Liam turned, startled, as a middle-aged woman stormed toward him, her face twisted in fury. Mrs. Gallaghar. He barely had time to process her presence before he saw an egg flying at him. Liam easily dodged it with a backstep. The egg hit the gravel, splattering in an instant.
"Mrs. Gallaghar?" Bonnie recognized her, and so did the others.
"You think you're some kind of hero, don't you?" Mrs. Gallaghar screeched as she hurled another egg, this time toward his forehead, which Liam again avoided quite easily with a slight move of his head.
These didn't even make Liam use wraith abilities; his Numenorean bloodline was enough.
"Mrs. Gallaghar, what are you doing?" Liam asked. He was confused too because the last he heard was that her son had gotten admission to a private school.
"What's going on?!" she shrieked. "You started all of this! You ruined my son's life! If it weren't for you, he'd still be safe!"
"Ma'am, please calm down. What are you talking about?" Chris stepped in.
"Don't you 'calm down' me! This boy—he got my son suspended! He made my son confess! And because of that confession, people went to jail! You think they wouldn't retaliate? Do you have any idea what you've done?" Mrs. Gallaghar said, her voice trembling now.
"I didn't make your son do anything. He was selling drugs on school grounds. He made that choice, Mrs. Gallaghar," Liam said, but his brows were furrowed now.
"You don't understand! Because of you, my son snitched to the police. And now... now a gang has taken him! They kidnapped my boy!"
The words hit Liam like a punch. He hadn't heard anything about a kidnapping.
"I didn't know..." Liam could only say that while his mind reeled back to the times when he had sneaked around and gathered evidence.
"Of course, you didn't know! You don't care! You just had to play the hero, didn't you? Now my son's gone, and it's your fault!" Mrs. Gallaghar said, and this time she almost lunged at Liam. But before she could take that ugly step, the guards of the school came in between.
The school didn't have guards, but after Liam got involved with Stark Industries and military contracts, the police department had provided one officer on duty around the school during school hours.
"Liam, we should go," Bonnie said as she placed a hand on Liam's arm. Liam took one last look as she glared at him while the police officer escorted her away. Liam didn't hate those kids per se. They were teenagers, and they didn't know better. Liam had caught them when they had just started the business for a month or so.
Liam could see that the families of these kids weren't as functional as his, so some children would grow up in a crooked way. The teenagers needed a kick in the ass, which they had received. But kidnapping wasn't something he had expected.
Actions always have consequences. But this was not what he had aspired for. Even though this guy was not innocent, it didn't mean he deserved to be tortured. Liam knew that he wasn't some kind of hero, but he was also not some kind of villain who would kill anyone that stepped out of their track.
At night
Liam opened the window of his room and slowly crept out. His footsteps couldn't be heard at all, like a cat coming to hunt its prey. Liam was now wearing his new pilot suit and the armor he had made. He didn't have any swords or bows on his back as he didn't need to since he could get them instantly from the space box.
Liam scaled the sides and rooftops of the building effortlessly. The wraith abilities granted him practical invisibility under the soft moonlight, the arrays of streetlights, and the occasional cars. He reached a particular roof and, for a moment, scanned the quiet streets below.
This was the route he had taken months ago, stalking the drug peddler. He took out his Pulse Blade and threw it on the wall of the apartment. And as expected, there was nobody in the apartment. Before coming here, he had already taken cognizance of what was going on.
The drug peddler was in jail, so his place should be empty. And from the looks of it, the police were yet to know of this place. Liam opened the half-opened window and sneaked inside quite easily. His eyes adjusted instantly to the dim interior as he scanned for anything out of place.
Liam took out the Pulse Blade once more and threw it on the ground to get better sonar detection. He himself started to search for any clues that would help him get to the bottom of it.
It didn't take long for Liam to see a small compartment on the side of the room. It was on the floor, and Liam found a small latch on the side. He pulled out the lid, which then opened an empty compartment, as he had seen it on the sonar. He looked deeply into the small empty shelf and couldn't find anything that could lead to the person responsible.
No papers, no laptop, no mobiles. Watching criminal shows made him think that criminals were dumb. Turned out not so much. Though Liam could smell a foul odor from the small compartment, this was not a clue. It just reinforced that whoever lived here was peddling drugs.
He did so probably to safeguard himself if there was a warrant to check his place. But then it struck Liam. If the drug peddler wanted to hide, he would hide drugs in such a place where the police would find it difficult to trace. A dog could easily smell the drugs, so why would he keep drugs in such a place where it would be easy for even the police to find them?
He looked at the side of the compartment, which was attached to the sidewall, and found some rough marks on it. It was then that wisdom dawned upon Liam. He didn't need his Pulse Blade to realize that the wall on the side wasn't the same wall as the rest of the apartment. It was a false wall.
Or rather, the sidewall could be taken out, and from there, one could access the other condo.