Page 113 of Statler

“You have Eliza tucked away somewhere all safe and sound?” she continued.

“Shit.” Statler didn’t hesitate to swear, because Granny had already broken the ice on profanity. “No. We don’t.”

He dug in his pocket for his phone. “She was on her way to my sister’s, near Orono, but I just know she turned around because her father told her they had you.”

“Oh, Lord,” Granny muttered, putting a worried hand to her mouth. “I hope she’s not in danger.” She let out a noise of distress. “Who am I kidding? Of course she is.”

Statler dialed Eliza’s number, and after five rings, he knew things were bad.

She wasn’t picking up.

Which meant only one of two things.

She was avoiding his call because she’d turned around and didn’t want his censure, or…

…Jeremy had found her.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Her phone had rung several times, but Eliza refused to pick up or even look at her screen.

If it was her father, screw him. She was headed to do his bidding, and she didn’t want to hear his voice again until they were face to face.

She had a feeling, however, that it was Statler trying to get in touch, and as much as it hurt not to answer, she didn’t want to argue with the man.

Her mind was made up, and debating her plan wouldn’t do either of them any good.

Statler and his team would soon be busy doing the important job of shutting her father’s illegal operation down, and she wouldn’t be the one monopolizing or compromising his available manpower in any way.

Which meant that Eliza would be taking care of business herself.

Having had over an hour and a half to think about things during her drive, she’d come to those conclusions and a few others. One of which was whether or not Jeremy really had Granny in his clutches?

Granny was a smart cookie, and if anyone could outsmart the idiot who worked for her father, it was the older woman. She and Granny had discussed what they would do if William found out they were hording information that would get him locked up, and Eliza hoped Granny had been granted a small window of opportunity to hide herself away.

Still, on the off chance that the woman she loved was in trouble, Eliza wasn’t about to ignore the situation.

In the end, because Eliza had been forced to come back to Liminal, she hoped it would be William Flazer who would be regretting his actions.

Eliza wouldn’t feel one twinge of pity if she succeeded with her plans.

William and Jeremy had started this ball rolling, and even if Granny hadn’t been compromised, Eliza was determined that she’d be the one who had the last word.

She had long ago tired of holding back and pretending obedience. And those feelings of inadequacy were currently bundled up inside her and causing a lot of regret. If she’d asserted herself with her father, perhaps her mother would be alive today. And if she’d stood up to Holden, demanding he tell her what had been consuming him for the last year of their marriage, he might also still be walking this earth.

Not that they’d still be together.

Holden had very much abused Eliza’s trust by not confiding in her, and had—in purportedly putting her first—actually ignored the fact that they were supposed to be a partnership; a team. In essence, in order to protect her, he’d treated her in much the same way her father always had; like someone who didn’t, or shouldn’t have an opinion.

With her eyes having been opened upon Holden’s death, Eliza had realized that as a couple, they’d only been going through the motions of a marriage during the final year of his life. He hadn’t trusted her with what he’d been doing, and hadn’t given her any voice in the decisions he’d made.

Hence, her belief and confidence in him had been broken.

Was she glad that he’d been in touch with the FBI?

Of course.

Should he have divulged to her what was going on?