Love Inspired Suspense April 2021--Box Set 2 of 2 Laura Scott (speed reading book .txt) 📖

then, but everyone is busy with families, jobs. Life.” He lifted a shoulder in a you-know-how-it-is shrug.

“That’s natural.”

Another shrug. “I stay in touch the best I can, but I’m a single parent with a business to run. Any spare time I have is spent with Jonah.”

“You said your son was five? How did he take being sent to his grandparents?”

“He loves them, and they adore him. They couldn’t be happier to have him.”

A smile found purchase on her lips. “Do you have a picture of him?”

“Remember—you asked.” He brought out his phone and scrolled through a couple of pictures. “Never ask a parent if they have pictures of their children. We could spend the next two hours going through them and still not scratch the surface.”

The obvious love for his son warmed her. How cute was it that Liam, a former special ops soldier, like many of S&J’s operatives, could show off pictures of his little boy with unabashed pride and such deep affection that it caused tears to prick her eyes? “You’re a proud father. I get it.”

“Being Jonah’s dad is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. If something were to happen to him...”

The words seemed to have stuck in his throat. To give him time to compose himself, Paige looked away, once again touched by the father’s love for his child.

“And I’m wasting time.” The banter left his tone. “I need help, Paige. Your help.”

“Why me?”

“Because you know the players. Or at least some of them.”

“Correction—I knew the players. They were Brett’s friends. They tolerated me hanging around, but mostly they considered me his bratty little sister, always pestering them. Plus they were three grades ahead of me.”

“And five years older,” he added.

“Don’t remind me.” Her grimace was heartfelt. “Going to high school at twelve was a mistake. My parents tried to tell me, but I insisted that I could handle it. I did all right academically, but I bombed socially. I never fit in. Brett always stood up for me.” She gave a self-deprecatory laugh. “The teachers didn’t know what to make of me, either. It didn’t take long to figure out that I didn’t belong, but I was too proud to admit it.”

“If I remember correctly, you did more than all right academically. You graduated at fifteen with honors, then went on to Ole Miss to study law enforcement. Graduated with honors by the time you were seventeen.”

Surprised and flattered that he knew this, she felt warm color rise to her cheeks and prayed Liam didn’t notice. “How did you know? You were long gone by then.”

“I kept tabs on you.”

She stared at him. She’d never even thought Liam McKenzie knew her first name—she was always Brett’s little sister—and now he told her that he’d kept tabs on her? It was both flattering and disconcerting. She wanted to ask how long he’d kept tabs on her but decided against it.

“Not in some stalkerish way,” he hurried to add. “But your brother died in that accident. I wanted to know how you were doing.”

She didn’t respond immediately. How could she when she had no idea of what to say? She made a point not to look back on those years following the accident. They had passed in a blur of tears on her parents’ part and guilt on her own—guilt that she was alive and Brett wasn’t.

As far back as she could remember, she’d known that Brett was her parents’ favorite. No matter what her accomplishments, she couldn’t compete with the golden boy. For the most part, she’d been okay with it...until he died and she’d witnessed her parents’ marriage slowly die along with him.

She’d attempted to take up the slack, had tried out for sports teams because that’s what Brett had excelled at. Nothing she’d done had been enough, and in the end, she’d quit trying.

“Nothing was ever the same after Brett died,” she said after a long pause. “Our family kept going. Sort of. My parents split up the year I graduated. With Brett gone and me leaving home, there was nothing to keep them together.” She directed a knowing look his way. “What happened wasn’t your fault. You did your best to save the other kids and got out as many as you could.”

“I wish my best had been good enough. For Brett and the others.”

His gaze darkened and locked with hers. Guilt had left a nasty stain upon the boy and the man. She wanted to tell him that guilt never solved anything.

She ought to know, but she couldn’t give advice she’d never taken herself.

Liam hadn’t made a mistake in coming here and enlisting Paige’s help. She was still the same über-intelligent girl and straight shooter he remembered from high school. The girl who had once been all braces, elbows and knobby knees had grown into a breathtakingly beautiful woman.

Dark red hair, the color of fall leaves, framed a face dominated by high cheekbones and brown eyes with flecks of gold in them. She didn’t try to play up her looks; on the contrary, she wore her hair pulled back in a ponytail, and her face was free of makeup. In his eyes, that made her all the more lovely. The appeal was unconventional and altogether unexpected.

Wow.

That had been his first thought.

His second was that he needed to keep his mind on business. He was a target. More importantly, he was all that Jonah had in the way of parents. His wife had taken off shortly after Jonah had been born and hadn’t looked back. Whatever bitterness he’d once felt toward her had long since vanished. She’d given him the most precious of all gifts: his son.

For several years, he’d blamed himself for her desertion. Now he saw it for what it was: selfishness and insecurity on her part. She’d never wanted to be a mother, never wanted the whole family thing that had been his dream—a white picket fence and a big sloppy dog. His success with his software