What is really in the box that Clara retrieved from Amy and what is John going to say to her? Let's have a look!

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Chapter 33

Odin barked before the doorbell rang and John was surprised, to say the least. Other than Kate and Clara, he didn't get an awful lot of visitors and he knew instantly that it could only be one of them, but when he opened the door, he could tell that something had happened. Clara was smiling at him, but there was something strange about the look on her face. She was smiling, but her eyes were sad. It was as if she was having two emotions at once.

"Hey," she almost whispered and her smile widened. "I know it's kinda late, but could I come in?"

Naturally, John held the door open a little wider and waited for Clara to step inside his house. When she looked around curiously, he realised that she had never actually been inside before and she was probably judging the interior. He cleared his throat. "Um, sorry about the state of the place," he apologised.

Clara turned around to face him, still smiling. "No worries," she reassured him. "You've only just moved in. I assume a place like this takes a lot of time and work."

"Lots and lots of work," John remarked, chuckling. "But at least I've taken down all the football posters. That's something."

At last, Clara bent down to give the dog some attention and she rubbed his ears as a way of saying hello. As she whispered to Odin, John was reminded that Clara had probably come here for a reason and he wanted to know what it was.

"So, uh, how about I make a cup of tea and we can sit in the living room and talk?" he suggested carefully.

Clara's head shot back up, but Odin nudged her with his nose when she stopped petting him, so she continued. "I've only just had a cup."

He shrugged.

"Okay, good point," she agreed. "I'll have one, thanks."

When John returned to the living room a few minutes later armed with two mugs, he found Clara on the sofa. She was still looking around the place in curiosity and her hand absent-mindedly patted Odin's head. The dog had curled up on the sofa next to her, his head in her lap.

"Odin," John reminded the animal sternly as he set the mugs down on the coffee table, "we discussed the sofa issue."

In reply, the dog looked like the most innocent creature in the entire world.

"Oh, is he not allowed on the sofa?" Clara asked. "I didn't know. He just jumped up, so I thought it was okay."

With a sigh, John lowered himself on the spot next to Clara, still giving the dog a stern look. Odin seemed utterly undeterred. Knowing that he was defeated for now, John decided to focus on Clara instead. He raised his head and looked at her. "Did something happen?" he wanted to know. "I mean, I'm sure there's a reason for your visit."

Clara grinned at him in response. "A cup of tea and a nice chat, that's the reason," she said cheerfully, but John didn't buy it. It was her eyes. There was something about them today and it wasn't the usual sadness. She was nervous somehow – as if something had frightened her.

"Liar," John growled playfully and smiled back at her.

"Damn, Detective, you've seen right through me," she joked, giggling a little. When the smile had faded from her lips, she looked at him in earnest. "I've come to ask you a little favour."

"Well, go ahead," he prompted her. "Ask anything you want."

He watched as Clara took a deep breath before she reached into her bag and pulled out a little box. It was quite small, definitely too small to contain a treasure or something similar to that, but nevertheless, it seemed to be secured by a lock. Odin gave it a sniff, but soon realised it didn't hold any treats and lowered his head again. "This box contains some important documents," Clara explained.

"You mean like documents concerning the house and bank matters?"

She hesitated but eventually smiled. "Stuff like that," she replied and then lowered her head to look at the metal container. "After the break-in, I wasn't sure what to do with it. If I lost this, if it got stolen, that would be extremely bad."

John chuckled. "Well, that lock wouldn't exactly stop a determined thief, that's true," he remarked, but when Clara didn't laugh, he realised that it was a serious matter for her. He shouldn't joke about it because, whatever it was, it was very important to her. "I have a safe, I can put it in there if you like."

At once, Clara seemed visibly relieved and to show her that he meant it, John took the box out of her hands and rose from the sofa. He crossed the room until he reached the cupboard his father had installed when John was still a child. As he opened it and slid the wooden back panel aside, the hidden safe finally came into view. John didn't store a lot of things in there, mainly the same things Clara had just handed him and after he locked it again, he turned around with a proud grin on his face. "There," he said, "that's what really stops a thief."

Clara smiled at him in return. "That's really handy," she remarked. "I should get one of those. Thank you for helping me."

