Blind Promises

52. Arrival

After a week on the road, all told, she was ready to be on solid ground again. Rich's baby was awesome, but next time she hoped they'd fly its fantasticness to their locale. Larry kept two places, one in Kenai and one in Palmer, they were in Palmer because of the thaw. Closer of the two, there would be no argument from her.

Rich was looking over all of the data Larry had gathered. Palmer's diner had amazing lunches and his wife Kim had gone to grab them some, or so she'd gathered. All she wanted was a hotel and a bed, she'd like to sleep for a week to make up for the drive. Rich, in fact, wasted no time in getting right to his work. Extensive networks of hand drawn outlines connecting several incidences and people together were laid out on a very large work table in the detached garage. Gwen invited herself to take a peek, even if she'd rather just nap, might as well if she couldn't, "Hrm, very nice, I can see I'm going to be staring at paper for a while. I think it would be prudent to add Bullard in there. Mandy said some guy came to see Casey a week or so before the first time we had our run in. Made him believe that he would be much better off in his company than where he was, much more appreciated. Casey was aware that some people had caught onto the domestic abuse, he was looking for a dishonorable any time. Maybe off to the side, just in case. Maybe not, everything falls under scrutiny for me."

"You must be Gwen, I've heard about you. A good deal, Hal said I'd be ready to ship you off to Russia before too long. I can't imagine it, as pretty as you are." Larry stuck his hand out, "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise, that Hal, always making me sound like a gem."

Liam kissed the side of her face, "You are a gem, Hal is showing affection."

"Sounds like it." Gwen looked at her husband, disbelief sunk into the way her lips were twisted into a fake grin. "But yeah, just out to the side somewhere, as extra information. Things have gone unnoticed because of their seemingly innocent nature that bit us in the ass, I'm only reminding ya'll."

"Point." Rich handed Larry a sheet of blank paper for the sake of continuity. "Information should be gathered from her, she's the most knowledgeable when it comes to that bit of intel."

Lacey sat on a stool until that point, "Dad, when are we going to the hotel? I'm tired."

Oh hell yes, she'd just done Gwen's dirty work, Lace was one of the loves of her life. "I wasn't going to say anything but it's been forever and ten days since I've had any proper rest."

"Lace, will you go throw a ball with Cooper, he needs some exercise in a bad way. We'll get into the hotel after we're done with this, I promise, beauty girl. I know you're bored." Liam bargained with the child. As for her, she was about to get a guilt trip, "Just a few more hours, so some yoga, get your bored bag out and work on something, tough it out for me?"

Gwen smiled at him, he'd understand one day, "Sure, what are a few more hours? I'll work on finishing that book now that it won't make me carsick."

"You're amazing." Liam kissed her nose. Gwen made a face, "Go be a badass instead of scamming me. I'm catching on, Liam Halstad."

Moments went by before the proper words came to mind, "Merely asking for accommodations for a while and commending you on your understanding is not scamming you. I love you, angel. You are amazing. In a year you've done more than most people do in a lifetime. Without any sort of training whatsoever, you've followed us around, let us lead you into dangerous situations, through hostile environments, you married me at a surprise wedding. Yes, you're amazing."

Gwen kissed him. Liam smiled shyly, rubbed his neck, inspected the soil beneath her feet, this was the Liam she fell in love with. He flushed, adorable warm cheeks ensured one more kiss there, maybe one on an incredibly red ear. He knew she was right, after Rich had busted him out, she'd started watching him, his speech patterns, exactly what he said to her. Long standing habit was hard to break, it was his job, he was good at it. "Liam, I love you, go do your job, make sure to copy those because I want to look over them without either of those two in my face, if you don't mind, okay?"

"I'll see what I can get, angel," he offered. On her toes, warmth from his ear infused her lips with his heat, she was suddenly struck with emotion. Fingers trailed down his cheek, she turned and bounced out to the truck, the tear that fell would never catch his attention. Fuck, this was not going to work. His full attention was needed elsewhere, her attention was needed elsewhere, there was no time for a breakdown.

Verdant, rolling grass waved behind Lacey and Coop, it looked like they were dancing to a hypnotic native beat she couldn't hear. Cooper rarely had the pleasure of a child to play with, his joy was apparent, he was off the clock, they'd taken his vest off, only his collar remained. For the first time since leaving Arkansas, Lace was carefree. Maybe staying a while would work out just fine.