Page 9 of When You're Safe

“Kid gloves, I swear,” Finn said,unconvincingly, holding up his hands.

“Get in the car, Finn,” the chief inspectorsaid with a sigh.

Amelia got in hers and waited.Soon enough, the two guards turned and stood by the small stone gatehouse. Itwas then that Amelia heard the crunching metallic sound of chains and gears, rumblingfrom across the moat. Slowly, the large metal bridge lowered, its chains taut,moving through an unseen pulley system.

For a moment, Amelia thought itsounded like an animal growling, and as the bridge shuddered to a standstill,exposing the open maw of the castle across the way, she felt apprehensionbuilding inside of her.

The guards nodded and then wavedthem on. Amelia drove first, the bridge clanking and groaning beneath theweight of the three cars. Glancing down to the side, she saw the waters of themoat below. The water moved slowly, cast in shadow as its surface was a goodseveral meters below the landline.

I wonder how deep it goes,she thought. But the water remained silently obscure, bleak and carrying withit a deep sense of history, of battles long since finished, of struggles longsince completed, and yet a mystery wrapping around the foot of the massivecastle like a coiled snake, squeezing until the last breath of life was gonefrom the place.

This place feels like death,she thought.

Gladly, she finally crossed thebridge. But the relief was momentary. She now found herself driving through amassive stone archway into a cobbled courtyard. Walls surrounded her, and thesheer scale of the place was overwhelming.

Glancing back over her shoulder, Ameliachecked to make sure that her two companions were close behind in their cars.They were there all right, but as she turned to face the open courtyard again,she now saw the wide-shouldered figure of a man before her, his skin almost asashen as the dead.

Amelia gasped and thrust her footonto the brake. The car slid forward on the mossy cobblestone, and the manglared at her with disdain, unflinching and unmoved.

CHAPTER FOUR

Finn pulled up alongside Amelia’scar in the courtyard. He didn’t have time to be taken aback by the tallbrooding walls and gray stone cobbles of the courtyard, or the wide double-archeddoorway with stone steps leading up to them in front; instead, he was moreconcerned about Amelia.

He had just watched her slam onher brakes, and it was only when he exited the car that Finn realized why.There was a strange-looking man standing only inches from the front of her car.

“You okay?” Finn asked as Amelia steppedout of her car.

“Yes,” she said in a frustratedtone. “Sorry about that. I didn’t see you,” she said, turning to the man infront of the car.

The man nodded slightly. Finnthought he looked sickly. His skin had almost a subtle green pallor to it, andthe large wrinkled flaps of skin beneath his eyes made him look like somethingout of an old horror film. It was the face of someone who had seen the grimrealities of the world and absorbed them into his own demeanor.

Looking around at the courtyard, hesaw the man wasn’t out of place, that was for sure. If the exterior of DeGrey Castlehad been brilliantly imposing in the stark British sun, its first smallcourtyard was almost suffocating. The walls around felt as if they would pushin on anyone standing there long enough.

“I’m Chief Constable Collins,” Robsaid, reaching the man and offering his hand.

The man looked disgruntled. Henodded again, almost never blinking, and then slowly extended his hand.

“My name is Thaddeus Lincoln, I amthe keeper of the castle grounds,” he said in a thick English accent.

Finn listened to it intently, certainthat the man was speaking in an official tone, careful to project himself in acertain way. Finn was convinced the voice he was using was not one he would usewhen speaking outside of the castle walls. If anything, there was anundercurrent of the countryside in his voice, a subtle rural twang that he wascarefully controlling.

In his short time in Englanddealing with aristocratic families and High Society, Finn couldn’t quiteunderstand the need for such presentation. As far as he was concerned, peopleshould talk the way they did naturally and embrace where they came from. Theidea of hiding his own Florida accent was an alien concept to him.

“This is Finn Wright, a consultantdetective with the Home Office, and this is Inspector Winters, who will beheading up inquiries,” Rob continued.

There was a silence between them,and Thaddeus stood there like he was waiting for something else to be said.

Finn was growing impatient. Hetook off his sunglasses and put them in his pocket, letting his eyes adapt tothe lower light of the shadowy courtyard.

“Mr. Lincoln,” he said in a firmvoice, “are you aware of what happened this morning?”

“Quite aware,” the man said. “Andthe DeGrey family wish to be left alone to grieve.”

Finn glanced up at the toweringwalls around him and saw countless darkened windows looking down at them. Hefelt as though they were being watched.

“They may wish to be left alone,”Finn said, “but I would think the desire to know what happened to Maggie andwho was responsible would be more important?”

Thaddeus looked momentarilyannoyed. “When you find the culprit of the hit-and-run, the family will be keento hear of it. But until then, the family has asked me to protect their privacyas they process this terrible accident.”

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