Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (5 page)

“Abby, quit teasing Mike
,
” Claire said as she p
ushed her foot
,
setting the rocking chair in motion once again.

“Claire, I would, but
I’m having
too
much
fun getting a reaction out of him.” Abby held her hands out for the baby. Claire didn’t mind
handing her over
. S
he wanted to stretch her legs and arms out. She’d been in the same position for a couple of hours.
She pushed up from the seat and let Abby take
the seat to
resume
the
soothing
rocking motion that was helping
Lily
sleep.

“Well
,
I need to get going
.
” Claire
grabbed her purse and
walked
over
to
the
bed
, giving Emma a hug.
“I’m having a problem with my books
,
and I need to get back to see if I can figure it out.”

Jake pushed himself from the sleeping chair
,
lifted his hands above his head
,
and stretched, leaning
back
.
“What’s the problem
with your books
?”

“After I left last night, something happened to some of the money. I’ve been checking it line by line against the bank deposit
,
and it seems some
of the
checks
are
missing. I’m almost through with the ledger
,
and so far I’ve narr
owed it down to five checks and
some cash.”
Trying to find the missing funds irked Claire. She liked everything neat and organized
,
and that ledger wasn’t one of them.

“Are you sure you actually received
the checks
? W
ho had access to
the deposit
?” Mike asked from across the room.

“I’m sure
we had them
.
I remember receiving at
least two of them personally
.
As far as access,
Jenny put
the money in my office until this morning
and took it to the bank
after they opened
. Only the two of us handled it.
”

Abby quit
rocking, stood up lightly
,
swaying the baby back
and
forth
as Sam walked to her side.

“So anyone that was at the party could have taken it. Did you read Jenny’s mind to see if she
’s the one with
sticky fingers?”
Sam
cocked an eyebrow.

Claire crossed her arms over her chest. “No, and I’m not going to. I’m sure there
’s
a reasonable explanation.” She knew that Jenny wasn’t responsible. Heck, she was the one who
’d
pointed it out.

Sam held up his hands
in surrender
.
“Don’t be
defensive;
you forget that I was FBI before
coming to work
for Jake.”

Butch
strode through the door
carrying a fast food bag and a milkshake and handed it to Emma.
“Thank you,
t
hank you,
t
hank you
.
” Emma
pushed herself up off the bed and
stood on tiptoes
, planting
a kiss on Butch’s cheek.

“He’s
right;
I’d start there and narrow down the suspects
. L
ook at all of the people who were still there when you left.
Have you checked the
surveillance
tapes?”

Claire
hadn
’t thought someone might have stolen the money
;
she’d assumed
it was a clerical error. She guessed she needed to start looking into other alternatives
if she had any hopes of figuring this out
since she wasn’t getting anywhere with the books
.

“Not yet, but I will.” She
gave Butch a genuine smile
.
“Thanks.”

Jake walked over to her and threw his arm around her shoulder
.
“With the luck you Bennett girls have, I think you’re going to need help.” Jake
turned his gaze to
Butch
with an incorrigible grin on his face
. “You’ve got your new assignment.”

Claire crossed her arms over her chest
and boldly met Jake’s gaze
. “You’ve got to be joking. I don’t need a bodyguard.
” Claire gestured toward Butch. “
I need a forensic accountant
,
m
aybe
even
a surveill
ance wizard to review the tapes, but not a bodyguard. I’m not in any
physical
danger.
”

Jake laughed. He’d actually laughed at her. “Well
,
honey, you’ve got him. What do you think Butch did before coming to work for me?
Butch is the second best tech guy
on my team
—after me of course—
not only with just electronics, but
finding out the facts and
tracing the money.
How do you think
we found
all
of the drug money
in those
Swiss
accounts
from
our
last
big
bust?
”

Claire stood in silence and swung her gaze to
ward
Butch
,
hoping that Jake was telling a fib
. “He’s kidding
,
right?”

