Page 81 of The Bodyguard's Fall

“Come home with me, then,” he said quietly.

My heart sank, and hopelessness rose in my chest. “I can’t. I’m not doing that to Meg and Hazel.” I thought of my six-month-old niece’s chubby little smile and fingers, and there was no way I’d bring my problems to their door. “Please, Will,” I whispered.

He sighed. “I don’t know where to go from here. My boss won’t give me permission to move my team there. I’ve got the Autumn Ridge PD on the lookout, but other than that, I’m stuck. No matter where I put you, somebody is at risk until we find this guy. Tate’s willing and wants it, and he’s good at what he does, so I’m going to let him have it.”

I closed my eyes. I was done talking.

“Liv,” Will said softly. “Please tell me you’re not a flight risk.”

“I’m not a flight risk,” I said with little emotion.

Will swore and hung up on me.

Will: Walker. Get in there and talk some sense into my sister. Now. She’s ready to bail.

Tate: Why?

Will: She doesn’t like endangering your family.

Tate: My entire family is ready to go Die Hard on this guy for her.

Will: Just don’t let her out of your sight until I can figure something out.

I wasn’t a flight risk.

But I needed something for my hands to do. I was packing my bag because Will now had two days to figure something else out, and I would be ready when he did.

And being forced to sit and do nothing when you want to be doing something, anything, is the worst.

There were three things I knew for certain. I had put the entire Walker family at risk. I was about to be fired for living here. And Leroy was never going to stop.

The Walker home had become a fortress since this morning. Even if I did want to escape, I had no clue how to make that happen. Cameras now covered every square inch of the property on and near the house. This house was probably the safest place in the world for me now.

And to be honest, leaving was the last thing I really wanted to do.

Being with the Walkers and being accepted so easily in their family had been something I hadn’t known I’d been craving. Their family was the kind I had dreamed of having since I was a little girl.

But the jig was up.

A knock sounded outside my door, stalling my packing. Though my room hadn’t had much by way of personal decoration, there would be no way to hide what I was doing. I stood up and swiped at the lone tear falling from my eye.

“Come in.”

Tate opened my door, and when his sweeping gaze settled onto the two black duffel bags on my bed, he looked sharply at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving,” my voice came out soft.

“No, you’re not.”

“Not now. But I am soon.”

“You’re not.” He folded his arms and looked at me stubbornly.

“Tate, he could have killed us all.” I glanced at him before his piercing blue gaze became too much, and I looked to the floor. “Your whole family. It’s not worth it.”

“It’s my fault for not double-checking the house last night.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But you’re not leaving. We’ve changed all the locks, installed cameras. We know he’s in town somewhere. If you run now, you’ll have to start all over again.”