Strange Medicine (Dr. Maxwell Thornton Murder Mysteries #1)(57)

I was a mixture of numb and terrified. Liam seemed unstable, and that made me extremely worried. Plus, now that I’d seen their faces, I was scared that was a bad sign for me. “If I were you, I’d get the hell out of town ASAP.”

“You shouldn’t talk.” Liam leaned toward me, his face flushed with anger. “You have no idea what I’m capable of.”

I winced from the aggression in his voice. “I didn’t ask to be here.”

“Then you shouldn’t have gone snooping around,” he barked. “You should have kept your nose out of things you didn’t understand.”

“You were in my house. It was hard not to notice.”

“I should have gutted you when I had the chance,” he spat out.

A chill shivered down my spine, and I held my tongue. He was too angry to reason with, and I felt as if he was just looking for a reason to kill me.

“Liam, calm down,” Hanna pleaded.

He pointed at me. “Tell him to keep his fucking mouth shut or else.”

She turned to me, her features tense. “We don’t have to hurt you. If… if you just cooperate you should get out of this unharmed.” Hanna held my gaze as she spoke.

I lifted one brow. “Is that what you told Ned right before you bashed his brains in?”

Her face flushed pink. “That wasn’t my idea.” She shot her husband an irritable look. “But Ned was no innocent.”

“That makes even less sense. If he was your accomplice, then why kill him?”

Liam scowled. “That’s none of your business.”

I chuffed. “I’d have loved to not be involved. You pulled me into this mess by ransacking my house multiple times and trying to frame me for Ned’s murder.”

“It wasn’t personal. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That’s all.” Hanna crossed her arms.

“It felt pretty personal.”

“It’s bullshit they let you off for Ned’s murder.” Liam’s face was flushed and angry. “But I didn’t foresee you fucking the local sheriff.”

My face warmed, but I didn’t respond to his remark.

“Like I said, if you do as you’re told we won’t hurt you.” Hanna gave her husband a nervous glance.

“I’m not sure Liam sees it the same way,” I said softly.

His smile was malevolent.

When Hanna caught his expression, she gave a sharp intake of breath. “Liam, what is going on in that head of yours? We’re not going to just start killing people because they get in the way.”

“You want to go to jail, Hanna?” he snapped. “Because I sure as hell don’t.”

Her face lost its color, and she shot me a worried look. “I know we’re under a lot of pressure. But we don’t have to turn into animals. Ned was a mistake. We can get past that.”

“Ned was a necessity. The sooner you accept that, the better,” he snarled.

“How can you say that?” Her voice trembled.

“Ned was a basket case. Jesus fucking Christ, he was going all over town blabbering about buying property. Anyone in their right mind knew he didn’t have a pot to piss in. He was an idiot. The more he talked, the more danger we were all in. He needed to be silenced.”

“I don’t believe you mean that.”

“You better wake up, Hanna.” His tone was harsh.

She licked her lips, her eyes glittery. “Honey, you’re just upset. The plan was to get the gold and leave town. If you start killing everyone, the cops will come down on us with a vengeance.”

He raked a hand through what little hair he had. “Like they’re not going to already?”

My ears pricked as she mentioned the word gold again. Was that what they’d been looking for in my house? Gold? Why would they think there was gold at my house?

“If Rocky hasn’t talked, we still have time to get to the bank and get the hell out of town.” Hanna looked around nervously, as if she expected a SWAT team to descend.

“Then pack a few things and let’s go.” Liam gave me a cold look. “I can deal with him.”

“No!” Hanna held out her hand. “We don’t have to do anything violent.”

“Of course we do. He’s not an idiot, and he knows way too much.” Liam stood and moved toward me.

I was in shock as he approached me. I couldn’t believe that any of this was happening. I’d taken this small-town job hoping life would be simple and uncomplicated, and instead I was about to be murdered? It all seemed too impossible. “Look, I don’t know half of what the hell is going on. I know there’s something in my house you want and you killed Ned. That’s it.”

Liam sneered. “Isn’t that enough?”

Hanna surprised me when she moved between me and her husband. “Honey, we’re leaving town anyway. What does it matter what he thinks he knows?”

“Loose ends, babe.” His voice was harsh.

She moved up to him and touched his arm. “We aren’t like this. Please listen to me.”

He shook off her grip. “Of course we’re like this. You’re living in a fucking paradise if you don’t realize this has to happen.”

She looked at me over her shoulder, and her eyes were red-rimmed and panicked. “No. I’m not okay with this. The idea was to make money, not become monsters.”