Page 20 of Last Seen Alive
“No way. Anything but. You and I, though… we could make a good team.”
He looked her right in the eye, and it had her cheeks growing warm. It also prompted other reactions in her body that she hadn’t experienced before. And it was like he could see right through her, like he knew the effect he was having on her and was wielding it to his advantage. He had to be working an angle. She stiffened. “I don’t even know who you are.”
“My first mistake.” He held out his hand toward her. “Nick Clayton.”
“Claire Ramsey.” His hand was strong and warm, and she felt firecrackers ignite when they touched. But his touch had been brief, and she was left to wonder if she’d imagined it.
“Beautiful name.”
“Thanks.” She could feel her cheeks growing a brighter red and cursed her immaturity. Michelle wouldn’t flush; she knew how to handle boys. But Nick, he was all man to Claire.
“You know you could really make a lot of money with the skills you have… under the right guidance.”
“You’re trying to tell me I could become—what?—a professional thief?” The thought of that was both thrilling and shocking.
“Why not? You have the skills as I mentioned, and you have the looks. If you put your mind to it, I’m sure you could get a hold of whatever you wanted.”
Whatever I want…That sounded freaking amazing! It certainly didn’t sum up her life currently, which was more a living nightmare. Tiptoeing around her parents, desiring to be seen and heard, and feeling worthless no matter how hard she tried in school. Needing to steal books because she didn’t have a few bucks in her pocket.
“What do you say? Want to get to know each other better?” He showcased his dimples again, and her legs went weak.
“You really think I could have whatever I wanted?” She was afraid to trust and to believe that she had that type of power.
“I do.”
She smiled at him.
They spent the afternoon talking, getting to know one another, and by the time they parted ways, the seed of hope for a bright future had been planted in Claire’s mind.
But it wasn’t to last long.
She returned home, just as the sun was sinking in the sky. Police cruisers were out front of her home, their lights strobing.
She wanted to race ahead and find out what was going on, but fear froze her. She hopped off the bike and nestled up close to a tree, watching as her father was led out of the front door cuffed and fed into the back of a police car.
“It was an accident, I swear,” her father yelled out. It seemed for anyone who would bother to listen.
Her heart was pounding and thundering in her ears. She was having a hard time catching a full breath.
A hand on her shoulder had her spinning around—Michelle. Claire let go of her bike. The chain clinked as the pedals slammed against the ground and carried loudly in the early evening air. Police officers looked over and saw her and Michelle and started walking toward them.
There was nothing that could have prepared her for the news coming her way or how her life would change that day. Maybe if she had known that was the last time that she’d see her mother alive, she would have stayed, tried something different. Done her part to intervene and save her. But then there was also the possibility she would be dead too.
There were two options in front of her: burrow in her grief and live in the past, or lean forward.
Nick just may have been a guardian angel sent to save her.
EIGHT
Amanda had heard enough. The case felt like an out-of-control vehicle with Logan in its headlights. Her phone rang, and she saw it was her sister Kristen. “Hey, everything good with Zoe?”
“That’s one way of answering the phone. But, yes, she’s fine. How are you this fine Saturday morning?” Kristen was obviously high on life, but there were rarely times when she wasn’t.
“Things could be better.”
“Oh. That doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.” Amanda didn’t really want to get into the fact that a man she used to see was being charged with murder.Really, why go there…?
