Page 75 of Evidence of Deceit

“Claire, I’d like for you to stop working at the gallery for a short time until Roman’s murder is resolved.”

Her eyes widened. “Do you think I’m in danger?”

“No, I don’t think so. I would just feel better if I were able to guard you in the house.”

She sighed, didn’t say anything, and Joe watched a flurry of emotions pass through her eyes. Fear, worry, anger. He didn’t like the anger.

“No.”

“No?”

Claire picked up her coffee cup and took a sip. Placed it on the saucer. No, she banged it down. The saucer jumped a little. He guessed she was a little angry. Tough. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do to protect her.

“That’s right. No.” Her face reddened, and she drew in a steady breath. Then another. “I made up my mind when I left Keith that I was never going to be afraid again. And that I would never let someone else’s opinion stop me from doing what I want, need to do.” She spoke in a measured tone.

She reached over for his hands. “I respect your opinion. Honestly, I do. I understand you want to protect me. I’m glad you want to protect me. But you can’t follow me around twenty-four seven, making sure nothing hurts me.”

“Sure, I can.”

“Humph,” she muttered. “No, you can’t. I won’t let you. I’m a grown woman. I haven’t always made the best decisions for myself but hiding out because something happened to someone I work with is not who I am or what I’m going to do.”

Joe opened his mouth to retort, but the doorbell rang. Sam. Damn, the woman had the worst timing. But if Claire thought he wasn’t going to protect her, she had another think coming. The argument wasn’t over, just postponed.

Sam had just left.She only dropped off some papers from the shelter for Claire to sign. The protection conversation was still present in his mind.

He pulled Claire close and whispered in her ear, “Please don’t go back to the gallery unless I can protect you.”

She abruptly pulled away from him. “Joe, I said it before, and I’ll say it again. I’m a grown woman. I’m not going to go through life with protection. The discussion is closed. Promise me you won’t get involved.”

He hesitated.

“Promise me.”

He nodded. Didn’t want to.

She picked up her purse and stomped out of his house.

He was left standing there feeling helpless. Damn her. Didn’t she know he would do anything for her? That protecting her was one of the things he could do to help her. He hated that Keith had hurt her, hated that those men could have hurt her, hated himself because he hadn’t protected her all these years.

He sat down, holding his head in his hands. He hated that they argued. But he needed to do something. He thought about following her, but he’d promised not to. Ah, but he didn’t promise not to ask someone else to watch her. He looked around for his phone, then remembered he left it in the kitchen. While he was there, he grabbed a beer, then dialed Hank. He knew Hank was off for a couple of days.

It rang two, three times.

“Hello.”

Joe stared at the phone. What did that say about him? He promised Claire not to get involved, and that’s precisely what he was doing. She was a grown woman, capable of taking care of herself. If she couldn’t trust him, it would break his heart.

“Hello?”

“Wrong number.” He hung up. He wasn’t happy with hisdecision, but that’s what happened when you were in love. Not protecting her went against everything he believed in. He had to let this go because he respected Claire as much as he loved her.

The phone rang. Claire? Had she changed her mind?

“You know that I have caller ID, don’t you?”

Hank. Damn it.

Joe sighed. “Yeah.”

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