"It didn't take three highly qualified FBI agents to figure out that the lawyer was a fraud. He murdered her right under your noses. I can't believe it!" Aaron McCoy spat the words at us, anger and fury radiating from his eyes.

To say that we screwed up was definitely an understatement. We basically let that so-called lawyer kill Selene Williams while we were standing right in the next room.

"He showed the police a valid license from the state bar association. Besides, Williams didn't feel uncomfortable around him, and she said nothing when he showed up. We didn't have any reason to suspect him," Liam argued. "What should we have done? Checked the damn coffee ourselves!"

Liam's tone came out a little loud. I noticed a few veins popping out on his neck. He was starting to lose his temper and no good would come out of that. I silently prayed that he would keep himself in check.

"Agent Hunt!" McCoy called, dark eyes fixing Liam with a hard glare.

Liam apologized with a defeated sigh.

McCoy clasped both of his hands and put them on the table before he fixed his gaze on us. "I already know all of what you're saying, but you should have known better. You should have been extra vigilant, especially with this case," he reprimanded. "Any news about the lawyer?"

"We have screen footage of him and a sketch of his face everywhere, but there's no news about him yet," Ian answered in an apologetic tone.

McCoy nodded, then his eyes darted, giving me and Liam a stern look. "I really expected something good when I assigned both of you to this case. Don't make me believe I was wrong."

"We take full responsibility for what happened, sir. It was a huge mistake, and we definitely should have never let our guard down. But I can guarantee you, nothing like this will ever happen again," I said, silently praying that he wouldn't dismiss us from the case.

"I hope so," he said firmly. Then he gestured toward the door. "You can leave now, but notify me if anything new comes to the surface."

We nodded before leaving his office. The three of us went back to the floors of our divisions. Liam and I were told that Wyatt wanted to speak with us.

We both shared a knowing look before we headed to his office. I knew that our little failure must have made his day, and he probably wanted to gloat.

He gave us a mocking glare when we entered his office. "I heard about what happened."

I hated how smug he sounded, most likely believing that he was right about us not being a part of this case.

"We know that we could have done something about it, but it's a mistake that's definitely not going to happen again," I retorted.

I received another glare from him. Then he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "You still don't believe that you are wasting your time on that case?"

"No, we don't," Liam said, still sounding a little tense. "We have found lots of new threads, and we will not stop till we know where they lead."

Wyatt let out a sarcastic chuckle, which made my urge to punch him increase rapidly.

He pointed toward the door. "Okay, you can leave. I just wanted to know if you had grown some common sense after what happened. Clearly, you didn't."

Liam tightened his grip, and I understood. I really wanted to do the same. I grabbed Liam's hand before excusing both of us.

"You should have let me punch him," Liam told me once we were out of the office.

"Getting fired won't do us any good, will it?" I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

Then I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm really exhausted. This case is driving me crazy, and I'm afraid that we might have lost all leads and reached a dead-end all over again."

"Don't be pessimistic. We just need to clear our heads, and I happen to know a place that will help with that a little."

I gave him a skeptical look.

He chuckled. "You will like it, I promise."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What exactly am I going to like?"

"You will know when we get there." He smirked before he turned on his heel and started making his way toward the elevator.

Letting out a sigh, I figured out that I had no option but to follow him.

We got into the elevator. It stopped at one of the floors. Ian got in. He looked a little surprised at finding the two of us in there.

"I was just coming to find you." Ian's words were directed at me. "Alex, you looked a little tired, so I thought we could grab a cup of coffee together and talk about the case."

I noticed Liam stiffening beside me, and I suddenly became uncomfortable.

I looked at Ian with an apologetic look. "That would have been great, but I already have somewhere to be. I'm sorry, Ian. Maybe we can do it another time?"

Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see Liam smirking.

Ian looked at me with a smile that I believed was bitter. "It's okay. Yes, we could do it any other time."

The elevator stopped. I gave Ian another apologetic smile. "See you later."

I stepped out of the elevator with Liam, and we walked together toward his car.

***

It took us twenty minutes to reach the destination Liam refused to tell me about. I was certain he enjoyed seeing me suffer from the curiosity that was eating me whole.

Liam parked the car in front of an old building. I got out of the car and looked at the building in confusion, wondering what could be interesting in there.

"Come on," Liam said, walking ahead of me toward the building.

"Not until you tell me what's inside." I froze in my place, crossing my hands. My curiosity was really getting the best of me.

"You will know, soon enough." Liam chuckled. "Jeez, have some patience."

Yeah, he was definitely enjoying this.

He walked inside without looking back. I groaned as I followed him.

I was surprised to see myself standing inside what looked like a huge training center. It was full of different equipment.

A muscled man with dark skin appeared from behind some large piece of equipment. He approached us, a wide grin on his face. "How are you doing, man? It has been a while," he greeted Liam.

"Yeah, I have been really busy for quite some time," Liam said as he pumped his fist with him.

