Page 104 of Deception

Madison stilled, and a protest formed on her lips.

“You’re not even armed,” he said.

She held up her hands in surrender and allowed him to go in first. He cleared the downstairs, then, with Madison following, cleared the upstairs. By the time they returned downstairs, she didn’t seem quite so angry.

“Thank you,” she said grudgingly.

“No problem.”

That brought a tiny smile to her lips. Madison tried to smother a yawn, and rolled her shoulders.

“You’re exhausted. I’ve been thinking about all the cases you need to go through ... What would you say to letting someone else read through them and cull all but the obvious ones?”

Hope lit her eyes. “That would be great. Do you have anyone in mind?”

“Brooke Danvers.”

“She won’t mind?”

“No, I’m sure she won’t, and I’m sure Evan McCall will approve it. We’ll get it set up tomorrow, so go to bed and don’t worry about going through the files.”

“Thanks, Clayton.”

Madison might not be as angry, but the sad aura that he was responsible for remained. He opened his mouth to tell her that he was sorry for jumping the gun at Emerald Mound, but he left the words unsaid. He was only trying to relieve his conscience. Maybe in time she would understand that he had taken their relationship too fast.

What relationship?And therein lay the problem. They didn’t really have one.

“I’ll touch base with you in the morning.” He walked to the back door, and she followed him, this time not even trying to smother a yawn. “And be sure to set the alarm.”

After Clayton pulled out of the judge’s drive, he turned his SUV toward his sister’s house. He couldn’t do anything about the mess he’d made of tonight, but he could try to fix the problem with his sister.

He parked in her drive and sat there. What if she didn’t let him in the house? What if he and Jake got into another shouting match and scared Ava? What if ...

He could “what if” all night. He was reaching for the car door when his cell phone rang. Jen.

“Why are you sitting in front of my house?”

He sighed. “Getting the courage to call and ask if I can come in.”

“Oh, Clayton, of course you can come in.”

“Is Jake there? I’d like to apologize to him.”

She didn’t answer right away. “He went to an NA meeting, and he and his sponsor were going for coffee afterward.”

Relief that he didn’t have to face his brother-in-law poured through him. “Is Ava still up?”

“No, but you could tiptoe in and take a peek at her. She asked about you earlier tonight.”

“I’ll be right in.”

Jen met him at the front door and let him in. “She’s kind ofrestless. If she wakes up, just talk to her a minute, and she should go right back to sleep.”

He walked quietly down the hall to Ava’s room. She’d kicked off her blanket, and he spread it over her again. Ava’s eyes blinked open.

“Uncle Clay. Will you tell me a story?”

“You know I will.” He sat on the edge of her bed and smoothed her hair back. “What story do you want to hear?”

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