Page 30 of Say Yes to the Death

Nicole squeezed her hand. “You weren’t exaggerating when you said she was a hybrid of a shark and a velociraptor with a clump of broken hypodermic needles for a heart. But Kyle can and will beat her. The evidence is insurmountable, no matter how much she tries to drag your name through the mud. It’s honestly stupid of them to let it go to trial.”

“Let’s hope. I better go see if they’ve un-handcuffed my mother.” Claire linked arms with Nicole and Mindy and started to walk down the corridor.

“Hang on.” Claire stopped suddenly and was almost knocked down by the other two. She unwound her arms and turned to look behind her. “Sawyer?”

Sawyer, who had slung his jacket over one shoulder and seemed to be engrossed in his phone, looked up.

“Thank you. Again. For everything, especially from saving me from gracing the cover of the West Haven Times with the word ‘vagina’ on my face,” she said, covering the short distance between them in a few steps. She stood on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around him as best as she could. It was like hugging a stone pillar. She wasn’t entirely sure he had passed her not-a-serial-killer test, but he had gone above and beyond to help her out today. Not to mention saving her life the week before.

He hesitated, then leaned down to hug her back. They broke apart after a few seconds.

“I’ll call you next week. About the lesson, I mean,” she said.

“I look forward to it.” He clapped her on the shoulder. Her knees almost buckled under the weight of his hand.

When Claire turned around, Luke stood behind her, arms crossed over his chest and mouth set in a hard line. Had the trial and his mother’s betrayal set him off, or was it Claire’s embrace of the man who saved her life? If Sawyer hadn’t responded to the security call and tased Barney, Claire would almost certainly be dead. Although Luke had solved the mystery and rolled up with the police a minute later, it wouldn’t have been enough. In fact, two men in the past two weeks had prevented her untimely demise—Sawyer and Jamarcus—and neither one of them had been Luke. Did that bother him?

Claire opened her mouth to speak even though she had no idea what to say, but she was cut off by her mother’s voice.

“Finally!” Alice rubbed her wrists where the handcuffs had been. Her wayward stiletto and purse had been returned.

“Clairebear,” she said simply, wrapping her daughter in her arms.

“Can we go? I’m starting to feel like a zoo animal.” Rubberneckers exiting the courtroom swiveled to stare at her.

“Hang on.” Mindy gripped Claire’s arm and turned her away from the crowd. From her bag, she produced a makeup sponge and a travel-size bottle of Claire’s shade of foundation. She had taken to carrying it after Claire’s abduction to help her cover up bruises between client appointments. “I see you got the vagina off your face,” she said as she dabbed at the spot where the makeup had rubbed off.

“Sawyer helped,” Claire said.

Mindy paused and looked directly into Claire’s eyes. She was lovely, like a barely contained wildfire.

“You should be careful.”

“With what?” Claire asked. Could Mindy tell Claire had hit her head off a cabinet that morning?

“Sawyer,” Mindy said, barely above a whisper. “Don’t pretend you haven’t noticed how he looks at you.”

Claire frowned.

“Don’t frown. Now I have to even this side out,” Mindy sighed, returning to dabbing.

“If he’s looking at me, it’s probably just because he’s shocked to see me in any state other than topless and covered in blood. He saved my life and he’s Kyle’s groomsman. Are you proposing that I ignore him?”

Mindy closed the bottle of foundation and tucked it back in her purse. “Just be careful.”

“Oh, thank you for reminding me. Luke lied about having a brother, so I have to go address that now. Thanks for the hooch.” Claire handed the mostly full thermos back to Mindy.

“What?” Mindy said, but Claire ignored her. They would have time to talk about the George situation after she had words with Luke.

She turned back to her mother, who was chatting with Nicole.

“Claire, darling. I don’t have to be at the airport until later this evening. I thought we could go back to your apartment and I’ll make lunch for everyone. I was thinking Grandma Alejo’s empanada recipe.”

Claire hesitated. After the craziness of the morning, she was torn between her love of Mexican food and her deep desire to be alone and process the day.

“Let’s do lunch at Luke’s,” she suggested. “He has more room. And a wine cellar.” Not to mention his house was more conducive to a post-lunch screaming match.

CHAPTER EIGHT

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