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

That was a relief. “Thanks for letting me know.”

In the morning, an insurance agent showed up, followed by a cleaning crew.

“Mr. McKenzie, Tom Tyron from your insurance company. Paige Walker called me last night, asked if I’d handle your case personally.”

“Thank you.” Liam let the agent inside and showed him the wrecked room.

Tyron gave a low whistle. “Someone really did a number in here. If it’s okay with you, I’ll take pictures and start on a report. Good thing you didn’t try to clean up. Makes it harder to assess the damage.”

Liam recalled Paige’s suggestion that he leave things as they were. “I probably would have, but Paige stopped me.”

“She’s good people. I’ve worked with her before. Unfortunately there are more cases like this than I want to count. If it’s okay with you, I’ll get started.”

“Thanks.”

Liam took the stairs two at a time, showered, put on fresh clothing and then decided to call Jonah. The sound of his son’s voice lifted his spirits and reminded him of all that was good in the world. He spoke with his parents for a few minutes and, reluctantly, told them of the vandalism.

When he returned downstairs, he found the agent finishing up. Another ring of the doorbell announced the arrival of a cleaning crew.

“Ms. Walker called us,” a friendly-looking woman said, “and told us you could use some help.” She took a quick look around. “I’d say she was right. My crew will have your place spick-and-span by the day’s end.”

“Thank you.” Liam saw the insurance agent out and, not for the first time, wondered what he’d have done without Paige.

He owed her an apology for his brusqueness last night when she’d trusted him with her feelings about God. Just because he didn’t share those feelings didn’t give him the right to dismiss her beliefs.

It would be empowering to believe the Lord was on his side. The reflection reminded him of his childhood, when he’d trusted God would never allow anything bad to happen.

The accident had shattered that trust. Forever.

ELEVEN

A day spent looking up the old classmates he had not yet talked with had revealed little. Several had moved away, while still others had not even heard about the accidents. Their blank expressions had convinced Liam and Paige that they were telling the truth.

As gently as possible, Liam told them of his suspicions that the deaths weren’t accidents and suggested his former classmates contact the police and ask for protection. He didn’t want to alarm them, but they needed to be prepared. He didn’t know whether they’d seek help from the police, but he had to at least warn them.

“Something has to break loose,” Paige said once they were back in the car. “We’ve visited all the survivors in the area, and no one popped as a murderer.”

“Well, we weren’t exactly expecting whoever’s behind this to wear a sign saying ‘Murderer,’ were we?” The sharpness of his tone caused him to flush. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“It’s okay.”

His frustration was growing with every hour.

Without any new leads, he didn’t know how they were going to find out who was behind the murders, but knowing that he wasn’t alone in the fight, that Paige was on his side, made a difference.

He didn’t know what to make of her. She was beautiful. That was a given. She was also extremely intelligent. Another given. But there was more to this woman than he’d anticipated, and his feelings for her were more complicated than he wanted.

Simple was always best, but Paige Walker was not a simple woman. She was multilayered and complicated and so lovely that she took away his breath. Added to that were her compassion and faith and humor and everything else that went to make her up.

What right did he have to think she could want a man like him, broken in so many ways?

With more effort than it should have taken, he forced himself to turn his thoughts to what mattered: Who was next on the killer’s list? And, more importantly, how could he and Paige stop another murder?

The call came as Liam and Paige drove back to his home.

“Reva. Slow down. Say that again.” Liam listened with growing concern.

Her words came in bits and pieces. “A gas leak at my house... Fire department and police came.” A pause as though she were trying to recall something. “A detective named Reineke showed up.”

“Are you all right?” He listened some more.

“Got out in time... In hospital now.”

“Okay. Get checked out. Stay overnight if they tell you to. We’ll stop by to check on you.” He ended the call and turned to Paige.

“Reva’s house was filled with gas. The fire department got there in time. Turns out the pilot light had been turned off.”

“Another so-called accident,” Paige guessed.

“She’s going to the hospital now. I told her we’d go see her. But first I want to check with Detective Reineke. Reva said he was at the house. Okay with you?”

“Let’s go.”

Liam drove to Reva’s home to find the scene a jurisdictional nightmare, with the fire and police departments each vying for authority. Pouring rain didn’t help matters. Police and firefighters alike wore slickers over their uniforms, making it hard to distinguish who was who.

Liam spotted the detective, who motioned him and Paige to one side.

“Gas leak. The mayor’s fortunate she woke in time to get out and call the fire department. Another few minutes and it would have been a different story. Gas inhalation could have killed her.”

“An accident?” Paige said with ironic emphasis.

Reineke favored her with a scowl. “It could be an accident. Or it could be attempted murder.” His sigh was long-suffering.

“Where do we go from here?”

“I’m going to go through the records of the other ‘accidents,’ see what the forensic team can come up with. I’ll start interviewing the remaining survivors, gather impressions. And I want to take a long look at the bus accident of fifteen