Page 13 of Liam
“Great.” His gaze flicked back to her before he offered a brief nod. “Thank you for your time.”
He headed toward the Blue Halo guys, just as the paramedic returned with some pills. “Here you go. Take two, morning and night, until the pain recedes. You can also take the ice packs with you and keep them on for twenty minutes at a time until you go to bed.”
“Thank you.” She slipped the small bottle of pills from his hand and rose from the back of the ambulance, cringing at the ache to her knee. She took a step toward Liam, then stopped. The conversation looked…tense. Every man looked ready to kill. And she didn’t blame them.
She changed direction. She had his number and could text him tomorrow, let him know she’d made it home okay. He’d probably forget about her anyway. With everything that had happened tonight, how could he not?
Wrapping one arm around her middle, she slowly limped to the back parking lot. Once she was inside the car with the doors locked, a shuddering breath rippled from her chest, and she finally let the stoic expression drop from her face.
Tears filled her eyes, and her breaths came too fast. She pulled her phone out to call Cody—her twin’s voice had always soothed her—but paused at the blank screen. The phone was dead.
Crap. She lowered it to the passenger seat, then leaned her head back, closed her eyes, and let her tears fall.
It was probably better this way. If she called her brother, if she told him even a little of what had happened tonight, he’d tear the world apart to get to her, then he’d try to drag her home.
She took a long, steadying breath. She’d be fine. What she needed was a good night’s sleep.
* * *
“I can’t getin contact with Steve at the moment, but I’ve sent him the photos,” Logan said in a low voice.
Steve was their FBI liaison, and they’d be making damn sure his team was involved in getting to the bottom of the shitstorm that had happened tonight.
All sixteen men stood outside the event center. Fifteen had eyes on their women, who also stood close by.
Callum ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll also do some research tonight.”
“I’ll do the same,” Wyatt added.
There was an undertone of fury in their voices. A couple of guys had been nicked by bullets, but other than that, both teams had come out of the chaos uninjured. People had died, though. Innocent people who’d gotten caught in the crossfire.
Liam’s gut clenched.
He turned his head to search for Nylah, spotting her talking to a police officer. Something shifted in his chest. Fuck, she’d been so brave tonight. So damn strong and selfless, putting the safety of others in front of her own.
He turned back to the guys as Blake quietly said, “They could be connected to another religious group.”
“Another?” Luca asked.
Blake’s jaw clicked. “My family and I were targeted by a group of people from a church in Ketchum a few months ago. They thought we weren’t ‘as God intended,’ so they tried to kill us and take Mila.”
The air thickened as every man let his words settle.
“It’s a lead we’ll look into,” Jason said.
Flynn glanced Liam’s way. “Did either of the guys you questioned say anything before they died?”
A vein throbbed in Liam’s temple. “No. Just that they wanted us dead. The van outside had a workstation with computers, but I think they’ve been confiscated by police. We need to talk to Steve about getting access.”
Another tense beat of silence.
A uniformed officer stepped up to them, the same guy who’d been talking to Nylah. “Hi. I’m Officer Pierce Carlson. My team and I need to get each of your version of events.”
Liam bit back a curse. All he wanted to do was return to Nylah and get her home safely. And all the others were no doubt thinking something similar about their women, because no one looked happy about talking to the police.
Liam let his friends go first, stepping away and turning to walk back to Nylah. The ambulance was empty.
He searched the area but didn’t see her.
