The Beast of Napa

17 - Glass

"Stay in the car," Griffin commanded.

He saw Catriona's mouth open to object, but he didn't wait for her to speak. He had heard enough words for the evening. He wasn't even in the mood to hear the words from the police officer or Rose, or to show his true compassion for the whimpers and outbursts of Mrs. Greene.

"Furious!" Mrs. Greene cried. "Absolutely furious! How those demons got in the gate and in our yard, I can't imagine! All I heard was the windows shatter, and I rushed to make sure the girls in the kitchen were alrigh– I hadn't the chance to go find the scoundrels who did this and –"

"It's unwise to continue that thought," Griffin interrupted.

The police officer turned away from Mrs. Greene to catch Griffin's eyes. Being the same height as Griffin, it wasn't difficult for them to face each other equally, but there was no softness between their stares; a mutual disinterest of the officer and the vintner visible in the dead of night.

"What happened?" Griffin asked, still looking at the officer but not actually speaking to him.

"All the windows on the first floor were shattered," Rose replied.

"How? I was only gone for a couple of hours."

"Those workers!" Mrs. Greene replied. "Those same devils that came not so long ago! Terrorizing and harassing honest people – Careful of your steps, Mr. Griffin, you never know where a lost shard may be."

Griffin glanced at the ground automatically, not concerned. His shoes were too thick to needlessly worry about glass.

"Did they just take a bat to all the windows and run off?" Griffin asked, looking at the damage.

"Possible," the police officer said with a grunt. "No way to know at this time of night. We'll have to come back in the morning."

They shared another look, both of them understanding that a morning visit was not something either one of them was interested in.

The officer turned back to Mrs. Greene.

"We have your reports, M'am," he said. "We'll come back to take a look in the morning, and then track them down."

Mrs. Greene nodded while patting her heart in an unsteady rhythm. The officer nodded warmly to both women, then shifted to lukewarm while nodding to Griffin. There was a stretch of silence as the officer went his own way.

Then a car door slammed.

Griffin didn't have to turn to know who it was and why, but he looked over his shoulder anyway.

"I told you to wait in the c–"

"Oh, are you two alright?" Catriona asked, racing up the walkway towards Mrs. Greene and Rose. "If I had known that you two would be–"

Crunch.

Catriona stepped back suddenly, and Griffin reached out to grab her by both arms and pull her back further. Under her feet was a large cut of glass that had somehow made its way out to the driveway. Griffin sighed, the night weighing heavily on him.

"This is why I told you to stay," he said only for her to hear. "You never have any idea what landmines you could step on."

Catriona looked at him over her shoulder. Realizing his hold on her, he released her, acting as if his heart was beating the same as it was just moments before. His eyes met Rose's and she glanced between him and Catriona, taking a moment before speaking.

"Tell us what to do, Nathaniel," Rose said softly.

His eyes wandered around the house. "Find some tarp and seal up the windows. It shouldn't be too cold, but we don't want to invite any unwanted guests. Don't sleep alone. Lock the doors to your rooms."