AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Demetrius saw Oliver discreetly wipe his palm on the leg of his shorts out of Heath’s line of sight. He managed to keep a smile on his face and maintain eye contact.
“I’ve heard stories about…” Oliver leaned in over the desk and lowered his voice to a whisper. “The secret room.”
Heath shot a hard look at Demetrius. “It’s not a secret. It’s a room with a controlled environment to protect older, more vulnerable tomes.”
“Tomes?” Oliver raised his eyebrows. “I can tell you have a great appreciation for those books by your word choice.”
Heath blushed, the red tint extending down beneath his beard. “They are a great source of information and history. It’s an honor for a library of this size to have the opportunity to host such an extensive and valuable collection.”
“I agree.” Oliver leaned in over the counter a short distance and, with a half-smile, said, “You know, Heath, I worked for the Herald not too long ago.”
Heath gave a derisive snort. “That weekly rag that’s more grocery and pharmacy ads than stories about cows? My apologies.”
Oliver made a show of laughing, but quietly, and Demetrius wondered if he was going to throw his head back and reach out to affectionately touch Heath’s hand as well. “That’s so true. And it’s also why I left the paper and started doing my own investigative reporting.” He lowered his voice to just above a whisper. “Of very unusual types of cases.”
Heath looked to Demetrius, who nodded and smiled, then back to Oliver. “How unusual?”
“Very. Unusual.” Without taking his eyes off Heath, Oliver waved a hand between himself and Demetrius. “As a matter of fact, Demetrius and I took on a vengeful ghost at a rundown motel not too long ago.”
“Oh?” Heath gave Demetrius a slightly less scornful look. “Which motel?”
“Um,” Demetrius said, trying to remember the name of the place he and Cody had driven to after Oliver’s panicked call that Dave had gone missing.
“The Morelock Motel,” Oliver said.
Heath looked at him with wide eyes, and, lowering his voice to a reverent whisper, said, “You went up against the Vixen?”
With a serious expression, Oliver nodded. “We did. And after a long fight, we finally put her soul to rest.”
“Whoa.”
“Exactly.” Oliver cleared his throat and looked both ways before leaning in even closer than before and saying quietly, “So, from one lover of words and paranormal aficionado to another, would it be all right for us to get into that room real quick and look for some information?”
* * *
Demetrius closed the truck’s door and looked over at Oliver sitting beside him. “I have to say, you gave it your best shot.”
Oliver made a face. “I really thought I had it all locked up for us.”
“You know he’s not gay, right?”
“Yeah, right. And neither was your husband.”
Demetrius blushed and started the truck. “Cody’s a completely different story.”
“You can say that again.”
“All right now.”
Oliver blinked with feigned innocence. “What?”
“You know what.” Demetrius turned the air conditioning up higher and sat with his hands draped over the steering wheel, staring out at the wall of the library. “Now what?”
“Want to go poke around out at the pond?”
Demetrius looked at him. “That’s probably the best idea, isn’t it?”
His phone rang. “Hello?”
