Read Online Refuge Book 1 - Night of the Blood Sky by Jeremy Robinson, Jeremy Bishop - Free Book Online Page B

he’d been caught doing something, which in a sense, he had been.
    “Just realized I’ve seen you two playing inside and around that bush for most of your lives.”
    Radar looked back at the big plant, then at Lisa. “Yeah...”
    “Of course, I’ve never seen you come out looking so guilty.” Before Radar could react, Griffin burst out laughing. After everything that had happened that night, with Avalon, with the bell, and the stars, he needed a release and found it by teasing Radar. Happily, the boy was able to find the humor in the jab and joined in the laughter, followed by Lisa, who sounded a little less comfortable.
    Griffin wiped a tear from his eye and controlled himself. “Listen, you guys can go to your separate houses if you want, or you can stay in the bush. It’s your call, but don’t leave, okay? Sheriff wants to know that you’re here and that you’re safe.”
    Both nodded.
    Griffin tilted his head toward his home, which was two houses down on the opposite side of the street. “I’m going to my house to pick something up. I’ll be in and out inside of ten minutes. With the phones out, if you need anything, or have an emergency, you head straight for the police station. If Frost or Rule aren’t there, I will be.”
    Nods again.
    “Good.” He took two steps away, heading for his house.
    Lisa stopped him. “Is everything going to be okay? Are our families okay?”
    “Everything’s going to be fine,” Griffin said. “Stranger things have happened.”
    Lisa smiled slightly, in a way that said she knew he was lying, but that she appreciated it.
    “Thanks,” Radar said, heading back toward the rhododendron.
    Griffin made for his house. He glanced back over his shoulder. If Radar and Lisa were back in the bush, he couldn’t tell. They’re good at hiding , he thought, and he wondered how much of that was a learned defense for Radar.
    He slipped past the open gate of his white picket fence that he’d been meaning to remove for several years. The iconic symbol of the suburban American dream just mocked him now. His daughter was a strung-out addict and he was a single father, who had failed miserably at helping his one and only child adapt to life without a mother.
    He might have succeeded if Jess had died suddenly. He sometimes felt jealous of Becky. Her husband’s death was tragic, but it also gave her drive and purpose. He would never tell her to her face, but she’d become a better and stronger woman as a result. Jess’s death had been long and slow. The cancer had tortured her, and when she’d fought back, it fought harder. Two years of treatment, of long drives to Boston and of sleepless nights, had left him broken and weary—so much so that he’d never noticed how it all had affected Avalon. She was sixteen when Jess had been diagnosed. Eighteen when her mother had died. Avalon moved out a month later. Six months after that, she went to California with some friends. He fooled himself into hoping the change of scenery would do her good, but that clearly had not been the case.
    The front door was unlocked. He didn’t know anyone in town who locked their house or car, unless they traveled to Concord or Manch-Vegas. At least not since Becky had become the sheriff. The town went through a few rough years, but they were in the past now.
    The light switch just inside the door clicked beneath the weight of his finger, but it produced no results. Damnit , he thought, shaking his head. He’d been one of the few people to not retrofit their homes. It wasn’t because he disagreed with the effort; he just didn’t want to ruin Jess’s home. Perhaps it was time to move past his sentimentality.
    He took the stairs two at a time, each one groaning under his weight. The old Victorian home had been Jess’s dream house. It wasn’t exactly Griffin’s style, but he couldn’t bring himself to sell it, and the large rooms made for excellent studio space for his large paintings. He didn’t make a