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Plenty to do to keep his mind off Clara.
Plenty.
Really.
Only, he knew he was lying to himself. He fully expected thoughts of Clara to fill his head while he ran, showered, ate, and worked.
* * * * *
7:12 A.M.
“How did you sleep?”
Before she could answer, a large yawn nearly split her head in two and Clara supposed that in and of itself was an answer to her sister’s question. When they’d gotten home from the police station early yesterday afternoon, she had taken a sleeping pill and gone to bed. She’d gotten maybe three or four hours of sleep before another nightmare had woken her. She and Naomi had eaten dinner and watched a movie, and then, at her sister’s urging, she’d gone back to bed.
All night she had tossed and turned. Sleeping in little fits and bursts, punctuated by horrible dreams. She’d thought about giving up and just getting up, but that wouldn’t have changed anything. Then she would have just been stuck in the awake version of her nightmare.
Katie Logan had been in her dreams. That poor little girl was suffering so horribly—she would be so scared, all alone in that attic. Clara felt that she was partly responsible for the child’s affliction. If only she could remember. If she could only recall more about what her abductors had done to her and how she escaped, then she might know something that could help Jonathon and his partner find the little girl before it was too late.
“Don’t do that, Clara,” Naomi’s voice penetrated her thoughts. “Pushing yourself isn’t going to make your memories come back.”
Cocking her head inquisitively, Clara asked, “How do you always know what I’m thinking?” Naomi was great at reading her, and it wasn't because they were kind of triplets, her sister somehow had an uncanny knack of knowing exactly what was going on inside her head.
Naomi smiled. “Because it’s always written all over your face. You couldn’t hide what you’re thinking if your life depended on it.”
Unlike Naomi. Clara often found it extremely difficult to figure out what was going on behind her sister’s brown eyes. She wasn't having that problem at the moment, though; right now Naomi’s face was screaming exhausted. She’d probably stayed awake last night and the night before, wanting to be available should Clara need her. “You should get some sleep, Nay; you look tired.”
Straightening in her chair as though the comment had been a criticism, Naomi quickly replied, “I’m fine. I slept last night.”
Not for more than an hour or so spread over the whole night, if Naomi’s pale face and the dark circles under her eyes were anything to go by. Naomi always thought she had to be perfect, but try as she might, Clara could not pry the reason why out of her.
“So, are you going to work today?” Naomi asked, ignoring the topic of the rest she clearly needed.
“Nope.” Her neck was causing her a lot less pain today; the stitches were even starting to itch a little. However, she had other, much more pressing, plans for the day.
“You're going to stay home and take it easy?” Naomi asked, surprised.
“Nope.”
Suspicion laced her next words. “Then whatareyou planning on doing today?”
Naomi looked like she expected not to like the answer. Clara suspected that she was right. “I want to prove that Tommy is not the new Doll Killer.”
“Really, Clara?” Naomi looked irritated. “Don’t you think you should leave that up to the police?”
“Leave it up to the police?” she echoed incredulously. Had her sister forgotten that the detectives wanted to prove Tommywasthe killer, not that hewasn't? “How is that going to help anything?”
“How is you trying to solve a murder case on your own going to help anything?” Naomi shot back. “You're likely to get yourself killed.”
“I'm not going to get myself killed,” Clara contradicted.
“Murder investigations can be dangerous things,” Naomi reminded her.
“I’m not stupid, Naomi. I know that. But I can't let them pin this on Tommy. Besides, I was hoping I wouldn’t be trying to solve a murder case on my own.” She raised a hopeful eyebrow at her sister.
Naomi rolled her eyes. “You want me to help you.”
“Please, Naomi,” she begged. “You graduated from the police academy; you’ll know what questions I should be asking. And you work as a bodyguard, so I’ll be completely safe with you,” she wheedled.
