up, clutched at her neck. “I so hope Abraham conveyed to you how thankful I was at the recovery of the Tamerlane.”
“He did,” Henry said. “Honestly, we were happy to do it. And Abe, Sloane, and I are just happy to see Bernard in the hands of the proper authorities. You know it’s been a long and emotional journey for us all.”
My heart did a strange, fluttery thing when Henry had included me. Abe caught my eye. Winked.
Louisa pressed a hand to her forehead. “I owe you an extraordinary apology. If I had believed you that night, we wouldn’t be in this atrocious mess. I can’t say I’m sorry enough, honestly.”
Henry touched her arm, which was a nice gesture. Because Henry Finch was a genuinely nice person. “I appreciate it. But he had us all fooled.”
“Still,” she said. “It’s the principal of the thing.”
She looked at Abe. “And I feel like I should have kept Codex instead of letting the authorities slow everything down for the past year.”
Abe gave a polite nod. “If you hadn’t waited and hired Sloane, we never would have met.” His smile grew. “It was fate.”
I had to look away to stop the heat that threatened to overtake my body. This fucking man.
“Abe and I were going to wander the campus for a bit,” Henry said to me. “Unless there’s anything else? We promise we’ll provide all the pertinent details regarding Bernard’s case and whatever happens next.”
Louisa was contrite. “You wouldn’t reconsider becoming a librarian again, would you?”
“No,” he said—immediately. “I’m a private detective for life now. Thank you for the offer. And one never ceases to be a librarian. I’m just more on the justice end of things.”
Louisa watched them leave, still clutching her neck, looking distraught. I tapped my finger on the payment, thought about those photos of Bernard and Henry at various awards ceremonies. “Didn’t Bernard have a foundation here? A scholarship program, for new librarians?”
“He did,” she said. “I’m not sure what we’ll do with it now.”
I tapped my check again. “If I gave half of this to the foundation, would you let me give it a new name?”
50
Abe
It had been almost one year—exactly—since I’d found Henry standing at the back of this library, staring out at the beautiful gardens of Oxford University.
He’d had his entire world turned upside down just forty-eight hours earlier. And I’d gone ahead and trusted my gut instinct that, deep down, he’d make one hell of a private detective. And he had.
I slipped my hands into my pockets, surveyed the students strolling across the green. “How do you feel now?” I asked.
“Relieved,” he said, an echo of our former conversation. “I’m not lying this time. I am relieved. I know why you were obsessed with finding him for so long. Bernard represents the worst attributes of humanity. The longer he stayed hidden, the more he would have stolen from the world. All of us finding him, together, is exactly what needed to happen.”
“I agree,” I said, letting out a long sigh. “I’m anxious to know more. Anxious to know how he stayed hidden this past year. But that restlessness is gone. I feel much more settled.”
“Does Sloane have something to do with that?”
I hid a smile. “Yes, she does.”
“Good,” he said. “I speak for all of Codex when I say thank god.”
“Thank god, what?”
Sloane walked up, smile on her face. She was so much more open around people now. Her sultry edges were still there yet softened for those she trusted. And she was trusting a lot more.
“Thank god we met,” I explained, looping an arm around her shoulders.
“Ah,” she said. “Makes sense. I am truly magnificent.”
I kissed the top of her head.
She turned toward Henry and touched his elbow. “I gave half of my payment to Louisa to re-fund the scholarship program Bernard used to run. With a new name, of course.” She handed him a slip of paper. “It’s now called the Dr. Henry Finch Fellowship.”
Henry took it, read it. Looked back at her like he couldn’t quite believe it. “Sloane, you… you absolutely did not have to do this.”
“I wanted to. I was more than happy to.” She shifted on her feet. “Henry, until I was seventeen years old, I was raised by two parents who were con artists. They forced me to do it too.” She didn’t look to me for courage—she didn’t need to. “My parents earned their living by taking advantage of people. Corrupting their trust, manipulating them. The reason why