Page 108 of It Starts With A No

Oliver opened Zane’s door and entered the apartment. “Zane!” He scanned the place. “Zane!” He looked up at the railing. Like Seth, Zane was a light sleeper. But Oliver couldn’t hear any movement in the house.

He ran upstairs and opened Zane’s bedroom. “Ugh!” He sighed at the sight of the made bed, then spun and opened the closet. He checked the top shelf where Zane’s travel duffle bag always sat. “No.”

The bag wasn’t there, which meant his brother was off somewhere. A conference, workshop, or some idiot had decided to hold up a bank or something. Regardless, Zane probably wouldn’t be back today.

Oliver ran his hand through his hair. He had to do something.

He bolted out of the house.

He’d stop Clary—even if it meant he had to steal the suitcase from the police officer.

But he was too late.

Clary and the police officers were gone.

Chapter 21

Clary had never been in a police car before. Not even after what happened to her parents in Mexico.

“We shouldn’t have come, should we?” asked the female officer, who was sitting with her in the backseat.

There were two officers with her in the car. Two more officers were following in a second car.

“Things were going to blow up anyway.” She blinked twice and turned her face away when the tears fell.

She sniffed once as she brushed the tears from her cheeks, then took out her phone and texted Andrea. Stay there. I’m on my way back. We’ll work from home today. She wasn’t up for dealing with Tamara today.

Need ice cream?

Did she? Yes.

I’ll get it. Chocolate?

Chocolate is perfect. Clary dropped her phone into her bag. “Take me home instead of the hotel.” She gave them the address of the mansion.

“But Mr. Eolenfeld—”

“I’ll let him know. If you insist on taking me to the hotel, I’ll just arrange for a car to pick me up from there.”

The officers exchanged a glance in the rear-view mirror.

“We’ll take you home,” the officer driving said.

“Thank you.” Clary brushed at her cheeks again and sucked in a deep breath through her mouth. Seth and I were doomed from the start.

She knew that.

Her association with the Eolenfelds had made her the enemy. The line between them was clear right from the start.

Seth hadn’t even bothered to hide his disdain. He’d told her the truth from the very beginning. He’d only come to her because he needed to use her connection to Mr. E.

And yet she still allowed herself to think there was more.

She exhaled silently through her mouth. I don’t have time to get involved with anyone anyway.

You can’t live your life around your job, Grandma Moretti’s voice surfaced in her head.

Why not? Clary had always done that. She loved her job. She loved that she was making a difference, no matter how small it was, in people’s lives. And now, there were nearly half a million victims. Half a million reasons to focus on her work and nothing else.

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