In Her Sights Read Free

the police even take the time to stop through a courtroom
before putting him in a cell to rot? The woman was like a daughter to the Mayor,
Chief of Police, a Senator, and County Judge, just to name a few. They had all
more or less adopted her when she found her parents murdered when she was nine. And that didn’t even count the general public in the city
who thought she was an absolute doll.
    At the moment, he had other ways of describing her. With probes
still in his back, he kept those thoughts to himself and focused on figuring a
way out. “The dagger Arnold brought you today was stolen. I was hired to return
it.”
    Her light, gray-blue eyes widened. “I can’t imagine how your
business is successful if you resort to breaking and entering to get what you
want.”
    Nothing in his business operated like he had managed this
case. He’d fire his investigators if they pulled a stunt like this. “It’s
unusual circumstances.”
    It’d been a risk coming here, but he’d had no other choice.
His wife had passed away years ago, and still Clayton couldn’t turn down
requests from his father in-law. A once-thriving and brilliant man, Shane
Gilroy was wrecked by alcohol abuse while grieving his daughter and
granddaughter’s untimely death. Deaths that were Clayton’s fault.
    Kate and Audrey’s brown eyes flashed through his memory, but
he shut it down.
    “What circumstances.” Lexie’s head tilted to the side.
    “The kind where I owed a big favor.” He was not getting into
the death of his wife and daughter.
    “Risky way to pay it back.”
    If the police took him to jail, he’d be out of business, and
that meant dozens of people working for him would be out of jobs. He hoped like
hell Shane was happy, but Clayton couldn’t completely blame the man. Clayton
had known the risks when he’d agreed. “I didn’t have much of a choice.”
    She squared her shoulders and looked even more determined. “Do
you have proof I have this dagger?”
    “I—”
    “Of course you don’t. Why else would you be sneaking around
my house at three in the morning if you did?”
    A headache was starting to pound in the back of his skull. She
had so many things in her yard that the view of the front door was blocked from
the road. Fountains, big sprawling trees. Bushes and flowers. Not to mention
the seven-foot, stone wall encircling her property. The only way to see in was
through the iron gates at the front.
    What he knew was that Arnold had driven from the post
office, was closely followed by a red truck until he turned off the bypass and
drove straight to Lexie’s house. He stayed at the most of two minutes.
    Arnold then drove home, where he was met by the red truck.
Four men got out, stopped Arnold right there on the street, and searched his
car. They took nothing out of the vehicle. After that, it looked like some
threats were given, and Arnold went on to his house. The red truck parked on
the street. Clayton knew Arnold had left the dagger he’d picked up from the
post office with Lexie. Otherwise, whoever the men were would have taken it,
and they wouldn’t have staked out Arnold’s home.
    So confirmation, no. It was a gamble. But the biggest reason
he came at three in the morning was because he didn’t want his name in any way
associated with the damn thing. He had planned to collect the dagger, return
it, and be done with it. “Your security system will show the dagger coming in.”
    Her brow raised and she dropped to a knee, leaned forward,
and rested an arm on her thigh. “Not if I erase it first.”
    He hated having to face her from this awkward position and
putting tension on his neck all while lying on this hard floor. He didn’t dare
move, fearing she’d light him up again, but damn, he wanted to. “If you know it’s
stolen, why do you want to keep it?”
    She shook her head. “Until I have proof, I won’t be doing
anything to tangle my name with thievery in the papers. You may not care of
your reputation,