Mind Play (Bennett Sisters Book 3) (17 page)

They arrived at her house. She didn’t wait for Butch to open her door this time
before she
flung it open and ju
mped out with her heels in her hands.
Tonight had
change
d
everything.
The neighbors getting a glimpse of her underwear were the least of her problems.

Butch met her at the front of the truck. “You must really want that bath,
angel
. Y
ou could have waited for me.”

Claire pulled the keys from her purse. “Sorry.” She unlocked the door and punched in the alarm code. She threw her purse on the foyer table and took the stairs two at a time to her room. She needed time to think before her family came over. How was she going to explain that someone had it in for them and it ha
d
to do with their dad
?

Claire disrobed as she made her way to the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She turned on the shower and stepped in
,
letting the hot water rain down over her body.
She lifted her hair to her nose and inhaled. It was going to take weeks to get the awful smell from her hair. She leaned her head back under the spray and washed
the dirt and smoke from
her hair. If the water could
also
wash away the last twenty
-
four hours, she could live with that. An unrealistic dream, but she could wish.

Just as she lathered the soap into her
washcloth
, she heard the door open
,
and she tensed. “Hello?”

“It’s just me
,
angel
. I’m just checking on you
. A
re you al
l
right?” It was sweet that he cared. She stopped herself
from thinking such thoughts
and shook her head
. S
he was his assignment. Would he even be here if Jake hadn’t made him
?

“I’m fine. I’ll be down in a few minutes
. C
an you call everyone and ask them to come over
in the
morning
?”

“Angel, what did you learn from Sal?”

“It’s still a jumbled mess, but he said something about my dad. Let me take my shower and clear my head. Maybe it will make more sense by the time I get out.” Claire gave Butch a small smile.

Butch gave her a nod, knowing she might need more time
“I’ve started the coffee
. I
t should be ready by the time you get done.”

She peeked out of the shower curtain. Butch was about to walk out
when she stopped him. “Butch.” He stopped with his hand on the knob.

“Yeah
?”

“Thank you for what you did today. I’m sorry you’re involved in this mess.”

Butch walked over
and
placed his palm on her wet cheek.
His
gentle and affirming
stare never left her.
The fire in his eyes
sent a shiver of awareness through her body.
“Angel
,
there isn’t anywhere else I would rather be.” Butch
leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. A gentle kiss, a quick kiss
,
nothing more.
She had to fight her overwhelming need not to step out of the shower and into his arms.
“I’ll put your coffee in your room when it’s done
,
and I’ll have everyone here in the morning, but you really should try and get some rest.”

He gave her a
nother
quick peck
before he let his palm fall from her cheek, turned
,
and left her standing there. Claire decided since she wasn’t in a hurry
she’d take her bath
instead. She finished washing her body and put down the plug to stop the water from draining. When it was filled with water, she turned off the showerhead and eased down into the steaming water. She felt the
tension in her shoulders eas
ing
the longer she stayed in the warming water
. She tried not to think about the upcoming weeks. She let her thoughts stray to Butch.
She closed her eyes and thought back through the last year. He’d always been there. He’d always been in the background of her life, but he’d always been there. For a long time she’d thought he’d been interested in Abby, but the more she thought a
bout it, Claire
couldn’t remember him flir
ting with anyone else but her. He’d always been by her side, but she’d never noticed.

Claire opened her eyes. She felt the frown on her lips. The realization that she hadn’t noticed concerned her. She
liked to think she
was like her sisters
. S
he picked up on little clues like that, and she’d completely missed all of the signs.
Claire stood
, dried off with a fluffy towel
,
and wrapped it around her as she walked into her bedroom. Just like Butch had said
,
he’d put
a steaming cup of coffee on her nightstand. Claire pulled out her sleeping clothes and changed. She climbed into her bed and took a long sip of her still warm coffee.
She could get use
d
to someone caring for her. She’d never had that except for her family, always relying on herself to take care of everything.
Claire s
a
t
the cup
down and laid her head back against the pillow
, sinking into her bed surrounded by the warmth of her comforter
. She was too tired to get out of bed and turn off her light
. I
nstead
,
she closed her eyes and let sleep take her away from her troubles
.

Chapter 9

Claire woke in
a dark
ened
room. She blinked her eyes and rolled over
,
looking up at her light.
Butch.
Claire turned her head toward her alarm clock. The red numbers told her it was eight o’clock in the morning. She’d slept in a little, but it wasn’t long enough
that she’d felt her day was wa
sted. Claire rubbed the sleep from her eyes and noticed the coffee cup
missing from her nightstand.
Claire felt her lips tilt up in a grin.

Claire slid out of bed and dressed for the day, thankful to be putting on her normal clothes. She clasped the pearls around her neck and smiled at the strand in the mirror. She
put on her makeup and ran a brush through her hair and was ready to start the day. Claire bounced down the stairs to the sound of voices in her kitchen. She walked in and stopped in her tracks.

“About time,” Mike said. “Butch wouldn’t let us eat until you got down here.”

Claire glanced around the room. Her whole family was there along with Jake’s crew. Her normally big kitchen was crowded with family cooking. Emma and Jake were at the stove. The aroma of bacon drifted to her nose. Her stomach growled. Butch walked over to her and handed her a fresh cup of coffee before he placed a kiss on her lips. “
Good
m
orning
,
angel
. Hope you don’t mind, but we’ve made ourselves at home. Why don’t you have a seat
?
”

Butch pulled out a chair for Claire
as she glared at her brother. She’d seen him in these kinds of moods numerous time
s
.
“I’m glad I’m not married to you
. Y
ou’re too damn cranky in the morning.

