Page 68 of Happily Never After

Mindy turned to her with wide eyes. “Holy fucking shit.”

Claire’s stomach twisted. “What? Did you find something?”

Mindy spun her laptop around. “They found him.”

Shock froze Claire to the spot. She snapped out of it and sprinted for the laptop screen. Luke jostled for position. Even Rosie hopped up to look.

Dr. William Taylor, head of the West Haven chapter of ESA and all-around douchebag, glowered from a picture. His hair and mustache had been dyed jet black, but there was no mistaking the ice in those blue eyes.

“Where?” Claire asked breathlessly.

“LA. This was taken outside the Whole Foods on Fairfax.”

Luke sighed. Both women turned to look at him.

“What?” Claire asked.

“You’re not doing it.” He crossed his arms and made steady eye contact.

“Doing what?”

“Another stakeout. Call Jack and tell him. Leave it at that. It’s one thing to sit at home and play armchair detective, but these guys are dangerous. Your mom was almost abducted. I’m not going to allow you to put yourself in danger again.”

Mindy grimaced and shrank back into the couch.

Claire stood up. “Oh, you’re not going toallowme? Is this the 1920s? You don’t get to tell me what to do. These men are threatening my family, Luke. I don’t know how much time we have until they escalate. Something terrible is going to happen. I can feel it, and I’m not going to wait around for the FBI.”

“Yes, you are,” he shouted.

Claire flinched. Luke took a deep breath. Several seconds passed.

“I’m sorry for raising my voice,” he finally said, “but I’m not budging on this. Call Jack and move on.”

“Fine,” Claire sniped. She left the room and nearly tripped on the end of her glittering red gown. There was no way she was going to let this go. Not when the professor was in the same city. It was time for her to end this, no matter what Luke said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

To Do:

- Timed run of whole proposal

- New stupid bridle

- Mindfulness

Claire bustledinto the restaurant with a thousand tasks whirling in her mind. As if it wasn’t bad enough that her mother had nearly been abducted, Brad’s requests were getting more elaborate by the day. The newest change was a very specific bridle to go with the very specific saddle for the very specific white horse he had already requested.

Mindy had dropped Claire off for lunch with her sisters while she went to a tack shop in East LA. If they didn’t have an exact match, they would be up all night distressing and staining a bridle to Brad’s exact standards. She could appreciate detail-oriented people. But this was getting insane. She fired off a text to Mindy.

Claire:Think we could shut off his internet for the next two and a half weeks?

“Claire!” someone called. She glanced up. Brianna was waving at her—at least she assumed it was Bri. Her half sister was difficult to recognize due to her paparazzi outfit—baseball cap, oversized sunglasses, and baggy sweater.

“Hey, Bri,” she said, trying to push the proposal out of her mind so she could be present in this moment. Her therapist would be proud. “How’s the movie coming?”

“Not bad so far. The director’s kind of a dick, but that’s par for the course out here.” Bri took a sip of white wine.

A server stopped by the table as Claire settled into her seat and she ordered two drinks.

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