The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden(45)

Liam reaches into his pocket and hands it over to her without argument.

“It goes without saying,” Rivera says, “you don’t leave town without letting us know. We’ll be in touch about anything we find.”

With those words, she takes off, leaving my family alone again. I survey the living room, which doesn’t look like much has been disturbed. I wonder what they’ve been doing here all this time.

“They were mostly in Liam’s room,” Jason says, as it reading my thoughts. “And the car. They spent forever going through your car.”

“Are we going to see the lawyer?” I ask.

He nods. “Yeah, he fit us in for an hour from now.” He looks Liam up and down, at his ripped shirt and bruised face. “You better change clothes.”

Liam nods and goes upstairs. Hannah goes up to her room too, leaving Jason and me alone in the living room. Jason glances at the stairs and lowers his voice. “The attorney has a connection in the police department,” he murmurs. “He said they’re close to an arrest. They’re hoping to find something here today that will make it a slam dunk.”

I push away a sick feeling in my stomach. I can’t believe this is happening. I can’t believe there’s a good possibility Liam is about to get arrested.

“But they won’t,” he says.

I wish I believed in Liam’s innocence the way Jason does.

_____



Our attorney is named John Landon. He looks tall and capable, with a full head of gray hair, and a suit that looks very expensive. I didn’t even ask Jason what this guy is going to be costing us. I don’t want to know. But I know what attorneys charge, and if this guy is any good, he’s probably charging us a fortune.

Liam sits down between us in front of Landon’s mahogany desk. Not surprisingly, his cheekbone looks even worse than it did earlier in the day. He’s going to have one hell of a shiner. It will be his first. He’s never even needed stitches or had a broken bone before.

“What happened to your eye?” Landon asks him.

“I ran into this kid’s fist,” Liam says.

Jason rolls his eyes. “Some of the kids are giving him a hard time at school. They think he’s guilty.”

“Who does?” Landon asks.

Liam drops his eyes. “Everyone.”

Landon nods, unsurprised. “I’m afraid it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I just spoke to my contact at the police department, and it sounds like they found something during their search.”

All the hairs on my arms stand at attention. “What did they find?”

Landon spreads his arms apart. “I don’t know yet. But it’s something big, apparently. They said to expect an arrest in the next twenty-four hours.”

Liam’s face pales. “You mean they’re going to take me to jail?”

I always thought of Liam as a kid who could deal with anything. For the most part, everything seems to always roll off his back. Even when he got expelled from kindergarten all those years ago, he didn’t seem all that bothered by it. But at this moment, he looks absolutely terrified. I don’t blame him. I would be terrified too in his shoes. I’m terrified for him.

“I’m afraid so,” Landon says. “But I’m hoping based on your age and lack of priors, you’ll be able to make bail. They’re hoping to make a big deal out of some complaint from a guy named Richard Young—a teacher Liam had.”

Liam looks like he’s going to be sick. Of course, we all remember Richard Young. That was the first time the police ever showed up at our door, and I thought there was a reasonable chance Liam could end up in jail. But nothing ever came of it. What Young had claimed Liam did was horrible beyond words, but the man had no proof.

As for me, I was never sure.

“Do you know what Mr. Young accused him of doing?” Jason says.

“Yes. I do.”

“So you recognize that was completely blown out of proportion.” Jason folds his arms across his chest. “That guy was really paranoid. I mean, Liam was only thirteen at the time. Can you imagine? There’s no way he could have…”

Landon looks at Liam for several seconds. We made him put on a dress shirt and nice pants prior to this visit, and aside from the bruise on his face, he looks like his usual handsome, clean-cut self. “No, I agree. It seems unlikely.”

I let out a breath.

Landon folds his hands in front of him and focuses his gaze on my son. “Liam, I’m only going to ask you this one time. Do you know what happened to Olivia Mercer?”

Liam glances at me and then at Jason. “No,” he says.

Landon lifts an eyebrow. “You should know that anything you tell me stays in this room. Knowing the whole truth will help me to defend you. I don’t like surprises.”

“I don’t know what happened to her,” he insists.

I watch my son proclaim his innocence. As the words leave his mouth, I get this strong sensation that he’s lying. But then again, he’s always lying. Nothing he says anymore has any basis in reality. It makes me want to grab his shoulders and shake him.

Landon considers his words. I wonder if he’s thinking the same thing I am. “Mr. and Mrs. Cass, may I speak with Liam alone?”

Jason found. “Why?”