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“It was just like any other night,” Howard said sadly. “We had no clue that anything nefarious occurred.”
“Do you live far from the store?” Nelson asked them.
Howard shook his head. “I live right around the corner, but I use a rollator when I’m not feeling as steady and need help up the stairs. Julian takes me in our van.”
“I live over by the Edgewood Cemetery. The rent is cheap and the neighbors are quiet. Most of the time,” Julian joked weakly with an apologetic smile.
Howard rolled his eyes and shooed Julian off. “Go start my tea,” he called after him and clicked his teeth. “He’s been so morbid since we lost my wife. I’ve been trying to get him to move into town or stay with me so he’s not so alone. And I could use the company. It’s just us and Elsa, I’m afraid. You’re welcome to look around and you can go through the office and behind the counter if you need to.”
“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Nelson said.
“Oh, good. It’s all a mess and I fear it would only slow you down,” Howard mused as he became somber. “That poor sweet girl.”
“We’re doing our best, Mr. Sherwood,” Nelson said tightly. He needed air and some space. The smell of the incense sticks had grown too strong and the black walls and shelves were beginning to close in around him as his concern for Elsa grew. “Do you have any security cameras?” He managed.
“We do and Julian will send you copies of whatever you need. He’s good with those things. But Elsa was parked too far up the street for our camera. None of the businesses on this side of the street cover that area because there’s nothing but a few vacant office spaces on the other side of that alley.
“I see,” Nelson said, bowing at Howard before excusing himself to make another call.
He had plenty of time to clear his head and regain his composure by the time Nox had stepped out of the store and strolled over to Nelson. “Come on. I’m taking you home,” Nox informed him and gave Nelson a gentle shove to get him moving.
“Are you?” Nelson appreciated the brief calming comfort of that touch. He might have smiled if he wasn’t so worried about Elsa Hansen and what Felton was going to say. He had predicted that they had about forty-eight hours—at the most—from when they had departed Georgetown for New Castle before Felton found out. They were almost out of time and Nelson expected a call at any moment ordering him back to the Hoover Building to face Felton’s wrath.
“You need to eat and rest, Nelson. We’ve missed lunch and we need to brief Merlin.”
“That doesn’t sound very restful,” Nelson replied, even though he didn’t want to say goodbye and he was secretly desperate to see where Nox lived. Nox laughed as they walked back to Elsa Hanson’s apartment and the Continental.
“You’re going to love my place and you’re going to…appreciate Merlin,” he predicted. “And I know just the thing to make you feel better. We’ll have dinner, put our feet up in the study for a little while, and then you can crash in one of the guest rooms.”
All of that sounded a bit too civilized for Nox, but it sounded like heaven after the last twenty-four hours. “That would be fine.”
Eight
“This is it?” Nelson confirmed when Nox pointed at the historic three-story brick home he’d grown up in.
“That’s me. It’s been in my family since the first MacIlwraith came to Georgetown and helped establish the university. I was born in the kitchen. It’s sort of a family tradition.”
“That’s you?” Nelson said gruffly. He snorted as he shut off the car and got out, pausing outside the brick wall and frowning at the plaque. “This says it was built in 1798.” He threw Nox a scandalized look. “How much is something like this worth, this close to the university?” He asked, turning and looking down the street toward Healy Hall.
“I don’t know, maybe four or five million,” Nox guessed as he led them through the wrought iron gate to the front door. Nox punched in the security code on the touchpad and caught Nelson mouthing a prayer. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you have any snakes?” His eyes dropped to the snake tattooed on Nox’s forearm.
“No. Why?”
“I don’t like snakes.”
“Noted,” Nox said, smiling encouragingly. “No snakes. Even though they are universally sacred to most belief systems and often represent fertility, healing, rebirth, wisdom…”
Nelson’s eyes rose to Nox’s, wide and unblinking. “A snake is a quick-striking killing machine with low cognitive function.”
“Alright…” Nox said, settling on a less upsetting topic for Nelson. “Did you know that Georgetown was founded by an Irish Catholic bishop?” He asked as he pushed the door open and Nelson’s brow hitched warily but he was curious as he stepped over the threshold. “He feared the spread of Protestantism in the colonies, but he had a deep reverence for his homeland and his Irish ancestry,” he said with an exaggerated Irish lilt.
“The Irish Illuminati built Georgetown?” Nelson asked as his eyes drifted around the foyer and the living and dining rooms. The house was designed around a central terrace. All of the downstairs rooms had French doors that opened onto it, allowing plenty of light despite being boxed in by neighboring townhouses. Nox was the eighth generation of MacIlwraiths to own the house and the paintings, maps, rugs, vases, and sundry curiosities had been accumulated over the last two-hundred-and-twenty years by his parents and ancestors during their academic travels.
“Something like that.”
“This isn’t what I was expecting.”
