Page 116 of Say Yes to the Death

Luke wiped a hand over his tired face. He walked halfway out into the hallway. “Claire? About Sawyer.”

She sighed. “What about him?”

“I don’t trust him.”

Of course. Her hands clenched at her sides. “Just to clarify, you don’t trust the man who saved my life? The one who you hired to install a security system in my apartment?”

“That was before. Think about it. Whose company managed security for Barney’s hotel?”

“Sawyer’s,” she said slowly.

“Exactly. And why wasn’t there any footage from that night?”

“Barney tampered with the hallway feed.”

“We don’t know that it was Barney. And Sawyer conveniently showed up just in time to save your life and play the hero. Why bother having a security system in a hotel that’s not even finished?”

“I don’t know, vandals? Squatters? Sawyer wouldn’t hurt me. He’s giving me self-defense lessons. Why would he teach me how to most effectively kick people in the balls if he planned on trying to kidnap me?”

“He was in the building the night of the fire alarm when you got the note.”

Claire bit back a sigh. He didn’t know about ESA. He had no idea she had already uncovered who was responsible for stalking her. She had the answer to his question. But she didn’t owe him anything.

She tossed her empty coffee cup at the trash can. It missed and bounced into the dining room. Rosie jumped on the cup. “There was video footage of the person who entered the apartment. Unless Sawyer shrunk a foot and lost a hundred pounds climbing up the steps, it wasn’t him. He’s literally testifying against the man who tried to kill me. Why would he be doing that if he was involved? I never took you as the jealous type, Luke.” She lifted her chin. “I don’t like it.”

He glowered. “Just be careful.”

She stepped behind the island to put more distance between them. “Dinner party. Friday. Be there at seven with wine, or don’t come at all.”

Finally, he backed out the front door and left.

She wrestled the coffee cup from Rosie and slammed it in the trash can. How dare he storm in here and insult the man who saved her life?

Rosie whined. Claire slapped herself on the forehead. In all the craziness, she hadn’t even taken her out to pee. Now she was failing as a dog mom. She pulled her hair out of its ponytail and snapped the leash on.

A warm breeze blew through the streets of West Haven as Rosie trotted down the sidewalk. Smells of fried bacon and pastries emanated from the café across the street. A pair of elderly men sat at a table in the park playing checkers. The city seemed far less sinister during the day. Still, she couldn’t prevent herself from constantly sweeping the area. The park was clear of press and douchey frat boys, at least for now.

Oh, hell. The press. She yanked her phone out of her pocket and frantically checked the local news website. The article from last night was up to five hundred shares. Scores of comments either chastised her or praised her. Some people, at least, seemed to question why she would have attacked a pair of frat boys in an alleyway. But a fearful number of people were calling her a chronic domestic abuser. A pit formed in her stomach. Channel Eight News was going to pay for trashing her reputation.

Back in the safety of her apartment, Claire opened her laptop. She pulled up Facebook and typed George Islestorm into the search bar. There he was. Luke’s older brother. There was no denying they were related. But while Luke must have looked just like his deceased dad, George was all Rachel. His flat smile, the slightly pinched-looking nose. She clicked on the message button and began to type.

What were the odds that George was A) Local, and B) Available for dinner with his estranged brother on such short notice? She wouldn’t know until she tried.

Luke deserved to suffer for what he did to her, didn’t he? And what better way to make a secret-keeper suffer than keeping one from him? Besides, it was too late now. The message was already sent. And maybe she’d even be doing him a favor. His patricidal brother was one thing, but how could he ignore his niece and sister-in-law forever?

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

To Do:

- Send Father’s Day card to Roy

- Gallery rehearsal

“You’re distracted today,” Sawyer said as he held a punching pad in front of his body.

Claire threw her weight into the next hit, a sheen of sweat on her forehead. She bounced on her toes, delivering a solid right hook. She grunted. “Can’t imagine why.”

“Come on, harder,” he encouraged as she threw a jab. “That’s more like it, I felt that one.” Despite his words, his mountain of a body didn’t budge an inch. “Want to talk about it?” he asked, voice lowered.

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