(Do Not Read Back Up Copy)

Chapter VII

Hailey

Six hours worth of hurt finally started to settle in.

My feet were cut up to the point where walking on my heels was hardly making a difference in the pain anymore. Liam wasn’t concerned either way. He'd drag me by the hair again just to get me to wherever the hell we were going if he needed to.

Took him a while, but he eventually wrenched me into the communal portion of the house, and two men in their mid-twenties, both lean and dark haired, stepped away from their posts to speak with him. God, they were scrawny. If these were the "others" Caleb mentioned earlier, I didn't have much to worry about.

At least, I hoped I didn't.

“Where the hell’ve you been Liam? Cillian and I’ve been waiting up for you and Caleb for near an’ hour.”

Liam ignored the questions of the broad shouldered stranger and left me standing alone in the center of the room while he preoccupied himself in the kitchen.

“I’m in no mood to chat, Marcus.”

He pulled an ice block out of the freezer and began breaking it apart in the sink.

“TochatLiam? Our youngest is plastered on every television in the tri-state, and you can’t be bothered to explain where you’ve been? I thought your man said no cops or press, the FBI’s practically out for Caleb!”

Liam stood with his back turned to Marcus, icing his injuries like they were his only concern. This guy was a real piece of work especially if this is how he dealt with people he seemed close to. I felt bad for the one called Marcus.

The guy was handsomely gaunt, and clearly had done his fare share of nerve fraying before we showed up. Marcus briefly turned his attention over to me, and then glanced over to the empty space at my back. He seemed paralyzed by a though momentarily, like an old fear decided to darted across his consciousness and disappear. He shook it off before anyone else noticed.

“Where’s Caleb?” he asked.

“Can’t recall at the moment, Marcus. Memory’s a bit fuzzy.”

“Cut the banter. He’s not safe by himself outside.”

“He’ll turn up soon enough. Dogs always do. ”

Liam plunged his knife through the heart of the ice, and left it to thaw in the sink basin along with the conversation. Cillian stepped off the edge of his chair, and sauntered into the kitchen. I don’t know exactly what it was about Cillian that frightened me.

Maybe the deliberately lazy way he dragged his feet across the floor, the stink of tobacco he trailed through the air, or the vacancy in his eyes, but I nearly fell backwards into Marcus just to put as much distance between us as I could.

He glanced at me, very carefully, right out of the corner of his eyes when he passed. They were cold, as cold as he was, and he made sure I knew exactly how he felt. Contempt was only the half of it.

“Done screwing around?”

He was soft spoken, but the somber lull of his voice was laced with threats.

“Should I be?”

Liam threw his knife into the already splintered wood of the kitchen table.

“This isn’t the time to be taking the piss, Liam.”

“Blame the girl! I said she’d be a distraction. Couldn’t keep her hands to herself on the drive back, right lovely?”

He clicked his tongue at me from across the room. I picked up a mason jar from the nightstand next to me and threw it in his general direction. He caught it and placed it down on the table.

“See why I like her?”

He beamed at me with a mouth full of butcher’s knives.

“You know that’s not what happened you lying s—!”

My voice broke between tears. I didn’t have the energy to fight a lunatic. My legs had gone numb, and my feet were rubbed so raw they looked like t-bone steaks. Marcus approached me and wiped the soot and mascara off my face. His hands were calloused, but

kind and careful.

“Never mind him Hailey, he’s getting sour in his old age. Sit for a while, you look tired.” He led me to a tattered couch and allowed me to rest my legs or the first time that day. Liam started at me from across the room.

“Take it easy love, I’d be a wreck too if I’d flown out of a truck!”

He broke out into a fit of laughter and Marcus had to reach out and stop me from leaving my seat.

“Hailey, please.” He pleaded, his eyes a beseeching blue-grey like Caleb’s. Had I not fallen for similar charms at the start of the day, I would have been more cooperative; but, I didn’t have any patience left in me.

“He’s still out there.” I stammered, terrified of the possible consequences of spilling Liam’s secrets.

“The hell’ are you on about?” Cillian barked. His misplaced skepticism put me on edge.

“Caleb’s still out in the field,“ I trailed off, unsure of whether the benefits of being honest were worth the risk.Again, Liam began watching me intently, like he’d sensed the reasons for my hesitation. He put his sknife on the edge of his lips, signaling me to keep silent; but as far as my loyalties were concerned, I held none to him.

“What’s happened, Hailey?” Marcus pleaded, the gentle blush in his cheeks fading.

“That sociopath who’s sitting in your kitchen—” Liam cut me off.

“Careful lovely, wouldn’t want anything to happen to you on account of your words now would we?” I ignored his warnings and continued.

“He beat your brother half-dead this morning and dragged me here-” I paused, and Liam’s eyes caught fire.

“You watch that tongue or I’ll carve it clean outta your mouth.”

“Liam—“ Marcus silenced him, giving me what few seconds I had left to speak freely.

“He left Caleb out there to burn.”

Cillian darted over to the window facing the cornfields and saw smoke billowing less than a mile down the road.

“There’s ash in the air Marcus. Whether she's twisting her stories or not, something's burning.”

Marcus’s face greyed. I couldn’t clearly assign his expression to either anger or fear, only shock. He took a moment to gather himself before speaking.

“Has Liam raised a hand to you Hailey?” he asked, with more sincerity in his voice at that moment than my father ever managed to muster.

“Couldn’t keep his hands to himself the whole ride home.”

“You shut your mouth!” Liam shouted across the room so loudly, I felt the violence in his voice. He slammed his chair to the ground, whipped around the kitchen table, and raced towards me. Cillian stepped out and blocked his path, grabbing his brother by the collar to stop him.

“I hope for your sake you’re telling the truth little Anderson. You’d be wise to avoid making your father’s mistakes in this house.”

Marcus took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes, unaware that the front door of the slaughterhouse was shuddering open behind him.

“If you’re lying Hailey, I can’t keep Liam away for long."

“She's not.”

Marcus turned to see who'd answered, and in came Caleb, bloodied, bruised, and standing rigid in the sunlight with an officer at his side.