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Roxie ran her fingers down the scar on the side of her face. He’d left her for dead once, why couldn’t he do it again? Was that really too much to ask? But of course, it was. Mark had a sick obsession with her, and she would always be caught in his mess—unless she managed to burn the whole thing down and him with it. Maybe her, too, but at least it would be over.
She pulled into the driveway of Destiny’s townhouse. A red truck was parked at the curb. As she climbed out of her little SUV, Liam got out of the truck.
She looked back in her car at the empty seat she’d been sitting in and let out a breath. She whispered, “I can’t do this right now.”
She ended up leaning in for her backpack on the passenger seat instead of going around. That would have put her on the same side as him, rather than with her car between them.
When she straightened, slinging her backpack on her shoulders like all this was no big deal, he was at the back corner. Was she supposed to say, “Hey?”
“Roxie.”
Ack.That tone. “Hello, Liam.” No longer constrained by his rank or last name, she could experience the feel of his name on her tongue.
She glanced around at the street, making sure whoever had been watching her at Hurstwhile wasn’t hanging around still, planning to pick her off. They could hit Liam instead, and Benson PD would erupt if one of their sergeants was hurt or killed.
Roxie headed for the hood of her car. “Let’s go inside.”
She didn’t really need to invite him in, but he clearly had something to say, and he’d been waiting for her. She respected who he was far too much not to give him that. The fact her heart would be breaking the entire time was something she’d just have to deal with.
She used her key, then called out, “Destiny!” in case her roommate had come home already.
No answer. Was that good or bad?
She dumped her backpack in the hallway instead of taking it to her room. “Would you like a drink? Some coffee?” She headed for the kitchen since it wasn’t far.
“This won’t take that long.”
She winced because he couldn’t see her face, then blanked her expression and turned, leaning the side of her hip against the end of the counter for support. “What can I help you with?”
His expression flexed, just a tiny shift of the skin around his eyes. “I know what case you’re working on. I know why.”
She said nothing.
“Leave it alone. The past doesn’t need to get dragged up at this point. It’s over. Who cares what happened to a homeless guy whoshot my father in the back? The man just OD’d. Probably out of an abundance of guilt.”
She stared at him, remembering that hug on the floor the moment after he found out about his father’s death. That guy who had clung to her was so different from this man. Years had passed, and it was like he had turned to stone. There was a hardness to him now that hadn’t been there before.
She tried to keep her voice steady. “I can pass that on to Bob, but I don’t really get a say in what I work. I’m too new with the company.”
“Why did you come here?” Liam stared at her in a way that made her want to crack. It probably worked great on criminals. “You knew that I live here.”
And it had seemed like a good place to start over, but not just because of that tiny flicker of hope inside her that she could have the impossible thing she wanted. “The Search and Rescue training center.”
“And now Vanguard. Didn’t you pass Mitchell’s course?”
“I got certified.”
“And you’re working for Vanguard now, not as a dog handler?”
She swallowed. “It’s…” No words came for an explanation, and why did he need to know anyway? It was her business, and they weren’t part of each other’s lives. It wasn’t like he actually cared about her. “It’s my choice. My life. I’m not living beholden to someone else’s whims.” Not anymore.
“The Marine Corps wasn’t that bad, was it?”
It hadn’t been bad at all. Her life as a marine had given her a clarity of purpose. These days, she was adrift, getting tossed around with no clue how to navigate anything.
All she could do was shake her head while the sheen of tears burned her eyes.
“Roxie?” He took a small step toward her.
