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my inspection is to be believed. Take a small walk to compose yourself, then come back. I’ll
look after him until then.”
“Oh, cool. That’ll be just enough time for you to smoke up. Have fun, Mr. Drake.” Gabriel
shoved something into Hugh’s hand, winked, and booked it out of the hallway before Hugh
could make heads or tails of what was going on.
“Smoke up?” Everard asked. “What the devil is he going on about?”
“I’m not sure. Everything today has been a blur, and not very much has made sense. What do
you think of this, Everard?” He showed Everard what Gabriel had given him. It was a hand-
rolled cigarette. “The aroma is reminiscent of something familiar, but I’ll be damned if I can
remember what. It feels like my head’s on upside down and backwards. I don’t think I’d
remember my name if it weren’t for Finch scolding me with it.”
Everard’s eyebrows nearly took flight.
“What?” Hugh asked. He clutched the cigarette to his chest to protect it from Everard’s thieving
ways. “I don’t like that look in your eyes, Everard. You’re up to something.”
“I am up to nothing, brother. I’ll remind you that I’m on the job. You, however, are bound by no
such obligation and should be up to all kinds of things, especially smoking that doobie.”
“That what?”
Everard clapped him on the shoulder and squeezed. “Doctor’s orders. Your Rolodex was right
in having it delivered. Go sit out on the stoop and enjoy it. If anything changes, I’ll see to it that
you’re informed immediately.”
Hugh didn’t know what to think of Everard or his support of the pungent cigarette currently in
Hugh’s possession, but he did know that Finch would never do anything to harm him. Perhaps
it would be for the best if he took a second to breathe and compose himself before returning
to Finch’s side. If the baby was still hours away, there was no harm in it.
“Make sure he knows that I love him, and that I’ll be back soon,” Hugh told Everard before
backing down the hall. “If anything happens, anything, retrieve me immediately. I won’t be
long.”
“I will,” Everard promised.
And maybe it was foolish, but Hugh believed him.
Hugh