“Sorry
,
angel
, he’s telling you the truth.” Butch
looked over at
Jake
and nodded his nonverbal agreement
. “I’m going to walk Claire to her car
. W
hen I come back up, we can discuss a plan of action.”

“This is
ludicrous
.” Claire stomped her foot. She knew she was acting like Abby had
been acting
only minutes ago with
t
he
i
r brother, but why were they insisting that Butc
h was going to be her savior
?
Didn’t they know she’d figure this out o
n her own
? S
he
always
had
.
She’d been just fine before she met him and didn’t need him now.

“No
,
it’s not
,
angel
. Come on.” He put his arm around her shoulders and led her
reluctantly
from the room.

Chapter 3

Claire walked out of the hospital room too tired to argue with all of them. If Butch wanted to look at her surveillance then more power to him. Maybe he’d find something
,
and she could quit going over those damn books. She wasn’t going to object
. H
eck
,
she didn’t even know how to look at the surveillance Mike had installed. She’d never had
any reason
before
now
. Claire had racked her brain on what might have happened to the money. As a last resort, she’d pick Jenny’s mind, but she really didn’t want to. She trusted her. If
Jenny had
taken it
, would she really have told her about the missing
funds?
Wouldn’t she have
skipped
town and
disappeared?

Butch walked her out to the parking garage and stopped. “Where’d you park,
angel
?”

Claire
’s mind had run away from her, thinking about the different
scenarios
of what
had
happened to the money
. S
he
hadn’t even
realized
where they had ended up. They were on the wrong level for her car. She’d parked in the doctor
s
’ parking lot.
One of the many
perks
she’d received from
knowing all of the doctors in town
and raising money for the hospital
. “I’m not on this level. I parked in the doctor
s
’ lot outside.”

Claire turned to walk back through the door they
’d
just exited with Butch on her heels. He threw his arm around her again.
Why is he always touching me?

“Well, why didn’t you say
so?
As much as you and your sisters are here, I’m surprised they haven’t
put your name on a
spot right outside the door
.”

Claire tried to hold back the laugh but failed miserably. She knew Butch had a point.
That was
the first real laugh she’d had in a long time. That must be
why Abby loved him so much
and they were best friends
. He had a way of lifting your spirits, no matter what the circumstances. Claire looked up
and smiled at Butch
.
It was the small things that mattered so much to Claire.
She didn’t need diamonds and riches or to be swept off her feet. She wanted a good-looking man that could make her laugh, one she could spend the rest of her life happy with.

****

Yep, he was
slowly
breaking her down. She’d come around eventually and learn to love him like the rest of her family. Her uptight persona was just for show. He’d figured that out a
bout her a
long time ago.
That
and she was use to running the show.
Butch could only imagine
that she felt responsible for her siblings
because she was the oldest of all of them
. It might take
him some time to pull her out of
the
shell she hid in
to
accept what he h
ad to offer, but he now had the chance he was looking for,
where he could get closer. She wasn’t even going to see him coming.

When she finally did let go of her hard exterior, he would be there to catch her.
He’d have to thank Jake later for giving him the assignment
, a reason that Claire could rationally agree too, at least for now. He’d thought about just coming out and asking her out on a date, but he knew she’d say no.

They’d walked to the parking garage, only for her to tell him they were in the wrong spot
,
and he’d gotten Claire to laugh. That was a good start in his book. Butch often wondered if he was good enough for Claire. She hadn’t had a hard life
,
like he had, but he was sure they could make it work. 

“I’ll be over first thing in the morning. Why don’t you go home and get some sleep
? Y
ou haven’t gotten much over the last few days. Just bypass the ledgers and start with fresh eyes in the morning.”

Claire looked up and smiled again. Her hand went to her throat, fidgeting with the pearls that hung there. Butch wondered if she realized that she did that often
and
i
f
the string of crème beads were important to her
.
Her nervousness was cute.
He
could get use
d
to
being the one responsible for putting
a
smile on her face
, and he could think of a lot more pleasurable ways to do it too
.

