Felipe narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
“I don’t mean you shouldn’t tell your superiors, just not people here. You know how people spread gossip and start making baseless accusations.”
He wasn’t sure any accusations of negligence or incompetence against the mayor were baseless, but he said nothing. “Is there anything else I can help you with, Mr. Stills?”
“There is one more thing.” Dropping his voice, he stepped closer and asked, “By any chance, do you know what Will wrote in that note to Dr. Barlow?”
“As far as I know, he told Oliver what he saw when your mother was attacked,” Felipe lied, watching the other man’s expression to see if he noticed. “Why?”
“Because Mother and Will got into a huge fight this morning, and I thought the note might have been the cause. From what I overheard, she was yelling something about the Paranormal Society and telling family secrets. Truthfully, I was trying to shut my ears and eat my breakfast, but at least it makes sense now. If I don’t have indigestion, it will be a miracle, especially after how Will behaved when he realized Mother went through his things. He was so upset that she made me sedate him. She always gets him riled up and then makes me play the villain.”
Anger rose hot and fast in Felipe’s chest, but he forced his expression neutral. Will had said his aunt and uncle painted him as irrational to discredit him, and Felipe wondered how many people were convinced Will was unwell because of what his family said or how hebehaved after they provoked him. “Sedating him seems extreme.”
“I don’t like doing it, but Dr. Miller says it’s for his own good, to keep him from hurting himself and others. It’s happened before. I only bring it up because as I was injecting him and trying to get him to calm down, Will made me promise to pass on a message to the three of you. I want to preface this by saying the medicine was already working, so I don’t know if it truly means anything. But he made me promise to pass it on. He wasveryagitated, you see, and it seemed the only way to calm him down. Hence why I played along.” When Felipe motioned for him to go on, he said, “He wanted me to tell you,the seal is broken. Does this mean anything to you?”
Felipe’s blood ran cold, but he shrugged and shook his head.
“Ah well, I figured it was another of his ramblings, but at least I kept my promise and my conscience is clear. Well, inspector, I had better let you get back to your business. Give my regards to the others.”
Tipping his hat, Lucien ambled back down the road toward town. As Felipe watched him leave, he reached for the tether to confirm Oliver was still safe. Fear tightened around Felipe’s heart at the realization that Daphne Stills would soon know Oliver was Stephen’s son, and there was no telling what she might do with that information.
***
When Gwen and Oliver came through the front door not even an hour later, Felipe nearly launched himself into his partner’s arms. The only thing stopping him was that Oliver’s arms were occupied by a heavy wicker basket and a flat box. Not ten minutes earlier, he had debated grabbing the steamer key to go look for them, but the plan had fallen apart when he realized he probably couldn’t steer the steamer down Aldorhaven’s narrow streets with only one arm. He needed to tell Oliver about Will’s message, but before he could get the words out, Oliver noticed him sitting behind the front desk and his face lit up.Oliver dropped the basket beside the door, and in three strides, he crossed the room and wrapped his arms tightly around Felipe. Slumping against Oliver’s chest, Felipe let himself be held. His anxiety had been ratcheting up in time with the pain in his shoulder and the itch of his stitches, but with Oliver near, things felt right again. As Oliver pulled back to look into Felipe’s eyes, a wave of nervousness rolled off him like a miasma. His hand tightened around Felipe’s shoulder a second before the words tumbled out of him in a rush.
“Felipe, I am so, so sorry we were gone for so long. Please don’t be mad at me. Time got away from me, but it was for a good reason. I swear I had Gwen with me the whole time.”
“I’m not mad?” Felipe replied with a raised brow.
“But I thought I felt—?”
“It wasn’t about you.” Felipe opened his mouth to tell him what happened, but Oliver looked a moment away from bursting with whatever news he had. “Go on. What were you two up to?”
“Standing in line forever,” Gwen replied over Oliver’s shoulder as she took something out of the basket before levitating the rest up the stairs ahead of her. “I’m going to put our things away.”
Oliver nodded, and another wave of anticipation flickered across the tether as he turned back to Felipe. “We did wait a long time to get into the general store. They didn’t have any nightshirts or pajamas that would have been to our liking, so robes and underthings it is. You should have seen the line for the butcher. People are already panicking about the lack of food deliveries. I can’t blame them, but I worry the town will be out of meat very soon.”
Felipe let out a silent sigh at the thought of feeling like shit until they got back to the society.
“But when we went to the pharmacy, I saw this and thought it might help,” Oliver said, handing him a jar of brown paste with a tight smile. “It’s peanut butter. It’s a meat substitute that’s supposed to be very nutritious. It might be a halfway decent supplement until we get home.”
Felipe stared at it in confusion and wondered if the peanut butterhad inspired Oliver’s excited anxiety or if it was something else. “I’ll give it a try.”
“I also bought more supplies, so I can clean your wounds and change your bandages after dinner. How are you feeling? Were you able to get some more sleep?”
“I’m okay. I slept for a while after you left. Oliver, areyouall right? It feels like you’re practically vibrating.”
“I am… for many reasons.” Oliver bit his lip sheepishly and the sensation on the other end of the tether dulled a fraction. Laying his hand over Felipe’s, Oliver said, “Something wonderful happened. When we went to the pharmacy, Mr. Hughes Sr. heard me talking to his son, and he came out to see who was there. Apparently, I sound like Stephen. I confessed I was his son, and oh, Felipe, he told me so many stories about him. That’s what took us so long. Once he started, I couldn’t bear to tell him to stop. I wish you had been with us.”
“I wrote everything down, so you can read it all later,” Gwen called as she came back down the stairs.
“I’m sure he didn’t tell me the worst stories, but,” Oliver gently squeezed Felipe’s hand as his eyes glistened with moisture, “it sounded like my father tried very hard to be a better person. After all this, that’s all I could ask for.”
“Did you tell him about the box?”
“Not yet. Mr. Hughes saved all the belongings my father left behind at the pharmacy after he died. He’s been holding onto them for almost forty years.” Oliver sniffed. “I haven’t looked at them yet. I thought we could do that together.”
Felipe opened his mouth to tell him about Will, but the words died on his tongue when the tether pulled taut in his chest. It could wait. Huddling close to Felipe, Oliver placed the box on the counter and motioned for Gwen to open it. She batted away a plume of dust with a cough before leaning closer. Inside the box was a jumble of yellowed papers and bits of newsprint. On top of everything sat a pair of reading glasses in a battered case and a wooden carving of what looked like a dog or a cow. Oliver inspected them andpassed them to Felipe and Gwen before reaching for the papers.
