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

“My son. My home. My responsibility.” Systematically, he went through Jonah’s room, then his own, looking for anything missing.

When he couldn’t find anything, Paige knew he felt no relief. Whoever had done this had wanted to make a point that left no room for doubt as to its meaning.

“We called CSU. They’ll dust for fingerprints,” the older officer said. “Vandals aren’t known for being careful. They might have left some behind.”

Paige and Liam exchanged looks. They both knew this wasn’t an ordinary case of vandalism. This was a direct warning. There’d be no fingerprints, no evidence of any kind.

A crime scene unit showed up, dusted for prints. “We’ll need yours and your son’s,” a technician told Liam, “for elimination.”

“I had my son’s prints taken in an antikidnapping initiative the police held last year,” Liam said. “Mine are on file with the military.”

“Got it.”

When the police and CSU techs left, Paige did another survey. Unable to help herself, she picked up a picture of Jonah. It had been ripped from its frame with a bull’s-eye drawn in marker on the center of his forehead.

Its message terrified her. This wasn’t simply an attack on the house but a personal warning, hitting Liam where he was most vulnerable.

Liam took the picture from her, crumpled it in one large hand, then smoothed it out and laid it on the one end table that hadn’t been overturned. When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes.

He made an angry swipe at them. “That’s the second time tonight I’ve found myself crying. Deltas don’t cry.” He sounded bewildered as well as embarrassed.

She brushed away the remaining tears with the pads of her thumbs. “But fathers do.”

He took her hand in his and brought it to his lips. “Thank you.” As though suddenly aware of what he’d done, he released her hand.

“Whoever did this, we’ll get them,” she promised. “They won’t get away with it.”

“How do you know it’s a them?”

“This took coordination and planning. Someone knew when you wouldn’t be home and made certain this would be waiting for you. This kind of destruction took time.”

“You’re right. I should have figured that out for myself. Thank you for coming. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“You did the right thing. Now, what can I do?”

“In the morning, I need to call my insurance agent, get someone out here to take pictures. The whole thing makes me tired and it hasn’t even started yet.”

“Let me deal with the insurance. And I’ll arrange for a cleanup crew once the agency has had time to assess the damage. I can order replacement furniture online and have it delivered.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I want to.”

“You didn’t sign on for that.”

“I signed on to help you put an end to what’s going on. To my way of thinking, this is part of the job.”

“Thank you.” His voice choked. “Seriously, thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s all part of the S&J service.”

That wasn’t true, and they both knew it. But for now, it was enough.

“There’s something you need to think about,” she said. “This was a direct warning, not only against you but against Jonah. Someone wants you off this case. You can step back. I’ll keep investigating. I won’t stop until I find who’s behind all this.”

“I’ve thought about it.” The admission came with such reluctance that she longed to remove the burden from him. “But if I back off, I’d never be able to trust myself again.”

She hadn’t expected anything different, but she’d had to try. “Okay. I think you need to tell your parents what’s going on so that they’ll be extra careful with Jonah’s safety.”

“You’re right.”

After getting the name of Liam’s insurance agency, she contacted it and arranged for an agent to be at Liam’s house first thing in the morning.

She felt his frustration, knew he wanted to be doing something. “I know you want to clean things up, but we have to hold off. The agent will want to take pictures so the company can assess the damage.”

“I know. It’s not the stuff that bothers me. That can be replaced. It’s the little things like Jonah’s artwork. What am I going to tell him happened to the pictures he was so proud of?”

“We’ll find a way.” She used the plural we without even thinking about it.

“Thanks. I don’t think I could have faced this alone.”

“You would. You could. But you don’t have to. I’ll be here. But there’s Somebody more important on your side.”

Resignation was heavy in his voice. “You’re talking about God.”

“And you don’t want to hear it. I get it.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to hear it. It’s that God doesn’t want anything to do with me. He hasn’t for a long time.”

“Since the accident,” she said.

“Yeah. Since the accident. Maybe I’d have worked through my feelings about that, but I’ve seen too much, done too much to believe that the Lord even knows I’m alive.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” The harsh order caused her to take an involuntary step back.

“I’m still sorry. Sorry that you’ve been hurt so much, seen so much, felt so much that you can’t believe anymore.”

There was more she wanted to say, but an edgy tension shimmering from Liam warned her to hold her tongue. She let the silence settle until she thought he was ready to talk.

“You can tell me what you’re feeling,” she invited. “I don’t bite.”

“No. You don’t bite. But you’re probably judging me.”

“Why would I do that?” Astonishment had her staring at him.

“Because I’m not a believer.”

“Wow. That’s pretty insulting that you think I’d judge you for not believing as I do.” A line of heat rode up her spine.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean... I don’t know what I mean.” The impatience in his words caused her to let go of much of her indignation, because she knew it was directed more at himself than at her. He straightened two kitchen chairs and gestured for her to sit.

“You’re going to say the