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“You know what I’ve learned about you in the very short amount of time I’ve known you?” he asks.
His question has a simple answer, the only answer I can come up with. “That I’m a magnet for trouble and bad luck?”
Liam tilts his head to the side and purses his lips. “Mmm, no. I’ve learned that you only give and never take even if you are desperate for a hand. It’s noble, but not practical. If someone wants to help you, let them help. What if they want to be a giver too? You can’t just hog the role of good person.” A smile unfurls across his lips.
“Yup. You hit the nail on the head,” Willa says. She cups her hand around her mouth to shield her face from where I’msitting. “But if you’re aggressively kinder, she buckles under pressure.”
I poke the back of her leg with my sock-covered toe. “Hey! Don’t give away my?—”
Another knock on the door.
My breath catches in my throat as I stare at the door, wishing I could see through the wood.
“Detective Straton,” he announces from the other side of the door.
“I’ll let him in,” Willa says.
He steps in and closes the door behind him, still dressed in the same white polo and khaki pants he was wearing last night. “Gellar? Long time no see, bud. How’s it going?”
“Jackson,” Liam replies. “I didn’t know you were promoted to detective. Congratulations, man. That’s great.” Liam stands up to shake Detective Straton’s hand.
They know each other. I shouldn’t be surprised, what with how small the year-round community is here. If someone grows up in Newport, they know everyone else who did, too.
“Family or friend?” Detective Straton asks him.
“Friend. Just checking in on Haley to see how she’s holding up.”
“Ah,” Detective Straton says. “Okay.” He straightens his shoulders and loops his thumbs into his belt loops. The hint of tension between the two men piques my curiosity, making me want to know more about how they know each other.
TWENTY-THREE
SUNDAY, JUNE 11TH 8:00 AM
Just after Detective Straton leaves, a wave of relief sloshes through me. They have a suspect in custody for last night’s attack. They haven’t gotten to the bottom of the unknown number, masked with Willa’s contact information, and he couldn’t give us any information on whether this person was connected to the Smith case. I’m still very much in the dark.
“Small world, huh?” Willa asks me.
I’ve been so consumed with staring at the black screen of the television I forgot she was sitting next to me on the couch. “You mean Liam and Detective Straton?”
“Yeah. I know this isn’t a big town, but I wonder how many people grew up here and stayed.”
My conversations with Liam haven’t flowed into our pasts or where we grew up, family life. Each time we’ve been together there have been more pressing topics to discuss unfortunately. “That’s a good question,” I reply.
“Do you know if Liam grew up here?” Willa curls her knees into her chest then drapes a blanket over her shoulders.
“I’m not sure. I guess I kind of assumed he did.”
Liam returns to the apartment after walking Detective Straton out ten or fifteen minutes ago. Maybe they were catching up. “Everything okay?” I ask him.
“Oh yeah. He used to patrol at the school I work at. I never knew why he left or why he was replaced, but his promotion makes sense. He’s a good guy.” I know I’m reading too far into everyone’s words and inflections, but he doesn’t sound overly convincing. I’m also running on little to no sleep and shouldn’t fall into my bad habit of psychoanalyzing anything right now. “I’m glad they have a suspect in custody.”
“Do you think there’s any correlation between the guy from last night and the one who sideswiped you at the wharf?” I ask.
Liam shrugs. “I gave Jackson the best description I could of the skateboarder. He said there might be a connection, but he couldn’t confirm. He’s looking into it.” I’d prefer these instances to be coincidences rather than entangled, but we were together when the unknown contact was messaging me. Nothing would surprise me.
What I really want to know is why Corbin wasn’t in the picture with Lara on the news this morning. He’s the one who was so strict about the girls not playing hide-and-seek. Then there were the bruises on both girls, and the internet search history showing someone looking for a marriage mediator. I’d love to know if they have Corbin in custody as a suspect.
“There’s so much more to this than what anyone is noticing,” I say, glancing over at Liam who seems glossed over while staring out the sliding doors.
