Chapter Twenty Five
L I A M
I paced in the hospital hallway like I had been for the past hour or so. Lila was currently in a room to my right and Niall was probably asleep at her bedside. She was our biggest lead. Harry was suddenly unresponsive, but I had heard there was a big breakthrough in another case he was a part of, so I couldn't exactly blame him, even as angry as I was.
Lila's condition was stable, but it had been more than twenty-four hours and she still hadn't woken up. The doctors said that the concussion was pretty bad, so her resting and healing was probably for the best, even if it meant we didn't have leads on what happened. They warned us and some private investigators I hired that she may not even remember what happened when she woke up, which was my biggest fear.
The house had been torn apart looking for evidence of any kind, but we hadn't found anything yet. We knew that Lila had been in the bedroom when the intruder got in, but there weren't any signs of forced entry. My investigators claimed that it had to be someone that we knew, someone that Sage and Lila would let into their flat without any hesitation.
Zayn was the first person I went to, and I was regrettably and unnecessarily rough with him. I stormed into his house and had to refrain from slamming him into the wall. "Did you touch her?" I had snapped. "I swear, Zayn, I'll end you."
He snorted, walking over to the little bar set up in his front room. "What now? Did she finally get away from you?" he had replied.
"You know what we've been dealing with. And now someone has taken her and injured her best friend. If you know anything-"
"Liam. We're mates. You've known me for years. Yes, I came onto little Arianne. But I do actually like her a little bit. Why would I want to harm her or someone else just to have her once?" Zayn replied evenly, taking a shot of whiskey. "I'm not sure whether to be offended or flattered you think I could get that girl on my own."
He passed me a shot of whiskey, which I took and downed quickly, rubbing my face tiredly. "I know some guys. Investigators that will do some good work for you. I'll give them a call, alright?"
Back to the present, I had found a seat nearby, y head in my hands. After a while of thinking like this, my head started to pound like mad. Every second I spent trying to figure out where Arianne was, she could be getting further away from me. She could be getting more hurt. Or just being afraid. That hurt my heart the most, imagining that Arianne was scared and alone and cold.
"And you're sure there wasn't anyone that hasn't been accounted for during the time frame?" the investigators had asked me multiple times. They kept asking me this, as if they already knew the answer but wanted me to tell them.
My brain inched through every moment of that day, starting from when Arianne kissed me goodbye. She promised to keep the door locked and not answer it for anyone we didn't all trust. Then I watched as Niall and Lila shared a soft, slow look that raised a few questions about what their relationship really was. I did notice Lila blushed when he said something to her, but as quick as it came, it was gone. Then Niall and I were out.
When we started down the stairs to our car, I remembered looking around for any suspicious cars or people, like I did every time. But there was nothing out of place.
From getting into the car to arriving at the grocery store, I couldn't find a single thing out of place. The timeline placed someone breaking in just as I entered the grocery store. It was someone that Arianne and Lila must have known and let in. Harry had to have been at work, so that's his alibi. And it wasn't like Niall left-
I gasped out a curse word when I realized. He did leave. And it lined up. All of it. The time he left me to shop by myself was the time that someone had gotten into the apartment.
My body was moving before my mind did. I burst into the hospital room, and Niall looked up at me hopefully. "She's awake, Liam. She woke-"
I grabbed him by the throat and pinned him against the nearest wall, gritting my teeth. Niall clawed viciously at my arm. "What the hell?" he gushed.
"You were gone! You were MIA when the attack on our girls happened! It was you, wasn't it?" I roared. "I trusted you with not only my own life but with my Arianne's. They trusted you and cared about you. We all did, dammit!"
Niall gaped at me, his face turning pink as I cut off oxygen momentarily. I wanted him to talk.
There was a quiet grunting coming from the hospital bed. Lila actually had awoken, surprisingly. Her eyes were wide with fear and tears. She just shook her head at me. "Not," she mumbled. "Not, not, not, not!"
I let go of Niall quickly, moving to stand at the edge of her bed. "Not what, Lila? Do you remember?" I was being a little more harsh and forceful than I shoudl have, but at this point I was desperate for anything she could tell us.
"Not... him," Lila whispered. "Not Niall."
Niall was sitting on the ground, rubbing his red neck in pain and discomfort. "Where did you go?" I asked sharply. "What was so important that you left? And I swear, if it doesn't line up-"
"I was making reservations to take Lila out. On a real date. To a real restaurant," he claimed. "And ordering a bouquet of flowers. Okay? Is that good enough for you?"
Lila had fallen back into unconsciousness, which was probably for the best. "I'm worried about her too, you know," Niall said quietly. "But you're my best mate. I would never have suspected this of you. You know everything I have done for these girls and you still think that I could have ever done something like this?"
"I don't know what to do," I muttered defeatedly, smashing my fist into the nearest empty wall. "She's out there scared and hurt and I can't do anything! The 48-hour window has passed. The chances of ever finding her again are so slim. I'm going to go mad if we can't find her, Niall. I can't go without her anymore. And she... what if they really hurt her? What if they-"
Niall finally staggered to his feet, patting my back tenderly. "It'll be alright. We are going to figure this out. We are so close. I just know it."
"But what if we're not?"
"Then we'll keep getting closer until we are and then we'll blast the guy's head off. Easy as that."
I turned towards the door to ask for an ice pack for my friend and to also return to my pacing spot, when Lila somehow came to again. She said something so softly and weakly that Niall and I had to crowd around her bed.
Niall curled his hand into hers, brushing the hair back from her forehead. "What was that, love? We couldn't hear."
Lila swallowed, blinking at Niall for a few moments before turning to me.
"Not Niall. Harry."