Then Liam looked at me, a smile on his face. "Alex, meet Tom. He owns the best training center in the city." He waved his hands, gesturing to the training center we were currently standing in. "Tom, meet Alex Ryan. She's my partner."

"Hey there," Tom greeted me with a grin as he shook my hand. He then gave Liam a mischievous look. "But I thought you didn't work with partners."

An involuntary smirk took over my lips.

I looked at Liam, who grinned when he caught my eye.

"Well, people can change." He shrugged.

"Well, enjoy your time here, folks. You can have the whole place for yourselves," Tom said, then he looked at me. "For your information, Alex. You're the first girl Liam ever brings here." He winked at me before he left us and walked toward the door.

I noticed Liam giving him a sharp look that accompanied him until he was no longer in sight.

"Well, I didn't really expect that," I spoke up as I started walking around to take a better look at all the equipment.

A smile was flickering around the edges of Liam's mouth. "I can always manage to surprise you."

He walked towards a boxing bag and called for me to join him. "Come on, get it all out," he told me.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Get what out?"

"I always come here to train when the job problems get too overwhelming," he explained. "You said you were exhausted. Get everything that is weighing you down out."

I looked at him like he was insane, but he ignored me and held the boxing bag for me, anyway. I scoffed before deciding to give it a try.

I punched the bag lightly, then a little harder, then much harder.

I felt that everything going on in my mind was getting out with every punch. So I punched the bag repeatedly while Liam was holding it until I could no longer breathe.

When I was finished, I was sweating and panting.

Liam came closer. "Our job is tough, and you can't let it get to you. If you do, it will take away pieces of you with it until you'll no longer be able to recognize yourself."

"It's not just about the job, Liam," I said through heavy breaths. "I feel like my mind is going to explode because of everything that's going through it. The case... I have a feeling that it may be linked to my father. I know it's a bit of a stretch, but I can't stop myself from thinking about it."

"Do you think it has something to do with what happened to your parents?"

"I don't know, I—" I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "There's nothing linking the case to their murder but..." I paused, not finding the right words to say.

"Alex, you can talk to me about anything." He gave me a warm look that meant he was ready to listen to whatever was occupying my mind.

"I have this little feeling inside of me that I can't get rid of, no matter how hard I try. A gut feeling telling me this case is linked to what happened to my parents somehow. Although, I can't help but feel that my mind is just playing tricks on me, trying to give me false hope." I sighed and looked away to avoid his gaze.

"You know, growing up, I had only one wish, and it was to find the bastards who did it and make them pay." Slowly, I looked at him and finally met his blue eyes, trying to find in them the reassurance I needed.

Liam kept looking at me in silence. He always knew when I wasn't in need to hear anything but to get what was inside of me out, to be listened to.

"Have you ever felt trapped? Like being in a cage that you created yourself, yet you still didn't have the key out. Throughout all my life, that memory never left me—ever. It was like my whole life stopped on that day and is now just revolving around it."

"After the incident that happened with Charlie—my partner. I figured out that no matter how much time I spent thinking about what had happened. For days, months, or even years, trying to collect the pieces, thinking about what I could have done differently. It just wouldn't change anything," he said, looking at me with soft, compassionate eyes. "Letting go and moving on doesn't mean that you stop caring about the people involved. It's realizing that the burden of holding on is just too heavy, and the harder you try to grip, the greater the damage will be."

I kept looking at him, thinking about everything that he said. I couldn't even count the times I had been told to let go and move on, and I was never able to. But to my surprise, I found comfort in Liam's words. Or was that comfort in Liam himself...

He closed the gap between us, locking eyes with me. "Alex, I'm pretty sure your parents would've wanted you to be happy, and I know for sure they're really proud of you."

I felt a mix of emotions that I had never experienced before, and I couldn't even describe them. But the only thing I was certain of, at the moment, was that I was really grateful that my path had crossed with Liam's, that I opened up to him, and that he was currently here with me.

I didn't notice how close he was to me until the smell of his heady, woody cologne reached my nostrils. My heart pounded like a drum in my chest, and I could hear it loud in my ears.

I took a step back automatically. I expected him to move, but he didn't. He took a step closer and closed the gap between us once again.

He was looking straight into my eyes, his ocean-blue eyes piercing through me. I stared back at him without moving a muscle.

Unexpectedly, his hands drifted to my hips as he pulled me closer. I inhaled sharply as I was right against his warm chest.

I wanted to push him away, but I couldn't. Or was it because I didn't want to?

His face came closer to mine and just when his lips were about to touch mine, his mobile rang, bringing both of us back into reality.

We both moved away quickly.

Liam nervously got out his phone before putting it to his ear. I didn't hear what he was saying, though. I had wide eyes and my heart felt as if it were about to jump out of my chest.

What the hell was about to happen?

Liam finished talking on the phone and turned to face me. "They say they have important news related to the case."

All I could manage was to give him a slight nod.

We left the training center in a hurry and got into the car, and he started driving back toward the bureau, both of us not daring to utter a word.