Since Hank was covering his shifts at court security, Liam decided they should make a run to the fire station to see if he could get any information from them and talk to Samantha about her landlord.
“Let’s go.” He pushed back from his desk and stood.
Sophia didn’t move. She slumped in the chair, staring at the wall. “I used to walk dogs after school,” she muttered. “Now I follow a US marshal around like one.”
“You brought this on yourself.” He grabbed his keys. “I can’t trust you to stay home, so you’re tagging along.”
He led the way down the secure entry and exit this time. This morning he’d made her go through the full security check. It was an experience she’d needed to have. Once they were through, he’d leaned over and said it was much worse in jail. He should have her sit in on one of the criminal trials. Let her see exactly what would happen.
He hadn’t let her attend any of the hearings with her mother. He’d wanted to spare her, but in doing that, had he done her a disservice? Yes, seeing her mother go through all of that would have been rough, but would they be in their current predicament if he had let her see it, experience it? Had he inadvertently started the ball rolling that would crash her life like it had her mother’s?
Liam’s left wrist ached at the childhood memories. The glass of milk he’d accidentally knocked over. His father’s rage and the wrist fracture as punishment. He’d simply fallen—that was the story the ER had gotten, anyway. Broken bones healed, but experiences were relived over and over. If Liam hadn’t let his sister take the fall for the car, their father wouldn’t have turned on her the way he had. He’d been cruel before, but after that, Kayleigh could do no right. And when you spent your wholelife being treated like a criminal, maybe it wasn’t such a leap to become one.
Lord, forgive me.
“Where are we going now?” Sophia’s question pulled him from his thoughts.
“To the fire station.”
Sophia’s eyes lit up. “Do you think Bella will be there?”
He shook his head. “I doubt it. But if she is, it doesn’t mean anything. You’re staying in the vehicle.”
“Ugh.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Don’t worry. I’ll crack the windows.”
She turned and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not a dog.”
“I know that.” He smiled at her. “Seriously though, you will stay in the car. I won’t be long.”
Her face softened. “Okay.”
He pulled the vehicle into a parking spot in front of the fire station lobby and left it running.
Cool air blew over him as he opened the lobby door. A man in his thirties, dressed in duty clothes, sat at the welcome desk. Liam didn’t recognize him from his last few encounters with the station’s crew.
The guy’s bushy eyebrows rose. “Welcome to Station 4. How may I help you?”
He pulled his badge from his belt and showed it to the man. “Deputy US Marshal Liam Roberts. I need to see Captain Bennett, please.”
“Just a moment.” The man stood and disappeared through a double-paned glass door.
A few minutes later, the man returned, Captain Bennett on his heels.
“Deputy Marshal Roberts.” Captain Bennett stuck his hand out.
Liam shook it.
“Follow me.”
Captain Bennett led him into the open area and down a hall to a large office with a leather couch, a US flag on a pole in the corner, and half a dozen commendations hanging on one wall.
Captain Bennett shut the door behind him. “What can I do for you?” He took a seat behind a mahogany desk.
The station must have a pretty nice budget. Liam was not going to be jealous of this man’s desk—or the cushy chair he got to sit in. “I wanted to stop by and see if you’d been able to find out anything about the fire at Samantha Williams’s house.”
The captain leaned back in his chair. “Is this a Marshals matter?”
