Chapter Nineteen: Claire
“Your house or mine?” Claire asked as Desmond drove.
He hadn’t said much since the workshop. Claire wondered if it was because he was overwhelmed with what he just did or the mere fact that he had asked and she’d said yes. She had been completely surprised, and she could only wonder how long he’d been planning to ask her or if it was spur of the moment. He seemed lost in thought, and why not? He had a lot to think about, so Claire left him to think in peace.
“Mine,” he said, clicking on his blinker. “Your house doesn't have any food.”
She scoffed. “So?! I don’t recall you starving when you were there last time,” she said, tilting her head.
“That’s because I brought the food,” he said, smirking and glancing at her before bringing his eyes back to the road.
It was true, and since Claire couldn’t argue, she stayed quiet.
“How am I going to get to work in the morning?” she asked, thinking of the different schedules they kept.
“You can borrow one of my cars,” he said, and their conversation died out. Desmond didn’t seem to mind as he reached over to turn on his radio. Again, something Claire had never heard played, and she spent the ride engrossed in the new artist instead of worrying of whether or not Desmond was being distant. Plus, she was still riding high from her event, to say nothing of the proposal. It was a complete success, and Claire couldn’t think of a better way to end it than in the arms of a man like Desmond. She was already thinking about whether to suggest that they move in together sooner or later, even though yesterday she would have said it was moving too fast.
The next morning, Claire found she was still floating on a cloud as she and Desmond parted in the driveway. He held the door of his Audi open for her, pulling her in for a last-minute kiss.
“See you tonight,” he teased, and swatted her on the behind.
“You better,” she said, reaching to give his hardening crotch a squeeze before climbing into her car.
“Tease,” he called through the window.
“You know it,” she said, and pulled out of the driveway, laughing.
***
Claire had never driven a luxury car, and to have one to herself made her extra careful as she drove, paying attention not to speed or get too close to any cars. Thinking ahead, she decided to park in the back to guarantee no one accidentally dinged the beautiful car or scratched it. Claire whistled to herself as she picked up her long, flowy skirt and walked toward the door. She almost had her hand on the door when she noticed it already ajar.
She went through the catalog of her mind trying to remember if she forgot to lock the door after last night’s event. The workshop had been held in Violet’s shop since she had most of the jewelry supplies and had space for a class, but she had run across the street to her store a few times throughout the night for last minute jewels or pendants.
She nodded, assuring herself that she had accidentally left the door unlocked and moved inside, being sure to lock the door behind herself. Though she told herself it was her own mistake, she moved loudly, making more noise than she normally did as she went through her morning routine, just to put her nerves at ease. She walked to her office, placing her purse in the bottom drawer and locking it in before booting up the computer, all the while trying to ward off the heaviness she felt. Something wasn’t right.
Even though nothing was out of place, something just didn’t feel right. She sat at her desk and slid the chair under the wood, noting the air even smelled different, and just as she reached over for her external mouse, she saw it. The incense sticks were all pushed to one side, not spread out like she preferred them to be. They were to the side like someone reached past them for something and didn’t realize they moved something else in the process.
Claire stood from her desk quickly, forgetting that she’d always said she’d be sensible and call the police in a case like this. Instead, she was determined to find out who the hell had been in her store and why. She hunted through the office, combing over every little detail, and trying to find any clues to let her know who could have done this. Despite her best detective work, she could find nothing amiss.
She moved onto the store, still sure she would find something. Again, her eyes combed her store like it was one of those puzzles where you tried to find one thing in a picture filled to the brim with random things. The only difference was, everything she saw was not random. She knew every piece, every book, and was looking to see if anything was off. Everything looked perfect until her eyes fell on her statue corner.
Claire felt a pang in her heart. She could see they didn’t look right. There weren’t the usual number of heads standing there.
As she walked closer, she could feel her heart sinking. She guessed as much, but it hurt to see the evidence in front of her eyes. Cement rubble, pieces of a body on its side. Her heart lurched when she saw which statue it was. Athena. Why was she the only one broken? Claire looked the others over and could tell they were all out of place. Someone probably was trying to see if something was under them, and in the process, tilted Athena too far over.
Claire knelt, intending to clean up and fell forward, dissolving into tears. Her beautiful statue, and it was a gift from Desmond. She scooted until her back was against the wall and tucked her arms over her knees, letting her head fall forward as she cried.
Claire was not the kind of girl to cry in public or in private, but there was something so volatile in the violation she felt, knowing someone had been in her store and destroyed something she loved so much. She wanted to call someone, but she couldn’t, not while she was this vulnerable and broken. She felt as rocky as the cement in front of her, lost in pieces and alone.
Claire sat alone, trying to stem her tears until she heard the front door jingling. In fear, she stood on shaky legs, looking for something to use as a weapon, settling for Athena’s arms as the front door flew open.
“Claire,” Desmond said, running into the store.
Seeing the intruder was him, she dropped the arm with a loud thud as he ran forward and wrapped his arms around her.
“Where have you been, love? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“I was here, and I don’t have my phone with me,” Claire said. “My purse is in the office.”
“Have you been here all this time?” Desmond asked, and Claire nodded.
“Violet called me. She noticed you hadn’t opened yet and wondered if you were taking a day off to be with me.”
Claire didn’t bother responding. Desmond already knew that wasn’t true.
“You had us worried sick,” he said, looking her over as if she should be damaged, and when his gaze landed on her face, he frowned even more. “Baby, what’s wrong? Please talk to me,” he said, wiping the pad of his thumbs underneath her eyes. “What happened here?” he said, finally taking in the mess behind her.
“Someone broke her,” Claire said sniffing.
“What do you mean?” Desmond said, taking a step back.
“Someone broke in,” she said in a hoarse voice.
“Stay right here,” Desmond said, leaving her to do a thorough sweep of the place to be sure no one was in the shop with them. Claire leaned against the wall with her eyes closed, trying to stem the headache she knew was inevitable when she cried.
Desmond returned with a piece of paper in his hand. “I found this,” he said.
“Is it a random note?” Claire asked, trying to be funny.
His mouth set in a grim line. “No. It’s research,” he said, holding it out.
“Research?” Claire asked in confusion. Together, they leaned over to see the page in the light since they hadn’t turned on the overhead lights yet.
The page was handwritten and chaotic. There were names, dates in a separate column that said “sitting,” and bulleted points. One point said, “Not invisible. Can see with radar.” The other said, “Lives in packs.”
“Desmond,” Claire said, asking so much in one word, “what does this mean?”
“I have no idea,” he said. “But we’re going to find out. Together.”
She nodded.
“But first things first,” he said. “We call a locksmith. You need to change the locks on both doors and get an alarm system.”
Claire wiped her face, immediately going into problem-solving mode. They had a lot to fix and solve.