“Be nice angel, he just hasn’t had his coffee yet.
Breakfast is almost done.”

She’d expected Mike to make a smart comment, but he’d held his tongue. She observed her brother over the top of her coffee cup as she took a sip of the steaming brew. He literally looked like he was biting his tongue.
She hid her smile behind the porcelain and pondered why the sudden change of heart.
It was weird sitting at the table while all of her family milled around in her kitchen
. S
he was so use
d
to being the one who entertained. Abby sat next to her
,
holding Lily. Emma and Jake had brought over the
bassinet
and had wheeled it into the kitchen. Claire didn’t think Lily was going to have much opportunity to use it before outgrowing it. Someone always had the sweet angel in their arms, holding her. Claire wondered if Abby and Sam would have another child since John was grown and off to college.

Claire sipped her coffee watching the others as they placed mounds of food on the table and took their seats. That was one thing she loved about her family. Their serious discussions were always held with a family meal
. I
t wasn’t so much the meal as it was the caring and closeness she felt with her family
. She wished they were all there to just enjoy
each other’s
company, but she’d called this meeting. How they took the news and what they were going to do about it was still up in the air.
Claire lifted her hand to her pearls as her stomach fluttered.

They all sat at her table chitchatting as if it were just another morning breakfast to be shared. Once all of their stomachs were full and the dishes were in the sink
, all eyes turned to her.
Mike crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward. “Okay, spill it
,
Claire. Everyone here knows what happened last night,
except for
what you learned from Sal using your gift.”

Claire took another sip of her coffee before she pushed back from the table and started pacing
as she stared at the ground
.
She stopped and propped her hands on the back of her now empty chair. “It was all sort of jumbled
because
he was drunk, but what I did manage to get from him bother
ed
me.”

“Well
,
don’t keep us in suspense
. W
hat was it?” Mike asked
,
leaning back in his chair.

“I’m just going to tell you exactly what his thoughts were, and you can all come to your own conclusions.” Claire started pacing again. “What he thought was
,
‘
H
e’s going to kill me
.’ K
eep in mind these are his thoughts. He was obviously worried that he was going to die. H
is next thought was
,
‘
ruin his plan he had for them
.’ N
one of it makes sense,
but it was his last thought that
I understand
less
. He thought
,
‘
if it wasn’t for their damn father.
’
”

Butch stood
,
placing his arm around Claire.
Mike jumped from his chair
,
knocking it over
. “What the hell does
our
father have to do with any of this?”

Claire leaned in
to the warmth and support Butch offered. “I don’t know.
I was hoping you could tell me.”

Emma went and picked Lily up out of the
bassinet
. “Okay
,
everyone
,
let’s
think about this logically. Here’s what his thoughts tell us. First, he was right about being killed
. H
e knew that someone was going to kill him
,
and it happened. Second, he said something about ruining someone’s plans he had for them. Third, he said if it wasn’t for their damn father. My guess is that dear old dad pissed someone off
,
and whoever killed Sal has a plan to get even through us.” Emma turned toward Mike
.
“Anyone we know that was holding a grudge against dad?”

“Emma
,
he was a cop for crying out loud. Every criminal he put behind bars is probably still holding a grudge.” The air around Claire grew cold
,
and she shivered.

Emma looked to the left of Claire and
nodded
in agreement. “Momma Mae said we should start there. Mike, can you get access to all of
D
ad’s old
files? We need to start with the
last file he was working on and look at all of them. This is going to take some time to work through
. M
aybe we could even split them up.”

Claire held up her hand to stop Emma’s planning. “Wait
,
there’s more.”

Emma stopped the
s
light sway of her arms. “Really
? A
fter all that, there’s still more?” Emma sat back down in her chair
, clutching Lily closer to her body
.

“Yeah, at the precinct last night, there was an agent with the FBI
.
I believe his name was
Thompson
.” Claire tilted her head toward Butch
. “Butch knew him.”

Claire stepped out of Butch’s embrace and walked to the coffee pot for a refill.
“He told us that Sal
had been
involved with
some guy named Winters
,
who they’ve been
after for
drugs and
money-laundering.”

Jake
shoved away from the table, his chair
screech
ing,
and stood. “T
ell me he wasn’t talking about
Joel Winters.”

Claire glanced over her shoulder. “You’ve heard of him?”

She shouldn’t have been surprised that Jake
had
heard of him since Butch knew who he was, but
s
he wasn’t expect
ing the worried look she saw in his eyes
.
For Jake and Butch to be worried about this new player,
it couldn’t
be good.

“Yeah, you could say that. This guy is a
ghost;
no
one even knows what he looks like.” Jake turned back to Butch
.
“Tell me that’s not who we
’
re up against.”

Butch shrugged
.
“I’m afraid so. I think you need to send Emma, Lily
,
Abby
,
and
John
to the beach house with
Sam and
Briggs until we figure this out.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” Jake glanced to Briggs
,
who’d been silent up until now.

“Now
,
Jake, you’re smarter than that
. Y
ou
know the girls
aren’t going to leave Claire
to fight this by herself,
not to mention
you guys
too
.
”

Briggs was such a smart man
. A
s much as she wanted her sisters to go somewhere they would be safe, she didn’
t expect that they would, but she needed to try. Claire walked over to Emma and put her arm around her shoulder
s
. “Sure they will. Emma and Abby are both going to go.” Claire took Lily out of Emma’s arms and placed a kiss on her little pink cheek. “And this sweet baby is the reason why.”