Unhallowed (Rath and Rune #1) - Jordan L. Hawk Page 0,36
bedroom almost wistfully. “It was nothing like this.”
Sebastian felt something relax inside him. Widdershins was an unconventional place, but still, some looked on Bonnie’s way of living with a judging eye. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have brought a newcomer like Ves here.
But Ves had saved him from those ruffians twice now. And Sebastian was startled to realize he liked Ves quite a lot. Maybe it should have been Sebastian in the bindery—but that was his fault, not Ves’s.
And speaking of the ruffians… “I don’t understand why anyone would follow me.”
Ves folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall beside the closed door. “It must have something to do with O’Neil’s disappearance. You’re the only one looking into it. Which, in addition to the warning note I received, makes me wonder if the rare book trade is actually involved at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“If this was a simple case of book theft, those men wouldn’t still be in town. Even if they thought Kelly had hidden the book somewhere, they’d cut their losses and go back to wherever they came from. Or, if they’re local toughs, this mysterious boss of theirs would have.” He shook his head. “Not to suggest the rare book trade can’t get ugly. But those who supply the books rely on drawing as little attention to their activities as possible.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Ves let his arms fall. “I don’t know.”
“Perhaps the letters will tell us.” Sebastian stripped off his coat, then took them out of the inner pocket and tossed them on the bed. “The writing desk is small—turn on the lamp there beside the bed, and we should have both the space and the light here.”
A look of alarm flashed across Ves’s features, as though he thought Sebastian meant to seduce him right then and there. Not that Sebastian would have any objections to doing so, but still. “I promise not to ravish you.”
Ves’s olive skin flushed scarlet. “I-I didn’t mean to—that is—you shouldn’t say such things.”
“Why not?” Sebastian pulled the rubber band off the pack of letters. “Does it offend you that I like men?”
Ves’s eyes looked as though they might pop out of his head altogether. “I…you do? I mean, no, of course not. I-It doesn’t offend me.”
Sebastian smothered a grin. In other circumstances, he might have considered trying to seduce Ves. Even though he never invited lovers back to the house, he might make an exception in this case.
But he hadn’t brought Ves here for such pleasantries, alas. He spread out the letters and gestured to him. “You take half, and I’ll take half.”
Ves settled onto the opposite side of the bed, still blushing. There were only about a dozen pieces of mail, one of which was a Sears & Roebuck catalog that could be immediately set aside. Most of the remaining mail proved to be fliers, bills of various sorts, and three pieces of personal correspondence.
Ves scanned the first. “This seems to be a letter from some member of the family…talking about O’Neil’s aunt and her health troubles. It’s signed Benny.”
“His Uncle Benjamin,” Sebastian supplied as he picked up a similar missive. “I think he moved away from Widdershins before Kelly was even born. Some people just don’t take to the town, I suppose.” He slit open the envelope with the letter opener from his desk. “This is from Benny as well, asking why Kelly hasn’t written back.”
“And so is this third letter,” Ves said. He looked up and met Sebastian’s gaze. “It looks to me as though Mr. O’Neil’s family didn’t know he was leaving town. Did he have any relatives still in Widdershins?”
“No.” Sebastian felt his hopes of finding Kelly alive fade. “The fact they haven’t heard from him…well, it’s not a good sign, is it?”
Ves shook his head slowly. “Again, if he merely meant to steal a book, sell it, and leave town, he surely would have sent some missive telling his relatives that he’d resigned from the Ladysmith and was relocating from Widdershins. But he didn’t.” He paused. “Unless he meant to use the money and start over somewhere new, with a false identity.”
Sebastian tugged at his hair. He didn’t want to imagine they’d gone to all of this trouble for nothing. “There must be something here.”
Ves picked up a letter, then tossed it down. “A catalog, fliers for businesses, and a series of increasingly urgent demands to pay the electric bill.”
Sebastian frowned. “The new tenant of the apartment should be receiving those…wait.”