“We’re in here!” Sarah called.
She heard footsteps, and then, coming up the hall behind Mr. Griffin, she saw one of the most strikingly beautiful women she had ever encountered. Blue jeans and a T-shirt hugged the woman’s perfect form. She had long, curling blond hair, a classically beautiful face and slightly tilted cat’s eyes so brilliantly blue that Sarah could discern their color even in the dim hallway.
She set an arm gently around Mr. Griffin’s shoulders and looked at Sarah apologetically. “I’m so sorry. We were out walking when his hat blew away, and when I ran to get it, Mr. Griffin walked off on me.” She flashed Sarah a hopeful smile. “I am so, so sorry. I hope he didn’t scare you. He’s the kindest man you’ll ever meet.”
“It’s all right. We were just talking,” Sarah said.
The woman looked relieved as she offered Sarah a hand. “I’m Cary Hagan. I work for Mr. Griffin. Nurse, companion, secretary, all-around best girl. Right?” She turned to him as she spoke, and he nodded. “He’s one hundred and two years old, and absolutely remarkable,” Cary said.
“And standing right here,” Mr. Griffin said flatly. “You needn’t speak about me as if I can’t hear you. I came to see this young lady because I saw her go into the house, and she needed to hear the things I know.”
Cary lowered her head for a moment, then looked back up at Sarah. “It’s the hoopla about the missing girl, and then the bones. His daughter disappeared years and years ago—one of a dozen or so girls who disappeared at the same time—and this has brought it all back,” she explained.
“It’s perfectly all right,” Sarah said. She stepped forward and took one of Mr. Griffin’s hands. “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, sir. Thank you for coming to see me.”
A look of gratitude lit Cary’s eyes. “You’re very kind and understanding.”
“It’s fine, seriously,” Sarah said. “And Mr. Griffin is more than welcome to come back and see me anytime.”
“You’re beyond kind,” Cary said. “Right now, though, he—we—need to get back. He’s due for his medication, and timing is important.”
Mr. Griffin was staring intently at Sarah.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said.
“I’m not frightened, so don’t worry,” she said. And it was true. She wasn’t frightened. He was solidly real, and there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for his presence.
And even for most of his words.
“But you believe me, don’t you?” he implored suddenly. “‘It’ happening again. The evil—it’s back again.”
“Mr. Griffin, we really have to go,” Cary said.
Mr. Griffin nodded, but he was still staring at Sarah. “It’s all right. I’ll go. Sarah knows. And she’ll find out the truth.”
He turned and started down the hallway, leaning heavily on his cane. Cary Hagan flashed Sarah one last smile, then turned as well, slipping her arm through his.
They left the door open behind them, and Sarah watched them all the way down the steps and out to the sidewalk. The man was pretty remarkable. He was over a hundred years old and still getting around on his own, and he appeared to still have all his marbles. Well, most of them.
But the loss of a child had to affect a person’s reason; she didn’t have children, but she knew that after losing a child, life would be irrevocably changed.
Evil.
Twilight had come, and the shadows were deepening, and his characterization of her house suddenly reverberated in her mind.
She reminded herself that she didn’t believe a building could be evil. Even so, she found herself unnerved.
Suddenly she didn’t want to be there any longer. She felt inexplicably afraid to turn around, afraid to look in the corners and see what might be lurking there.
She grabbed her purse and fled.
Caroline had hit the nail on the head harder than she could have imagined with what she had said earlier.
Sarah was certain she had never wanted—needed—a drink so badly in her life.
He’d been right on the money.
As Caleb sat at the bar and sipped a beer, Caroline Roth entered along with her coworkers, Barry Travis and Renee Otten.
Unfortunately, Sarah wasn’t with them.
The threesome took a table. As they got settled, Renee noted him. The look she gave him was slightly wary, which didn’t bother him. He was a stranger, and there were unpleasant things happening in town. But she nudged Caroline, who looked up, smiled and walked over.
“How are you doing? Enjoying the city?” she asked.
“Of course. It’s beautiful,” he said.
She smiled, but her smile quickly faded. “Isn’t it bizarre? The bones they found in Sarah’s place, I mean.”
“Bizarre and sad. How’s Sarah doing?”