Page 17 of Evidence of Deceit

“Claire,” Sam demanded. “You are never. Going. Back to Keith. And that’s a promise. We will not let him hurt you. Please, let us help you.”

Sam sat patiently and waited for Claire to mull over her offer of help. Claire fidgeted and kept rubbing the side of her shorts as if a genie would pop out and grant her wishes. She knew this was a decision Claire had to make herself and be comfortable with. She never wanted her to feel she had been coerced into coming back. Sounds of children laughing and running around lightened Sam’s heart. This house was a safe place for them.

“Okay. I’ll come with you,” said Claire.

Whew.Sam wasn’t sure which way this was going to go,and this was the best possible scenario. She went over and hugged Claire. “Thank you for trusting us.”

“Let me go get my things. It’ll take just a minute.” Claire left, and Penny came in.

“Everything go okay?”

“Yeah. I wish Claire trusted us more, but I can understand why she doesn’t.”

“Trust is something these women have until they don’t,” said Penny. “I’m glad you’re helping.”

Claire walked back into the room, pulling her little carry-on. “Ready,” she said too brightly.

Penny hugged Claire goodbye. Sam and Claire walked out into the heat and humidity.

A half block away,Keith sat in his rental, parked at the curb, and watched the shelter. He had seen a couple of women leave the shelter and walk down the sidewalk laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world. Had they abandoned the men in their lives too? Emasculated them? Taken away their children?

He wondered if Claire had a job yet. She’d only been here a few days, and he thought she had to be practically penniless by now, although he wasn’t sure how she got ahold of any cash at all. Probably that bitch Sheri gave her money. Thank goodness for Sheri. If he hadn’t put that mic in her apartment and connected that monitoring spy app on her cell, he wouldn’t be in Florida. He would never have guessed Claire would come back to the place where she grew up. And he would never have imagined that Claire would leave her cousin’s house to go to a shelter. If he hadn’t been parked down the street from her cousin’s house in disguise waiting for the cousin to leave for work so he could grab her, he would havemissed seeing her get into the taxi. It had been easy enough to follow the cab and then follow her to the shelter. She didn’t even have the common sense to disguise herself or look around at her surroundings. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

He would grab Claire if she left alone. She wasn’t getting away with humiliating him anymore.

His daydreams of bringing Claire back to New York City were shattered when he saw a small, self-assured woman help Claire into a black SUV. Yes, she was small, but he could sense the intensity and self-confidence emanating from her. Yet another woman who thought she was better than a man. She wouldn’t be easy to tangle with. The woman scanned the street before she got into the vehicle. Had she spotted him? He didn’t think so. He was far enough away. Besides, he hadn’t seen her at Mark’s house, so she shouldn’t have recognized him. He pretended to look down at his phone.

What the hell just happened? Who was that woman? And how had she found Claire so fast? She pulled out, and he let a car get between them before he followed them. He assumed she was driving Claire back to Mark’s house, so he let various cars get ahead of him. Didn’t want to make it too easy for the bitch. Besides, he had a nondescript white sedan. Not unlike every other car in Florida. He wondered how many people Claire was going to involve. Didn’t she remember what would happen to them? When he finally got ahold of Claire, she would fully understand what leaving him meant. And he would find out who the bitch was that helped Claire and ruin her too.

Chapter Nine

Sam and Claire arrived back at Mark’s house so quickly that Claire barely had time to process what had just happened. The ride over had been quiet. Sam had turned the radio on, and the classical music soothed her. For some reason, she never took Sam to be a classical music kind of gal, but then she hadn’t thought about what kind of music Sam liked. In her other life, she never spent much time thinking about music. Keith always chose contemporary jazz. Although she liked it, she didn’t love it, but it wasn’t like she was given a choice.

Claire still felt overwhelmed by the fact that Sam and Mark wanted her back and promised to protect her. Her experience in the past with people who knew Keith was that they viewed her as arm candy and unimportant. Keith had teasingly said at one point that if anyone helped her, he would ruin their lives. She wished she had paid more attention.

It had been a surprise to see Sam sitting in Penny’s office. She wasn’t sure why she felt confident that Sam could protect her and probably all by herself, but it was a good feeling to have. No one had protected her in, well, never. Not that herparents wouldn’t have, but Keith was too powerful. She ruined her life. She didn’t want to ruin theirs. The good part was that Sam had the means and willpower to take on Keith. Things she had been lacking.

It was déjà vu pulling into Mark’s driveway. She had arrived here a few days ago at night, left this morning in the early light. It was mid-afternoon, hot as Florida was in the summer, and now she was back where she started. His Spanish-style home looked calm and welcoming.

“Come on, Claire. Let’s get you settled,” said Sam as she got out of the car. Claire got her suitcase from the back seat. She waited on the front porch while Sam unlocked the door and disarmed the alarm.

They walked into the cool interior, and Claire felt the tension in her body dissipate. She took a deep breath, exhaled. Safety. It wasn’t home, but then again, home was a terror pit.

“I’m starving. How about I make some sandwiches while you unpack?” asked Sam.

Claire nodded. Even though she had eaten a short time ago, she realized she was hungry again. She walked back to the guest room she had vacated hours ago and looked longingly at the bed. She was exhausted. The night before, her sleep was disturbed by thoughts of Keith finding her and panic about what she would do next.

After unpacking her meager belongings yet again, she walked into the kitchen. Sam prepared sandwiches and soup. They sat at the table, eating in comfortable silence.

“Claire.” Sam bit her lip and sighed. “I want to do right by you, so I need to know—if I put a male security guard with you, will you freak out? Or would you prefer a woman?”

Now that was a good question.How did she feel about men? She couldn’t trust the women she knew except for Sheri and now Sam. Keith was extremely jealous, so she was neveraround any men long enough to see whether she could trust them. She used to trust everyone before that bubble popped.

She shrugged. “Either is fine, but I have no problems with a man guarding me. Keith’s issues are on him, not on all men.”

Sam sat back in her chair, relief etched on her face. “Good to know. I don’t have any female team members right now, but I’m hiring two women. I would have personally done it if you were uncomfortable with a man.”

“Great.” Claire nodded and then yawned. “Sorry about that.” Why was she so tired? She guessed stress would make anyone tired. The emotional toll of dealing with Keith was manifesting itself in fatigue.

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