All the Lies - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,40

must be yes.

“How did you find me?” Liam asks. “Is that why you were chatting me up at the party?”

I shake my head and say, “No. I had no idea who you were.”

“Yet, you're here, at my home. How did you get my address? Alex doesn't know where I live. Alex doesn't even know what I do.”

“He doesn't?” I ask.

“You need to leave,” Liam says.

He turns his body away from me and starts to walk away, but I catch up with him.

Now that my shock is wearing off, I need to get some answers.

“Listen, I had no idea that you were D. B. Carter,” I say. “I was assigned a story on him, this reclusive and prolific romantic fantasy author that no one knows anything about. I searched through Facebook groups and forums and finally someone just happened to message me with your address. I thought it was a joke. The only reason I came out here is just to confirm that this guy, Matt, was lying. Plus, LA was feeling a little bit claustrophobic after everything that happened.”

I'm putting everything on the line and I hope that he realizes that.

I don't have any other choice.

I have a feeling that this is the only way that I can get him to talk to me.

Liam hesitates. Standing on the beautifully distressed porch in the back, he turns on the heels of his cowboy boots and faces me again.

His eyes are cast downward, but they eventually meet mine. He looks so different from the night that I first met him and yet with his hair falling in his face like that, I see the man that I can’t stop thinking about.

“Who is Matt?” Liam asks after a moment.

“What?”

“You said Matt gave you my address. Who is he?”

“I have no idea,” I say, shaking my head. “His name is Matt Lipinski, but that could just be a nickname or something made up. I can't remember what forum it was, but he replied to one of my questions about you and then messaged me directly and told me your address.”

I repeat my story again, hoping that this time he believes it.

I watch him hesitate. He narrows his eyes and stares at me. He doesn't believe me. My heart sinks. I'm not sure what else I can do to convince him that I'm telling the truth.

“How else could I find out your address? Nobody knows who you are. Like you said, not even Alex.”

“That's by design,” Liam says. “I don't want anyone knowing what I do.”

“Why?” I ask.

He raises his hand in my face and asks, “You’re a reporter, right?”

I nod.

“Whatever I tell you is off the record.”

I let out a deep sigh.

Shit.

Those are the magic words. Now he can tell me his deepest secret like that he is actually the Golden State killer and I don’t have the right to print it. At least, not ethically and not under my name.

I feel myself starting to freak out, but I take a few deep breaths and tell myself to calm down.

It doesn't matter.

So, what if everything that he says right now is off the record?

We have developed a rapport.

Maybe I can get him to change his mind.

“Okay,” I say. “It's off the record.”

Still, Liam hesitates. I lift my hands up in the air to show him that my hands are empty.

“I'm not recording anything. You can take a look at my phone,” I say, pulling it out of my back pocket. “Can I ask you something? Why don't you want anyone to know that you’re D. B. Carter? You're famous. There are millions of people around the world who love your work. Yet, no one knows who you really are.”

“You have asked and answered your own question.”

He starts to walk away and I'm not sure if I should follow him. So, I stand here, in his backyard next to his horse who is feverishly drinking from the trough.

“Your horse is beautiful,” I add as he heads up the stairs.

I see his dog through the enormous living room window, barking up a storm. Surprisingly, the house is so well insulated that I can barely hear her at all.

“Are you coming in or not?” Liam asks.

He doesn't wait for me to answer and disappears into the house.

Not wanting to push my luck, I follow him inside.

25

Emma

The back entrance leads through a small foyer, where Liam takes off his boots and leaves them haphazardly in the middle of the floor. As soon as I walk over the threshold,