Page 56 of Grave Danger

“I love my grandson, but he’s what you might call a helicopter caregiver.”

Cody snorted a laugh, then cleared his throat to cover it up. “He’s worried about you, that’s all.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Eileen slowly lowered herself into a wooden chair. Pulling a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the pocket of her cardigan, she lit up and took a drag. Squinting at him through her exhaled smoke, she said, “You know why JoAnn left you her car?”

“No idea.” He leaned against the porch railing. The sun on his back felt good right now, though he knew it would get too warm soon.

“We were driving through town one time, and she saw you and Demetrius walking down Main Street. Must have been a year or more ago. Sometime after the werewolves, anyway. She looked over at you and said, ‘That tall drink of water looks just like my Bernard. I think I’ll leave my car to him,’ and that was that. She crossed the yellow line because she was so occupied looking at you, and we nearly hit someone head-on. But she got things back on track, and no one died. Not that time.”

Eileen looked off down the street at the Cadillac parked in front of Amelia’s house. Smoke curled up from the end of her cigarette. The breeze brought the acrid scent to Cody, but he didn’t mind it, not really. It went with Eileen’s character. They sat in silence a few minutes, Eileen smoking and looking off at the car, and Cody watching her.

Finally, he cleared his throat. “I get what you said inside about reliving the accident. After I hit the mayor last week and, um, stopped the guy from attacking Demmy—”

“Killed him is what I heard. Bashed in his skull.”

Cody sighed and dropped his chin to his chest, taking a breath before looking at her again. “Yeah, you’re right. Anyway, I’ve been seeing both of those things happening over and over again, like video snippets on repeat, you know? I can hear the impact of my truck hitting the mayor, feel it shake and the bump of the tires going over him.” He shuddered and shook his head. “And I feel the impact of the rock against that man’s head, hear it crack. So, I get what you’re going through. But, you know, it’s going to get better. The memories of hitting the mayor are getting less detailed, and both events aren’t as much of a shock now. They should fade in time.”

“Yeah? That’s good to hear. Let’s hope the same thing happens for me.” She stabbed her cigarette out among a few dozen butts in a coffee can half full of sand and pebbles and got to her feet. “Let’s go get this bitch tucked away so people will stop staring at you.”

Cody held her arm as they walked down the street to the Cadillac. Eileen paused to look it over and shook her head.

“Didn’t even scratch the paint. She ran it into a fucking building, and there’s not even a scratch on it.”

“Demmy and I think it’s possessed.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Cody opened the passenger door and helped her into the seat. He circled the front, trailing his hand over the hood, and slid behind the wheel. The engine rumbled to life, and he idled down the street. Eileen sat stiff-backed across from him, one hand gripping the armrest on the door, the other curled into a fist on her thigh.

“You okay?”

“Yep, I’m doing good. Just a little harder than I thought being in here again.” She glanced his way. “Without her behind the wheel, especially. But I needed to do this.”

“I know.”

She gave him a grateful smile. “Thanks, Codes.”

He scowled. “Who told you to call me that?”

“I really do like my grandson’s fiancé.” She let out that throaty cackle, and hearing her do it while sitting in the car beside him made Cody feel better than he had in days. Even though he kind of hated his brother a little bit right then, he knew he would remember this moment for the rest of his life.

And even though he was feeling good, he had to play the part, so he deepened his scowl. “I’m liking him less and less as the days go on.”

She laughed again, and he joined her as he pulled the Cadillac into her driveway and eased it into the garage, amazed when it actually fit.

“Hallelujah, it fits,” Cody said.

“Hell, yeah, it fits. They built these garages for seniors, my boy. And you know we’ve got the biggest cars they make. Come on, let’s go inside and open up that fifth of whiskey and toast to JoAnn.”

Cody smiled. “You got it.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Demetrius sighed in frustration as he worked on the knot in his tie. They’d just worn ties for the mayor’s funeral not too long ago, how could his fingers have forgotten the flow of it already?

Cody stood over Demetrius’s right shoulder, both of them crowded into their small pink-tiled bathroom. They didn’t have a lot of room for them to move, and Cody’s forehead was furrowed in concentration, his mouth turned down as he worked at his own tie. He looked adorable, but Demetrius wasn’t going to say it at that moment. When Cody growled and tugged the ends of the tie apart to start all over, Demetrius abandoned his own.

“Let me see,” Demetrius said.