Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (18 page)

Claire turned to Abby
,
who was now on her feet. “Think about it
,
Abby
. Y
ou know that Mike, Jake
,
and Butch will be here for me. You need to go to the beach house with
the others
. You can help keep them safe. None of us are going to be able to focus if we have to worry about
the four of you,
and you know that could end up getting any one of us hurt.”

Claire appealed to Abby’s
logical side
. H
er sister knew what being preoccupied on a job like this could mean. They’d all been preoccupied by Sam’s return when they were trying to catch a killer
,
and it
had
ended up getting Sam and her nephew kidnapped.

Claire lifted Lily again in her arms and looked at Emma. “Emma, you need to keep Lily safe. You
have more to worry about now tha
n just me. What happens to Lily if something happens to you?
Can you imagine her life without her mother
? C
an you imagine her having to go through what we all did
?
You need to do this for her, not for me
.”

She was grasping at straws but knew her sister
s
would take the bait. Jake walked to Emma’s side and placed his arm around her shoulders, kissing her on the head. “I know
you hate to miss all
of
the action
,
baby, but we’ll keep her safe. I need you to keep our daughter safe.”

Emma hesitated and chewed on her bottom lip, possibly contemplating her options. “Fine, I’ll go, but I am not happy about it.” Emma walked over
,
taking Lily out of her arms. “
Claire, y
ou better
stay
safe, and call me if I can help…oh
,
and one more thing
. K
eep you
r
damn phone on you. The first time Momma Mae mentions that you’re in trouble,
or I get the slightest cramp,
you better answer my call.”

Claire’s lips tilted up in a smile. “I always knew you had common sense.”

Briggs took a sip of his coffee. “I’ll be damned, Claire. You should have been a lawyer.
If you can convince these two to leave you, you could convince any jury of anything.
”

Emma placed Lily back down in her
bassinet
. “Well
,
we can at
least help you dig through the files. We’ll take some of
D
ad’s old files with us
,
and you guys can dig though his last two years. We’re going to need something to keep us busy.” Emma turned to Claire. “Take it or leave it, big sister. That is the only way you’re getting us to leave town.”

Butch laughed
.
“You really are cut from the same tree. She agrees. Call us if you find out anything, no matter how small.”

Jake kissed Emma’s head. “You all leave tomorrow morning. I suggest
we get you all packed
.” He turned to Claire
.
“Mike and I wil
l be back
in the morning
after we put
everyone
on
the jet
.”

Emma handed the baby to Jake and w
alked over to Claire
,
pulling her
out from under Butch’s arm. She hugged her tight and whispered in her ear. “Take care of yourself. Remember what
D
ad and Mike taught us, and if I call you with any warnings from Momma Mae
or
from my gut feelings, you better listen to them.”
Emma leaned back and glared at Claire
with one raised brow
.

“I will. Don’t worry about me
.
I’m in good hands. You just keep that baby safe and try to keep Abby from blowing a gasket. Give her some files or something to go through to keep her busy.”

“Uh…I heard that
. S
aid sister is standing right here
,
” Abby said as she pulled Claire away from Emma and threw her arm around her shoulder, steering her for the door. “We’re taking some files with us
,
and I promise I’m going to go through them with a fine
-
tooth comb. We’re going to figure this out
;
I promise.
”
Abby pulled a gun from her waistband and handed it to her sister. “You still remember how to shoot, right?”

Claire pushed the gun away from her. “I have my own
. B
esides
.
I’d rather you keep your
s
on you, just in case. But don’t worry about me
.
I’m going to be fine.”

Claire pulled her front door open and walked outside. Mike gave her a quick squeeze. “See you in the morning, squirt.”

Claire and Butch stood on her porch and wa
ved
as
everyone
piled in their cars and started down her
long
driveway. She
’d
held back her tears, not wanting to upset her sisters. Had she started any waterworks, they would have insisted on staying
,
and she couldn’t have that. Saying goodbye to her sisters without knowing how this would all play out was one of the hardest things she would
ever
have to do. Butch put his arm around Claire and walked her back inside.

“Don’t worry
,
angel
.
Sam and Briggs won’t let anything happen to them.”

“I know
,
” Claire whispered.

She shook her
head to clear all bad thoughts
,
refusing to dwell on them.
She could do this. She would do this. Claire walked to the kitchen and refilled her coffee mug and turned to Butch.
“I guess you’re going to be my shadow until we figure this out?”

“You got
it
,
angel
. What do
you have on the agenda today?”

Claire took a sip of her hot coffee and pondered what all she had to get done. “I need to call Jenny and
see where we’re at on the
next fundraiser. It’s only a week and a half away. I might as well get everything I can done since the next few days will be spent scouring my dad’s files.
Why don’t you go grab what you need for the day
while I call Jenny? I’m going to need to run some errands too.”

Butch nodded and left her standing in the kitchen. Claire picked up her cordless p
hone and called Jenny
,
doling out
instructions on what
still needed to be done
. Jenny was competent enough to handle it all
;
she’d
just
helped set up the last fundraiser.

Butch returned as she was hanging up from the call. “Ready?”

“Yep, let me grab my purse on the way out. First stop is Main Street
,
and I’m driving this time.” Claire smiled up at Butch as she sauntered by.

Claire grabbed her purse, set the security code
,
and locked her house
. S
he wasn’
t sure if it would keep out
whoever
wanted to get in
since one had managed to do damage while she’d been home, but it was out of habit. They drove down to Main Street
,
and she parked in front of a boutique.

“What do we need here?”
Butch crossed his arms over his chest.

“I need to get fitted for my dress I’m wearing to the
next
fundraiser. It shouldn’t take long if you have anything else you need to do while we’re in town.
Then I need to return those papers to the bank.
”

****

Butch held the door open for Claire to
walk into
the dress shop.
Racks of wom
e
n
’
s clothes
filled the small space. He’d
guessed everything in this small shop was designer with a price tag to match. Claire
hadn’t seen him as he glanced around
,
making sure there wasn’t
anyone suspicious watching them
. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary
, well that was if you didn’t include him standing in the store
.
He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the
few wom
e
n
that
were
perusing
through the racks
,
and
two more standing
behind the counter
.
Butch checked each of them out from head to toe and smiled
,
knowing that Claire could take each of them in a fight if she needed to.
Claire was greeted
with hugs and air kisses by
a woman
he assumed was the owner. Claire had been dragged away to a
fitting room and was squ
irreled
away.

Butch hollered through the door. “Angel, I’ve got a few things to take care of, so I’ll
be back in thirty minutes. Do. Not. Leave. Without. Me.
”
Butch emphasized each word to make sure she got the point.

Claire’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door. “Take your time
.
I’m going to be awhile.”