Kate Hoffmann - Liam

“What would you like to know?”

“Tell me your real name, Ronald.”

He laughed and now Liam could imagine Ronald touching her, slipping his hands around her waist, kissing the curve of her shoulder. Liam fought back the impulse to storm into the living room to place himself between them. This had gone way too far!

“When you tell me you’re in, I’ll tell you my real name.”

“I’m going to have to think about this,” Ellie finally said. “Can I give you my decision in a few days?”

“Or you could just give me your decision tonight. Much later tonight. After we’ve had a chance to get reacquainted.”

This time Liam knew they were kissing. He heard Ronald growl softly and Ellie sigh. Anger bubbled up inside him and he wondered just how far Ellie was going to take this. She and Ronald had already agreed to meet the next day. Was she doing this just to torment Liam, knowing that he was listening to the whole thing?

“I think it would be best if we just took our time,” Ellie said. “This is going to be a big change in my life. I’m going to have to give up a lot.”

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Ronald said, Liam hearing the tension in his voice.

“The money’s not going anywhere, Ronald. And aren’t the best things worth waiting for? Just think of what you’ll be getting. Money…and me.” Liam heard the door open. “I’ll call you, Ronald.”

“Good night, Eleanor.”

The door creaked as it closed and he heard her slide the dead bolt home. Liam waited a few more seconds then stalked out of the bedroom, nearly running into her as she rushed down the hall to the bathroom. He followed her through the door, not waiting for an invitation.

“Aack,” she said, reaching for her toothbrush. “Aack, aack. God, I thought I was going to retch.” She squeezed a healthy portion of toothpaste onto the brush and began to scrub her teeth and tongue.

“What the hell were you doing out there?”

“Did you hear what he said?” she asked, the toothbrush dangling from her mouth.

“Of course I did. I heard every word and every silence.”

She continued brushing, her words garbled. “He’s done this before. Three times. And Ronald Pettibone isn’t even his real name. He wouldn’t tell me what his real name was, but I’d bet we could figure it out from the banks he ripped off. He touched the wineglass. Maybe we could send his fingerprints in and get a match.”

“Sure, I’ll just run the glass down to One Hour Fingerprints and we’ll see what they come up with.”

She looked at his reflection in the mirror, then spit. “You don’t have to be so sarcastic.” Ellie grabbed a glass from the sink, filled it with water, then rinsed her mouth. “I bought us a few days at the most. Do you think Sean got it all on tape? He never even went near the flowers. That was the perfect place to hide the microphone.” She grabbed a towel and wiped her mouth, then turned to him. “I did good, didn’t I? Now Sean can give the evidence to the bank and they can have him arrested.”

“You took too many chances,” Liam said, his voice tight with anger.

“What are you talking about? I got him to admit that he’d pulled other jobs. I got him to admit that he took the money from Intertel-and from three other banks. And now he wants to run away with me so I can help him embezzle even more!”

Liam’s cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. It was Sean.

“Let me talk to Ellie,” Sean said.

Liam handed her the phone and watched as she listened to what Sean said. A wide smile curved her lips and she laughed not once but twice before she thanked Sean and said goodbye.

“He said I did a great job. And that he got everything on tape. And he said you should quit complaining and thank me.”

With a low curse, Liam stalked out of the bathroom. He found the tiny microphone hidden in the flowers and extracted it, then looked directly across the street at the attic window. “Turn this damn thing off right now,” he said. To assure himself that his request had been followed, he tugged the mike off the wire and tossed it on the table. Then he reached for the curtains and yanked them shut.

He turned to find Ellie watching him, her hands hitched on her hips. “What is your problem?”

“You’re my problem,” he muttered, crossing the room to grab his jacket from the sofa.

“I’m your problem? How? How am I your problem? The way I see it, I’m the one who should be angry. I didn’t do anything. I didn’t embezzle a quarter million dollars. I didn’t lie about my motives in this relationship. I didn’t spy on someone who shouldn’t have been spied on in the first place. I’m the innocent one here.”

“Right. You’re innocent. I’m supposed to believe that after the way you behaved with Ronald Pettibone?”

“That was strictly professional,” she countered.

“And what kind of profession were you engaged in?”

Her eyes narrowed at his thinly veiled insult and she walked up to him, her body just inches from his. “I should slap you for that.”

“Go ahead,” Liam challenged.

Her eyes blazed with anger and her breath came in short gasps, but she didn’t rise to his bait. Her fingers clenched into fists and she started to turn away. In the blink of an eye, Liam’s own anger shifted. He snaked his arm around her waist, pulling her against him and bringing his mouth down on hers in a hard, uncompromising kiss.

At first she fought him, but as his tongue invaded her mouth, he felt her soften in his arms, her body growing pliant beneath his touch. His hands slipped from the sweet curves of her hips to her backside, pulling her even closer, his need hot and hard between them.

A tiny groan slipped from her throat and she wrapped her arms around his neck, surrendering to his kiss. Liam knew if he picked her up and carried her to the bedroom, he’d meet no resistance. But he wanted Ellie to need him as much as he needed her, to want him so badly, she couldn’t survive without him. So he pulled back, breaking the intimate contact and leaving her to stand alone on wobbly knees. He turned and pulled open the door.

“Wha- What are you doing?” she murmured, her forehead wrinkled with confusion.

“Just showing you what you’d be missing if you decided to run off with Ronald Pettibone,” Liam replied. With that he stepped into the hallway and closed the door behind him. He was nearly to the second-floor landing, when he heard a crash of glass upstairs. And then another.

“I guess I made my point,” he said with a smile.

“ARE YOU READY?”

Ellie glanced over at Sean Quinn, sitting behind the wheel of the car. He stared straight ahead, his gaze fixed on the facade of Rawson Bank a half block away. “I think so,” she said. “I’m a little nervous.”

“There’s no need to be. Liam says that Pettibone is already inside waiting for you. There are F.B.I. agents inside, as well.”

“The F.B.I. is here?”

“Ronald broke a few federal laws, too, so they’re in on the case.”

“How will I know them?” Ellie asked.

“You don’t need to know them. They know you. You’re wired for sound and if you get in any trouble, just yell for help.”

“Trouble?”

“Don’t worry. It’s a public place. Ronald isn’t going to pull anything.”

Ellie nodded. “All right. Let’s review. I go inside, I give Ronald the key, and I wait while he opens the safe-deposit box. When he comes back out, they’ll arrest him. And then I can leave.”

Sean nodded. “They took your statement for the grand jury, but you may have to give the Feds more information. And then there’s Ronald’s trial. Or trials, depending upon who decides to go after him.”