“You’re right. I’m sure that’s why I couldn’t find it this afternoon. A
little bit of sleep couldn’t hurt
.” Claire pulled the keys out of her purse and hit her
fob
.

The locks clicked
,
and he waited until she got in the car.
He stood there t
apping his knuckles on the window,
waiting
for her to lower it. “If you need me to hold you in your sleep again, just give me a call.” Butch winked at her and didn’t wait around for the rebuff that he knew would come from her lips, just turned on his heels and walked off.
The
grin
he
knew he was
sporting
was bound to
draw some questions, and he wasn’t ready to reveal his plans
just yet, a
t least
not
until he had his little angel on his side.

Butch
bypassed
the elevator altogether and
took the stairs two at a time to the third floor of the
hospital
. He was in good shape, but with all of the people lately out to hurt the sisters, he
needed
to be ready for anything. A psychotic ex-boyfriend had kidnapped Emma, and a deranged lunatic had set his si
ghts
on Abby in the last year
. H
e didn’t know what to expect
from
Claire
’s situation, but he’d
get
prepared
just the same
.

Butch was just passing the nurses’ station when Jake met him in the hall and said, “Walk with
me;
I need to get some coffee.”

Butch turned
,
following his partner
down the corridor
,
bypassing the coffee machine. Butch stopped and pointed at it. “Uh
,
Jake, you just passed it.”

“No
,
I didn’t
.
I think we need to take a trip down to the cafeteria,
out of earshot from Emma
.
I swear
she can hear
things
a mile away.
”
Jake laughed.

That peeked
Butch’
s curiosity. Butch
raised his brow
but kept walking. If Jake wanted to talk about something without Emma hearing, that could only
mean
one thing.
He doesn’t want to get her upset.
“Okay, so talk already.”

Jake seemed uncomfortably silent as they strolled to
the elevator and waited for it
. Stepping in and pushing the button to the lobby, Butch leaned against the elevator wall and waited.

“I don’t like it.” Jake shook his head. “Emma and her sisters seem to attract trouble, and it’s usually worse than they think.”

“Ah.” The light went on in his head. “This is about Claire’s problem. Do you think the assistant took it?”

Jake was silent
. Butch
could almost see the wheels turning as
Jake
thought
about it
, processing it in his head
. The elevator dinged
,
and they stepped out, proceeding in the direction of the cafeteria. “I don’t know. See
,
that’s the problem with them
. I
t’s never as cut and dr
y
as it seems to be. That’s where you come in.” Jake fixed him
self a coffee and continued while
Butch fixed his own. “
I want you with her twenty
-
four seven until we find out what’s going on. You need to pack a bag
. D
on’t plan on leaving her side until we figure this out.”

Butch stepped over to
the cashier
,
pulled out his wallet
,
and handed her the bills
. “Don’t you think you’re over reacting just a bit
?
”
h
e asked.
There was nothing Butch wanted more than to stay at Claire’s house.
It would make his plans of sweeping her off her feet even that much easier. Butch kept his mouth shut, not coming clean about his plans for the oldest Bennett sister. Hell, it wasn’t anyone’s business but his and Claire’s.
Still
,
he felt like he was taking advantage of the situation
and needed to be certain that Jake had clearly thought this through.

He cleared his throat to tell Jake about his plans,
but Jake interrupted his confession
. “Butch, she’s not like her sisters. Claire has always been involved in her fundraisers. She
hardly
dates;
she doesn’t have a danger
ous job. Thi
nk about it
. I
f someone wants
to hurt her, that’s the obvious choice. I hope it’s just a calculation error, but it wouldn’t shock me if
someone were
trying to
sabotage
her. Her sisters are proof of
the craziness surrounding them
.
It’s like that was an added bonus with getting their gifts
. T
a
da
! Y
ou have a special gift, but you get x amount of psychos to go along with it…
E
njoy.
”