Free Beers, Lies and Alibis (Warblers Point Series Book 2) by Meghan Quinn Page B

silence in her room.  
    “Daddy?”
    “Yeah?” Liam asked.  
    “When will we move back in with you? I miss you.”
    If Liam’s heart wasn’t already gutted out of his chest, then Catherine’s words just did the trick. The innocence pouring off his little girl was almost excruciating.  
    “I’m working on it, Catherine.”
    “Ok, ‘cause Mommy’s sad and I think it’s because we’re not in our house anymore.”
    “Did she say that?” Liam asked, almost hoping for some kind of information about his mystery of a wife, even if it came from his four-year-old daughter.  
    “No, I can just tell. She looks at a picture of you that she has under her mattress. She doesn’t think I see her looking at it, but I do.”
    Liam pressed his forehead against the doorjamb of her room, trying to ignore the knots that were tying up his intestines that any sailor would be proud of.  
    “Well, I will work on it, okay?”
    “Okay, Daddy. Good night.”
    “Night, granny.”
    Liam clicked Catherine’s door shut as he thought about what his daughter had just divulged to him. Neala had a picture of him that she stared at? Why would she have a picture of him that she hid if she wanted nothing to do with him?
    Wanting to know more about what was going on in Neala’s head, Liam took off toward her room, but was stopped immediately when he heard the front door open and voices echo through the silent house.  
    Liam took off toward the front door so he could finally talk to Neala, but stopped short when he saw only Neala’s parents.  
    “Where’s Neala?” Liam asked.
    “Thank you for taking care of Catherine while we were gone,” said her mother, completely ignoring his question.  
    “What do you think I would do, leave my daughter here all alone while her mother was in the hospital?” Anger spilled from Liam’s mouth.  
    “That’s not what she meant, son. She was just thanking you for coming over on such short notice.  
    Trying not to blow a gasket at the condescending tones Neala’s parents were using and the fact that Neala was nowhere to be found, Liam calmly asked again, “Where’s Neala?”
    They were both silent and avoided all eye contact with Liam. What the hell was going on? Where the hell was Neala and why the hell were her parents being so evasive?
    “I’m about to blow up in two seconds if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on.”
    Liam had to tell himself to breathe because the rage and anxiety that was rolling through his body was causing him to nervously shake like a lunatic.  
    “Calm down, Liam,” Neala’s dad said in a calming voice, trying to diffuse the bomb that was about to explode in Liam’s body. “Neala is fine. She is getting some help that she desperately needs. We can’t tell you much because she doesn’t want you to know, but she’s getting help.”
    What the hell was that supposed to mean? She was getting help? For what? He never noticed Neala ever having any problems while they were married. Sometimes she could fly off the deep end when something wasn’t right, but that was because she was a bit of a control freak, but it was nothing that would require someone actually helping her with a problem.  
    A steady, pounding beat took up residence in the front of Liam’s head as he tried to figure out why his ex-wife wasn’t, first of all, with their daughter and, second of all, was withholding secrets from him. Didn’t she know that he loved her, that he would do anything for her and, no matter what, she would always own his heart?  
    Liam felt like screaming at the top of his lungs, but not only would that wake up his beautiful baby girl, it would also scare the living daylights out of his former in-laws and he didn’t want to do that, especially since he was skating on thin ice where they were concerned.  
    Neala most likely didn’t paint a very pretty picture of him during their divorce, especially since she thought Liam was cheating on her with Sophie,