What Have You Done(56)

Vanessa. Liam couldn’t imagine how this news could be impacting her. “I can’t believe this.”

“Stay hidden, and I’ll be in touch. Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“I’ll call you when I know more.”

“Help me, Sean.”

“I’m trying.”

The connection was terminated. Liam dropped the phone into his pocket and fell farther to the dusty ground, the sunlight warm on his skin.

“Hey! You can’t be here!”

A small group of dockworkers was rushing toward him, pointing and yelling. They were dressed in identical blue overalls and yellow hard hats. Two men from the group broke from the pack and started to run.

“This area is restricted! Get over here!”

Liam scrambled to his feet and ran as fast as his aching legs could carry him. He was dizzy, his head a mass of pain. His boots slipped on loose gravel, and he crashed into the side of one of the containers. The men were coming. He could hear them approaching like horses galloping. He got to his feet and sprinted toward the river, weaving in and out of the container rows.

“I think he went this way!” one of the men shouted.

Liam ducked behind a stack of old railroad ties and scurried along the bank of the river. The men were only a few feet away. He thought about what Sean had said.

This is about avoiding the death penalty.

He kept running.

The half circle of a storm drain peeked from the base of the river about twenty yards away. Liam scurried to the edge of the water and stopped, his heart beating in his chest so hard he thought it might explode. The tide lapped lazily against the shore, lulling him into a false sense of calm. It looked so unassuming, but he knew that death was just beneath its surface.

The men were closing in. He could hear them. Closer.

Liam swallowed the lump in his throat and waded into the water until he was waist-deep inside the mouth of the storm drain. Each step was agony. He felt as if he might slip and could feel the current reaching for him, trying to drag him out to sea. The men’s boots crushed the gravel beneath them as they came closer. He eased himself forward, pushing ahead until he was hidden in the darkness. No one would be able to see him without coming into the water. He was safe for now.

The footsteps carried past the drain, and Liam let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He would remain in the drain until half the day had passed, trying to figure out his next move, a fugitive from the law. A murderer.





43

Sean hung up his phone and then turned it off completely. He stared at the note that was written on a piece of copy paper, scribbled quickly and taped to his computer monitor. LT wants you. As he walked through the floor, the others stared at him from the safety of their own desks. They’d said little to him since word of Liam’s crime had spread through the department. What could they say? His brother was wanted for a double homicide.

The lieutenant was talking on the phone when Sean knocked. Phillips motioned for him to come in. “I understand, sir,” Phillips said. “Yes, I’ll look into it. We’ll get some units on it right away, and I’ll call you back in an hour with a progress report. Yes, sir. Thank you. Goodbye.” He hung up and collapsed into his seat. “Too much,” he said. He looked outside his office. “I need traffic cam footage from the Guzio house!”

“On it!” a voice replied.

Phillips turned his attention back to his detective. “Sean, talk to me. What’s happening? Where did this come from with Liam?”

Sean held out his hands in surrender. “I don’t know.”

The lieutenant leaned forward in his seat, his eyes focused, cold. “Tell me the truth. I have no time or patience for anything else. I need to hear it straight from you. One time, between you and me. Did you know her? The victim? This Kerri Miller?”

“Never saw her in my life.”

“You’re sure?”

“You’re hearing it straight.”

“I better be.”

“You are.”

There was a beat of silence before Phillips rubbed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. “We got all our men on it. It won’t be long before we find him.”

“I’d like to be there when you bring him in. If that’s okay.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to the captain and IA. I’m sure that’ll be fine.”

“No perp walk. We bring him in through the back, and I’m there with his PBA rep.”

“I know how it works.”

Sean rocked back in his seat. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “Because this is a first for me.”

Phillips shook his head and started playing with a rubber band that was on his desk. “Known that boy for as long as I can remember. Was in Don’s wedding party. Part of my sister’s wedding. How can this be?”

“I was his brother and had no idea. We were all in the dark on this one.”

“And you never saw a violent side of him?”

“Never.”

“And you didn’t know the victim?”

“I told you, no. I’m as surprised about all this as you are.”

“They’re going to make an example out of him. This case is a gift as far as the press is concerned. Serial killer is a cop. There’ll be too much pressure on the DA. She’ll be forced to go full-on with everything. Death penalty. Life with no parole. Something like that.”