Again, John shrugged in response. "Thank my father's paranoia. No one's ever broken into this house," he said as he sank back down on the sofa. "At least not to my knowledge. Then again, who'd try to rob a police detective?"

Her smile widened. That was what she was counting on. "Exactly."

Not knowing what to respond, John decided to remain silent and instead, he watched Clara for a moment. She seemed relieved, yes, but there was something on her mind, he could tell and he doubted that coming here had been a spontaneous idea. Something must have happened. If handing him the documents had been her goal, Clara would have suggested leaving straight after or at least struck up a conversation. However, she still remained where she was and John would have loved to believe that it was because she liked his company.

"Is this about the break-in or has something else happened?" John enquired cautiously. He knew what Clara was like; he knew she hated to show weakness.

She bit down on her lip, stalling, obviously undecided whether she should share something with him or not. Now he really had to know.

"Clara, if something happened, you can tell me," he reassured her and reached out to take her hand. She had let him the last time.

"When I got home, someone had pried open the window," she admitted eventually. "There was another break-in."

When John tried to jump up from the sofa, Clara held him back by holding on to his wrist and she swiftly pulled him back down. "Relax, nothing was taken," she added.

Yet John didn't feel like relaxing at all. Quite the contrary. "Someone broke into your home," he replied, his voice urgent. "And I'm betting it was the same person!"

"I know!" Clara half yelled at him. "But he was gone when I got home."

"That doesn't make it okay to break into someone's house! What if you had been there?! What if he tries again when you're actually at home?! Anything could happen to you!"

The thought about it almost drove him to distraction. He had to do something about it. He had to catch whoever had done it. He had to protect Clara from whatever that person wanted to do to her. The best solution would be to go to the police station right now and start a search for the culprit.

When Clara didn't reply, John looked straight into her eyes and for the first time, he saw the fear in them. The uneasiness he had spotted before, the worry, but Clara was afraid no matter how hard she was trying to be brave. At last, to see that on her face finally calmed him down.

"I'm going to catch him," John promised her. It had to be Ciaran O'Neill. Whatever connection he had with Clara or Bonnie or Danny, it just had to be him and John would prove it. "I promise, I'm going to find whoever broke into your home and I'm going to protect you from him."

Finally, Clara managed a smile. "You're keeping the documents safe," she replied. "That's already a huge relief."

"Never mind the documents! It's you that I need to keep safe!"

"I don't need police protection!" Clara argued. "It was a break-in, nothing was stolen, I-"

She broke off when John took her hand in both of his and squeezed it tightly. He didn't even want to let go. Somehow, Clara had found a way into his heart and he wasn't going to let her down, he wasn't going to let anything happen to her.

"I'm a police detective," he said sincerely. "I have a duty of care and I'm going to do everything within my power to protect you whether you want me to or not. You're an innocent woman and you're afraid because someone broke into your home. That makes it my business, so will you finally stop protesting and accept my help? And above all, will you admit that you're scared? Because you have every right to be."

Clara exhaled slowly and looked at him for a long moment, their eyes locked. John was afraid to look away, afraid it would undo the progress he had made with her, afraid she would let go of his hand and pull away, but then the most unexpected thing of all happened. Clara leaned forward and John was too surprised by the gesture to evade her when her lips met the corner of his mouth where she placed a soft kiss. His heart started hammering in his chest, but before John had even realised what was happening, Clara pulled away and smiled at him. He had no idea what to say. The kiss, however short and innocent it had been, had scrambled his mind completely.

"You're right," she admitted at last. "I am scared. I don't know whether the intruder will come back and I don't want to be there when he does."

She breathed out and John could tell how nervous she was all of a sudden. He tried his best to focus, he tried to find the best way to help her, but all he could think about was how Clara had kissed the corner of his lips. The image, the feeling of it was right there in his mind, drowning out everything else.

"You don't happen to have a guest bedroom where I could stay tonight, do you?" Clara asked hopefully and at last, John shook himself from his trance. She was scared and lonely and in need of his help. The kiss had been one of gratitude.

Finally, John managed to smile. "Of course," he said sincerely. "There's one just down the hall and Odin will make an excellent guard dog. Nothing's going to happen to you here."

"Thank you," Clara replied, her voice and her expression brimming with gratefulness. "I appreciate it."

John chuckled because he didn't know what else to do. "Duty of care, remember?"