Page 91 of Liam
When the officer walked away, Liam looked down at Nylah, voice lowering. “Why did you lie to him?”
After scanning the area around them, she lowered her voice. “I didn’t know if your team wanted people to know this.”
Dread spidered in his gut. “Know what?”
His team joined them, but Nylah only had eyes for Liam. “Carlson was saying he had a lead on another person from this organization. He said they’ve been in Cradle Mountain since before the first shooting.”
CHAPTER26
Nylah wrung her hands together in her lap. Emotions swirled inside her, spilling out for the world to see. Nerves. Guilt.
They were almost at Courtney and Jason’s apartment. An apartment Eleanor would be visiting. Courtney had invited her over to make sure she was okay. Give her some company during this hard time. But that wasn’t the only reason.
They had an ulterior motive. They wanted to know if Carlson had been with her the day he’d been shot, and if so, what that day had looked like. Basically, they were fishing for information from a woman who was grieving, and Nylah felt awful about it.
Her fingers were digging into her palms as Liam’s warm hand covered hers. “Hey. Everything’s gonna be all right.”
“I know. I just feel guilty about us inviting Eleanor over for selfish reasons. At the same time, I feel anxious that she won’t actually know anything. She’s our only lead.”
His fingers tightened around her hand. “First of all, you don’t need to feel bad. You’re still supporting a woman who’s lost someone she cares about. Secondly, there’s no pressure on you to learn anything. Eleanor either knows something that will help, or she doesn’t.” He shot her a quick look. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, though. Courtney will talk to her on her own.”
Nylah shook her head. “No. I want to be there. I need to check on her anyway.” The woman was a friend, and even though she’d only been dating Carlson a few weeks, the loss would still be significant.
Liam stopped outside Courtney’s building. Eleanor’s car was already parked on the street. As soon as they got to Courtney’s apartment, Liam would disappear with Jason to give them the illusion of space, but of course he’d be listening to everything.
“Ready?”
Was she? She had to be. She nodded. “Let’s do this.”
They’d just knocked when Liam lowered his mouth to her ear. “Remember, I’m just in the office.”
Then he kissed her, and some of the guilt and nerves pitting her belly calmed.
Jason opened the door. “Hey.” He didn’t smile as he stepped back.
Nylah passed him, offering a small, tight smile before spotting Eleanor on the couch beside Courtney, face tearstained. Courtney stood and Nylah didn’t hesitate to take her place, lowering to the couch beside Eleanor and tugging her into her arms.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered.
Eleanor’s arms wrapped around her waist, her head digging into Nylah’s shoulder as silent tears wet her shirt. Courtney squeezed Nylah’s arm before moving into the kitchen. She also heard the dull footsteps of Liam and Jason walking toward the home office.
When Eleanor finally pulled back, Nylah touched her knee. “Tell me what I can do.”
Eleanor swallowed. “You and Courtney just asking me over means everything. I don’t have many people here in Cradle Mountain, except you guys and Violet.”
“Where is Violet?”
“She hasn’t left my side since I received the news, so I told her to go and do something for herself today. Have the day off babysitting.”
“It’s not babysitting when a friend’s in pain,” Nylah said quietly.
Courtney returned, handing out glasses of juice before sitting on the couch on Eleanor’s other side. “Have you thought any more about talking to Grace? She’s an amazing therapist. You feel like you’re talking to a friend.”
“I have,” Eleanor said quietly. “I probably will. I’m just trying to take it one day at a time right now. Pierce and I were so new, but…I felt like he was it, you know? Like he was my person. I was already falling in love with him.”
Nylah felt the tears build in her own eyes at the sorrow behind the woman’s words. “I could see that. And I have no doubt he felt the same way.”
Eleanor shook her head. “After he found out about the mistake he made, not getting a description of the perpetrator after the shooting, he was determined to help with the case. He was acting like he needed to prove himself, even though he didn’t.”
