Read Online Liam: Branded Brothers by Raen Smith - Free Book Online

friend’s
grandparents, and they both died in his early twenties a year apart when he was
on tours. He wondered what his pops would say about his day job. It looked
nothing like the restaurant his folks had run for forty years.
    Liam sprinted to the house and pressed his back against the
siding. The light in the window five feet to his left flicked on. Seconds
later, the window slid open and bare feet emerged, dangling out of the window.
Liam reached for his handcuffs and pulled them slowly from the ring on his
jeans, careful not to make a sound or sudden movement. Rich Horton wasn’t a
complete idiot, maybe only ninety-five percent idiot. Rich knew someone was
after him, but he definitely should have reconsidered where he chose to stay.
Getting Rich was too easy.
    He was about to lunge forward and grab the feet when legs
appeared through the window. They were thin with knobby knees and way too
feminine to belong to Rich. Then the rest of the body slid out the window,
dressed in shorts and a sheer tank top. A woman landed on the ground with a
thud. Her blonde hair whipped back and forth as she turned to the backyard and
then to Liam. He lunged forward and covered her mouth just before she could let
out a scream. She kicked him in the shin and flailed her arms as he worked to
restrain her. He finally get a hold of her hands and yanked them behind her
back.
    “Shh,” he said in her ear. “I don’t want to hurt you. I’m
here for someone else.”
    She let out a muffled scream beneath his hand, and he
reluctantly applied force to her wrists. She whined from the pain.
    “Please. I don’t want to hurt you. I will let you go if you
promise not to scream. Can you promise me that?” Liam asked, still bending her
wrists up towards her shoulders. “Stop moving. You have to trust me. I’m not
one of the bad guys. I’m here to get someone inside who has jumped bail. You
understand?”
    She nodded her head and stood still. He looked down and saw
deep bruises and tracks on her bare arms. “You need help?”
    She shook her head no, but he knew she was lying. Most of
them did. “Look, there’s a clinic on Seventh Street. It’s free. They have a
great program. Ask for Marian. She’ll help you out. You don’t want to end up
like the guy I’m about to get inside. He’s going to prison for a long time.
Trust me, you don’t belong there.”
    Her body quivered beneath his and he thought for a second,
there might be a chance Marian would call him later today about a woman who
came to see her. But the thought was interrupted with a clamp of teeth against
his fingers and a searing pain.
    “Fuck,” he swore as he cranked her wrists tighter, making
her body crumble. She released the clamp on his hand and submitted to him. “Get
out of here.”
    She sprinted toward the front yard, her blonde stringy hair
streaming behind her. Liam dropped his hands to his knees and watched her run
through the front yard and disappear down the sidewalk.
    At least she went quietly , he thought as he turned
his attention back to the house. In the beginning of his bounty hunting career,
it was hard to come to grips with the amount of drug use he experienced. There
were junkies of all shapes, colors, and sizes, most of whom he handed cards to.
He made friends with Marian at the clinic after a man he’d given a clinic card
to had visited her. Liam had a low success rate though; only around ten percent
heeded his advice. But he’d be damned if he would stop trying.
    He crept toward the window and peeked inside to see Rich
Horton passed out on the floor. On second thought, taking him in was going to
be easier than he anticipated. He moved along the side of the house and turned
the corner to see the back door. He opened the unlocked door, shaking his head.
Rich Horton wasn’t helping his cause.
    Liam walked into the kitchen and saw a half-empty bag of
marijuana on the table. He dumped it in the kitchen sink and flushed it down
with water. He moved