Page 26 of It Starts With A No

Seth shook his head. “I always tell my assistant to throw them out.”

Detective Lowe’s head bobbed up and down. “Could we speak to your assistant? Maybe she could give us some information.”

“He. I’ll get him to call you.”

“Do you live here with Miss Fiore?” Detective Murphy asked Seth before his partner could continue.

“No,” Seth answered.

Detective Lowe folded her arms, then twisted around to look toward the back of the house. She turned back and clasped her hands together. “Do you have another place you can stay temporarily?”

“Why?”

“Don’t worry.” Detective Murphy cast a warning glance over at his partner. “There will be patrols coming around every hour. You’re safe here.”

Detective Lowe pointed toward the French doors behind them. “The stone railings beyond those doors aren’t high enough to stop anyone who is determined to get in.”

Clary smiled. “If you stepped out there, you’d find yourself on a balcony overlooking the bay. Anyone coming in from the back would have to climb the cliff.”

The detective shook her head. “I could drop down from your front yard onto the grass field below. It isn’t that long a drop. Then I could climb up using one of the wall columns.”

“You could do that?” Clary had never thought it unsafe here. “This is a very safe area.” Whenever they came here, Mr. and Mrs. E always threw all the doors and windows open. No one ever broke in. Nothing was ever stolen.

But that had been the case when they were in Mexico, too. They were always safe—until they weren’t.

“You’ve just been held up at gunpoint,” Detective Lowe continued. “I don’t think you should be complacent.”

Clary swallowed hard. “The man wasn’t after me,” she said, more for herself than for the detectives. I’m safe. I’m in the secret place of the Lord. I’m protected.

Detective Murphy cleared his throat. “If you like, I could station a patrol outside the house tonight.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Seth said as the female detective subtly rolled her eyes.

Clary shook her head. She didn’t want the police going to extra lengths for her because of Mr. E. “The man wasn’t after me.”

Detective Lowe opened her mouth, but her partner stood and interjected, “That’s right. Miss Fiore, you’re safe here.”

Clary nodded.

“We’ll let you know if we have any updates.” Detective Murphy eyed his partner. “Let’s go.”

Seth got up. “I’ll walk them out.”

Clary watched them head off, then stood and strode toward the white French doors.

Four different French doors opened out onto a sheltered outdoor dining area. Beyond that was a well-mowed lawn with the backdrop of the calm waters of the Bay.

The first thing Clary had done when she got here was to throw open the French doors and stare out at the view, just as Mrs. E always did.

Right now, Clary wasn’t concerned about the view. She walked from door to door, checking that every one of them was properly locked. As she was doing that, her watch buzzed.

Checking it, she sighed at the alert of an incoming call.

“Hugh Eolenfeld.” Seth returned with her phone that she’d left on the coffee table.

“Just ignore it. He’s only calling to curse me out.”

Seth put the phone down on the dining table. “For stealing his job?”

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