“That’s surprisingly… enlightened… of Kobe.” I frowned. “I hope he’s not just telling her what she wants to hear.”
“I don’t think so. I think he’s really in love with Janelle.” He sighed. “Her parents will probably flip out when they hear the happy news.”
“Yeah, how will they be able to hold their heads high with their daughter carrying the baby of a bigamist? God, they’re such fucking snobs,” I mumbled.
“Apparently, Michael and Angela aren’t getting along these days.” He stopped talking abruptly. “Shit. I really shouldn’t have mentioned that. I’m still sleepy.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like I thought they were happily married.”
“True.”
From his tone, I gathered things were even worse than usual. “Angela came to see me the other day before Liam was officially missing,” I said.
“Did she?”
“Yep. She was convinced something was wrong. I’ve never seen her give a shit about anyone but herself. It was odd.”
“Where in the world could Liam James be?”
“Beats me,” I said. “Maybe he got sick of the Raidens’ bullshit, and he moved.”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?”
“No.”
“So, where could he be?”
I grimaced. “No idea. I don’t have a good feeling about it.”
Max tensed. “Do you think something bad happened?”
“It’s not typical for a grown man to just… disappear.”
“I suppose that’s true. Being a cop, he might know how to do it though.”
I frowned. “But… why bother?”
“Good point.” Max asked, “With Kyle dead and Liam missing, what does that mean for the special recall election?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can Michael Raiden just get another person to take Liam’s place? Is that even a thing?”
“I seriously have no idea. This is my first recall election.” I laughed humorlessly.
“True.”
When my cell rang, I groaned. “What now? I can barely keep my eyes open.” I forced myself to sit up and grab my phone. I wasn’t very polite as I growled, “What?”
There was silence, and then Deputy Juan’s hesitant voice came over the line. “Is that you, boss?”
Feeling guilty, I pinched the skin between my eyes. “Yeah, sorry. What is it, Deputy Juan?”
“A group of nighttime off-roaders just found Liam James’s burned-out car about twenty miles out of town, off the main road.”
With a feeling of trepidation, I asked, “Is he in it?”
After a slight pause, Deputy Juan said, “Someone is.”
