bad apples. Cleaning them out will draw new members and give existing ones more security to stay. A man with a background like Michael’s would know this and also know that people such as the ones Klausen is catching are not suggestible enough.”
“Which would make sense why it’s mostly men and not women.” He laid his arm across his eyes. “Men seek sanctuary under Zanmi. They want to be like Toby, but the women just want to be with Toby. I mean, look at how many proposals he’s had since entering prison.”
Jamison knew of around thirty women who had publicly claimed to want to marry Toby. One even showed up at Fairweather’s Houston offices, demanding to have a meeting with her father. The woman kept calling him Uncle Ben and eventually had to be escorted off the premises.
“Which means Michael has convinced these women that he has direct orders from Toby.”
The rise and fall of Liam’s chest stilled as if he were holding his breath. “None of this explains how or why Sinclair is involved. Klausen might be a half-assed agent, but he’s ethical, and I believe him when he says that Sinclair has never shown up on his radar until he appeared here at Haven House.”
“What does your dad say?”
Liam removed his arm, and the distance between them returned in a blink, opening like an infinite chasm. “You don’t want me to answer that.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Dad thinks you’re lying, or you’ve met him and can’t remember.” Getting off the bed, he swiped a shirt from the duffle bag, and put it on. “Thanks to the mindfuck games Sinclair is playing, I now know you’re hiding something. And if you’re lying about him, you’re putting not only yourself at risk, but Evie at risk as well.”
“I am not hiding anything about Michael.” Sick to her stomach, she rolled to sit on the side of the bed. “And it wouldn’t be my fault if I can’t remember.”
Liam swiped a hand through his damp hair. “I need to get to work. Rowan will be back in a minute.”
“But you haven’t told me everything.”
“No, I haven’t,” he said plainly.
It all clicked into place. The quiet room. The two of them alone, acting like the partners they once were. How ridiculous of her to actually think she had been making headway with him.
“You were trying to pull a reaction. That’s why you’re telling me all this. It’s because you wanted to see if I would give anything away.”
“Obviously.”
And the knife twisted deeper. “Fuck you.”
That was all she had. Afuck youwas as good as she could do. He’d succeeded in knocking her off balance. The good cop/bad cop routine had been a ten out of ten this time around, and she was left empty without a snarky reply to throw at him.
“Oh, I plan to.” He came over to stand in front of her. “But let me be clear on something. I have very little control, and when I do get a hold of you,” snatching her by the chin, he forced her to meet his devastatingly bitter gaze, “I’m going to use your body to purge this anger and fuck it out of me and into you. I’m going to fill you with it until you understand the hell you’ve put me through. The hell you are continuing to put me through.”
“I’m not doing anything.” She jerked her chin free. “And I can take whatever you’ve got.”
“Just tell me.” His frustration had him shouting. “There’s never been secrets between us. That kind of bullshit behavior belongs to the Fairweathers, but not to us.”
