Page 141 of Somebody's Watching Me
“Analyzing what we learned at the party.”
Meaning he listened to what Michael had whispered in her ear over and over again. Between their conversation and the fear over what he might think Michael Sinclair meant it was no wonder she had such vicious nightmares.
Pulling his sunglasses out of his pocket, Liam slipped them on. “I also came up witha timeline.”
“What kind of timeline?”
“An interesting one.”
He continued onward, not giving her a chance to ask any more questions. “Hey, Harper,” he yelled over the music as they passed the parlor. “Show your Auntie that thing I taught you with the mic.”
Cupping her hands around the microphone’s grill, Harper let out a string of bellowing chants that bordered on the demonic. Theo did the same, but it came out more like an animal dying instead.
“Make sure you do that for your dad later.” Liam threw the kids finger horns as Jamison watched in wide-eyed horror. “But louder.”
“Samuel is going to kill you.”
Liam let out an evil chuckle. “Yeah, maybe.”
Abandoning the baby death metal concert, they made their way outside, and nearly crashed into Taylor on the porch.
“Oh, hey!” Taylor stopped short so as not to drop the stack of files in her arms. “Off to the appointment? You better hurry or you’ll miss it.”
The low-cut blouse Taylor was wearing had Jamison’s right eye twitching. “Yeah, we know.”
“Lots of new police guards, I see,” Taylor tilted her head at the Hollingsdale PD loitering just off the front walk. “Liam, why aren’t you using the ones we’ve already hired and are paying good money for?”
“Good morning, Taylor.” Ignoring the question, Liam placed a hand on the small of Jamison’s back. “I didn’t see you at the party last night.”
“I’m not surprised you didn’t recognize me. I was dressed as Tinkerbell with a wig and everything. Ben was really into it and said he thought I looked cute as a blonde.” Leaning in, Taylor gave Jamison a wink. “Wasn’t your mom a blonde?”
Everything went red. The trees. The porch. The woman in front of her with her boobs hanging out.
Liam’s fingers dug into her waist, gripping hard enough to lock her in place, and Jamison forced her lips into a thin smile. “If my dad said anything, it was out of politeness.”
Taylor’s grin never faltered. “Or he really thought I looked cute.”
“Or he thought you looked like an asshole and didn’t want to say so to your face.”
“Annnnnd we’re going.” Liam guided her along and down the front steps, possibly saving Taylor’s life. She tried to turn around and hurl another insult, but he was holding her too tight. “Destroy her later, Jamison.”
“What in the hell?” she hissed as he hustled them down the walk. “Is she trying to get punched?”
“That would be my guess,” Liam said under his breath, nodding at the officers as they passed. “Hey, guys, try not to step on the flowers.”
The handful of cops standing in Ty’s flower garden apologized and retreated to the lawn.
“Thanks for that,” she said as he brought her to a plain white rental sedan.
“I promised Ty I would look after you and everyone else.” He unlocked the car, and they got in. “I’ve always assumed that promise extends to Haven and the gardens. You know how particular he was.”
Yes, she did. Ty had been proud of his work at Haven House. Simone might be the heartbeat of Haven, but Ty had been the one who crafted its soul, pouring his love of the place into everything he did.
“When did you make that promise?”
“In those last days,” Liam replied, referring to the endless weeks they spent in the hospital sitting with Ty after his final stroke. “He couldn’t talk much, but the man knew how to get his point across.”
“I need to call Dee.” She missed Ty’s wife and hadn’t seen her in ages. “Her birthday is coming up, but she’s spent the last few months visiting her sister.”
