“Wow, I had no idea anyone did that.”

“I don't know if that many people do.”

“Which ones do you watch?”

He pulls out his phone and shows me The Courtney Project, which is a channel run by one of the authors of Kennedy Fox.

“They write romance, right?”

He nods, shrugs, and says, “Writing is a very solitary thing. Sometimes with all the distractions that I have on my phone and my laptop, it's hard to motivate myself to focus and put all that away for a moment. So, instead of waiting around for an ideal time to write every day, I commit to writing for just an hour five days a week.”

“Any particular time?”

“The afternoons work well for me. Around one or two. Right after lunch. This is an unusual time, but I figured I would get today's work out of the way.”

“So, what happens then?”

“Then I put on the YouTube video and either watch the few minutes of banter that she has in the beginning or skip right ahead to the writing sprints. There's a big clock on the screen and I commit to writing just twenty minutes at first, sometimes even fifteen. Usually that's enough to get me started. That's enough to build my momentum and to give me a small win.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yeah, I’ve been doing this for half a year now and I'm actually getting a lot more work done than I did before. I have a lot more time during the day to do other things for the business including, editing, marketing, advertising, and all the fun stuff.”

I nod my head and sit down on the swing next to him. I kick off a little bit, making us go higher and faster.

“I'm not going to make any guarantees about the stability of this thing. I did install it myself.”

I laugh, but then quickly halt the swinging almost to a stop.

“Have you ever wanted to write fiction?”

I start to stare at the horizon and wonder if I dare tell him the truth.

“You did, didn't you?”

I shrug but refuse to look at him.

“What happened?”

“I don't know. I got a job. I write for a living. It's enough.”

“Enough? Is that what you want from your life?”

“I don't know what I want. I barely have enough hours in the day to do this job properly. I don't think I can make room for any distractions.”

“If you enjoy what you're doing, then go right ahead,” Liam says, “but I just want you to know that life is too short to do something that you don't really want to. It's too short to not devote yourself to your passion.”

“Is this all you ever wanted to do?”

“Well, actually, the funny thing is that I am quite interested in nonfiction as well.”

“You are?”

“I liked your investigation. I like to read nonfiction accounts about murders and injustices in the criminal justice system. I like to watch YouTube videos and listen to podcasts about that, too.”

We sit here in silence for a few moments as I ponder what he has just said.

“I don’t mean to offend you in any way,” he says. “I think that the work that you do is important and you do it well. I just wanted to present an option in case you hadn't thought about writing fiction before, but, of course, it's not for everyone.”

I bite my lower lip. I don't want to come right out and admit it.

I'm actually quite embarrassed by it, but I have started more than a few novels in my day and have never gotten past the 20,000 word mark.

20

Emma

After I leave Liam alone to do some actual work, I set up my computer in the dining room and decide to do some work of my own.

I have this follow-up article to write about Liam, which he knows about, but we haven't really discussed anything in detail yet.

Given what happened before, I have a feeling that I have to run everything that I write past him, in order to be entirely on the up and up, yet that seems a little bit unfair to ask of a journalist as well.

I can't be expected to write only positive things about him, right? Then again, I don't really have many negative things to say.

I turn on my computer and return to some of the forums and Facebook groups which I relied on to find him in the first place.

Liam isn't much of a mystery to me now, but there is still someone who I keep thinking about.

The person who gave me Liam's home address went by the name of Matt Lipinski. I found him in a fan forum dedicated to popular fantasy writers.

In one of the sub threads, the discussion focused on D. B. Carter. When I asked if anyone knew of his real identity, Matt wrote me back. However, when I tried to find out who Matt was, nothing came up.

Liam insisted that he has no idea who he is and I believe him, but that doesn't change the fact that the whole reason that we are together is because of Matt, and I wonder how it is that he knew where Liam lived when that information was practically top secret.

I’ve looked this up before, but I decide to be more methodical about it now. I do a quick Google search about how to find out someone's identity on a forum and unfortunately the results are not particularly helpful.

Most of the sites discuss exactly how difficult it is to find out who did the posting because they are probably using a fake name.

I don't know that much about computers so I decide to rely on something that is my strength instead. In other words, instead of trying to figure out how to do a background check on someone I don't really know exists, I instead post again to the forum and ask for help in reaching Matt.

A few minutes later, someone replies, but the messages aren’t particularly helpful.

I do a quick search on Facebook but find that there are actually over two-hundred hits to that name and I don't even know if it's real.

Eventually, I go back to that email from Corrin who attached the contact info for the private investigator.

I stare at his name: Harvey Durand.

His contact info comes with a website which is pretty basic and direct. There's some info about his experience, like he's an ex-police officer, along with a few references.

Of course, his experience is rather vague and doesn't list any actual clients with whom he has worked. This is not a surprise as not that many people would want to share with the whole world that they have used a private investigator in their personal or professional life.

Feeling stuck and at a loss as to what to do next, I get up to stretch my legs.

I pace around the living room and then walk all the way to the front door.

There's a large mirror hanging at the entrance and I look at my reflection, wondering if I should even bother with any of this.

I'm sure that Liam can give me enough information for a second article.

Interesting tidbits about his family, about where he came from, about…

Then something occurs to me.

He never actually told me anything personal about who he is and where he came from.

Is that right?

I search my mind for any details, but nothing comes. The only times we've ever talked about family members is when I complained to him about mine, but what about his?

What has he actually told me about his life?

I swallow hard, thinking about what this means. I thought that we were getting closer. I thought that being here actually meant something, but what if he doesn't actually want me to know anything?