Page 58 of Caretaker

“I’ll meet you at Miriam’s house in half an hour,” I told Rhys.

“I’ll be there. How’s Shane?”

“He’ll live.”

I wasn’t sure what I expected from Crawford, but when he drove to his house and lifted the garage door to reveal a small, blue Prius, I was surprised.

He shrugged. “It’s a good little car. You’re welcome to it.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Doesn’t seem like your style.”

“It was my wife’s.”

I didn’t want to ask, but he told me anyway.

“She died two years ago. Cancer.”

“I’m sorry, Frank.”

“I’ll grab the keys. You want to come inside?”

He lived in a white two-story a few blocks from the police station, and despite my anger at Miriam, I was curious. But I really didn’t have time. “I should get going.”

I waited beside the little car while he went in to fetch the keys, my stomach churning with impatience and anxiety. It wouldn’t be dark for another three hours, but I was pretty sure it was going to take a hell of a lot longer than that to handle Miriam Crow.

Crawford was back in two minutes with the keys. “You be careful, Sinclair.” He held onto the keys for a couple of seconds before letting me pull them from his grip. “Call me if you need me.”

“I will.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

When I arrived at Miriam’s little cottage, Rhys was already there. He climbed out of his gorgeous car when I pulled in behind him.

“Whose ride?” he asked.

“It belonged to Crawford’s deceased wife. He…” I shrugged, then looked at the house. It reminded me of a tasty little gingerbread house. It was brown, yellow, and pink, and very cute on the outside, full of wicked darkness on the inside. Just like Miriam.

“What’s going on in there, Rhys?”

“Bad shit, sweetheart.”

I squared my shoulders. “Then let’s go make it stop.”

“Trinity.” He took my arm “You have to take control of her. She’s a demented little girl behind that pretty facade. You have to make her your little girl. Do you understand?”

I nodded. Then, “No.”

“She already responds to your dominance. You’re a bloodhunter. But you can’t be playing. If you want to save Clayton you need to handle her. You can’t hesitate and you can’t let her see your fear.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will.” He put his finger on the doorbell but didn’t press it. “I wouldn’t interfere but he should be in the clinic. The doctor wanted to keep him and Miriam came in there and forced him out. And he would be okay. He would. But Miriam was fucked up, honey. And I got a bad feeling.”

“She won’t kill him.”

“Maybe not. But there are worse things than death.”