GAME ON - GoM 2

7

Alex asked Claire to warm the Hilux up while she walked Tom to the Yukon. He kissed her cheek before climbing in.

"Promise you'll be careful," he said.

"You got it, Mr. Sutton."

Alex calling him that made him smile-more reassuring little details.

She waited for him to lower his window and rested an arm on it. "Don't give that smile, or you'll never gonna make it to Newhalem in time," she said.

Her words only made him smile wider, and she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him goodbye.

"I'll be back by sunset," he said, gearing in.

"You better."

She stepped back and watched him drive away.

Claire moved to the Hilux passenger seat and let Alex behind the wheel.

On their way to church, Alex asked, "D'you think you can sense Bormstone if we get close enough to Markus' place?"

"I don't know. If the Keepers are there, their stinky vibe may cloud me. But we can always try."

"Okay. We should do it before you go to Jill's."

"I ain't going to work, Al. I can't, with all that's going on."

Alex glanced at her and said calmly, "Yes, you're going."

Claire snorted, looking away. She knew that tone. She'd grown up hating it, because it was the sound of limits set in stone, those she knew better than daring.

At Father Jason's place, Thames took his time to inspect and ponder the blades that the Corbans had brought for him to consecrate.

"Did you keep any for yourself? Because these won't be ready before tomorrow."

"Yeah. I have my shotgun and Claire has the crossbow. They cannot really hurt the Keepers, but they can stall them."

"Good. I need an hour to get this started." Thames met Alex's eyes. "And then you and I need to give a closing to what we started last night."

"Yessir. I'll be back in an hour," Alex replied.

They were walking out when Thames said behind them, "I don't think they're keeping Harry anywhere near the Cross. Rumor has it that it can sense suffering around and react to protect good souls in pain." The Corbans paused at the doorstep and turned to him. "They must have some other secure location to hold him."

Claire giggled at Thames' wink and patted her aunt's arm. "Now you know how it feels. C'mon, let's go."

On their way to the house on the cliffs, Alex called Graham.

"Bass and Sean watched Markus' place overnight," the sheriff said. "They only saw the so-called techs arriving after dinner time. They came from the north, so they were in town. And then three more vehicles came from the south. George Carson showed up last. All of them were still there by six a.m., when Bass and Sean left."

"Okay. I'm about to take a look. I'll call you back in a while."

"Take care."

Alex turned to cross the road by the lake and stop the Hilux on the shoulder behind the welcome sign. It hid the truck from anyone looking out from the house. She didn't want them to leave the Hilux, but Claire opened her door anyway.

"I can't sense a damn thing from here, Al," she said.

Alex huffed. "Fine. But we're not going unarmed."

So they took shotgun and crossbow, and sneaked down the slope to the access track that led straight to the house. They followed it walking among the trees, to stay out of sight. When they were only a few yards away from the front yard, they saw only two cars-Markus' and George's. Claire insisted in going up to the last trees. There she took a long moment, her eyes moving over the house. Finally, she grimaced and shook her head.

"There are four or five people inside, sleeping," she said. "But nobody's in any kind of pain. And the Keepers are gone."

Alex noticed the way her niece avoided eye contact. "Claire..."

That simple word uttered in that specific way had made the girl confess countless crimes back in the day-stealing cookies, skipping homework, a low grade at school. Looked like Alex had dusted off her whole arsenal of old to deal with her that morning.

Claire sighed. "The demon woman is in there... with George."

Alex set her jaw and nodded at the track. They started back to the Hilux.

"Another secure location, said Father Gregory," Claire said, trying to distract her.

It worked. Alex narrowed her eyes, tracking down the ringing bell at her niece's words. "Graham said the Keepers got here from the north."

"But they can't be in town. We would've seen them. I would've choked at them being around," Claire argued.

They stopped at the same time and faced each other.

"The complex!" they said as one.

Alex checked the time and clicked her tongue. "Shit. I gotta meet with Thames and you gotta go to work."

"We can go when I'm done at Jill's."

"Deal. Let's go now."