Now it was my turn to laugh. “Well, I’ll take the NPH compliment.”
“I’m glad to meet you…”
“Oliver. Olly.”
“Good to meet you, Olly. Let me check the schedules and see who can help you out. Just grab a seat and I’ll get you all set up. I think Jonah’s all booked up, but I’ve got a couple other detectives opening up.”
“That’s okay, I’d prefer someone that wasn’t my brother.” I smiled, feeling a sense of surety. The comfortable couch dipped under my weight when I sat. I reached over and grabbed one of the magazines on the table. I could mindlessly scroll through my phone, but that only reminded me of the missed connection my heart was unreasonably yearning for. Seriously, I had to stop watching sappy rom-coms on my iPad before going to sleep. It was turning me into a fawning kid chasing after something they’d never get.
I have to stop watchingThe Proposaland start watchingChild’s Play.
Because nothing says anti-lovey-dovey than a possessed and uber-creepy doll intent on murdering people.
“All right, Olly, if you’ll just come with me, I can take you to Detective Noble’s office.”
Holly led me past the desk and down a hallway to the left. I spotted an outdoor courtyard area and plenty of space to relax and think about cases or do whatever else detectives did on their free time.
We stopped in front of a closed door. The glass was frosted over, and a name was written across it in a golden script, the letters bold.
Hah. Funny trick, universe. But I’m not falling for it.
Beckham Noble. There could be no way this was the same Beckham I had met a thousand miles away from this exact spot. This was just a dumb coincidence, that’s all it was.
So why did my hands get clammy all of a sudden? And those butterflies in my stomach? Where did they just come from? What the hell? Why was there basically an entire pride parade marching around in my gut right now?
Then Holly opened the door and—
“Holy shit.”
“Bloody hell.”
Holly, with her big brown eyes, looked between me and an equally shocked Beckham, who was standing behind his desk and staring at me with an ever-growing smile.
“You two, uh, know each other?”
7Beckham Noble
“Thank you, Beckham. Really, thank you.” Piper beamed at me, the sunlight from my office window shining through her cherry-red hair. She was holding her wife’s hand, Huma, who was also grinning wide and crinkling her light brown eyes.
“Of course,” I said, letting the relief of a closed case wash over me. This was my favorite part of the job. The end result, when the clients are smiling through happy tears. “You won’t be needing to look over your shoulders anymore.”
“Thank you.” Huma was wiping away tears. They both stood up and came around my desk for a hug.
The two walked out of the office, all smiles, both exuding positivity. It made me one happy bloke.
Usually, at least.
Today was not a usual day. No, no. Usually couldn’t be used to describe my life for quite a while now, but especially so in the days after I got back from London. There was a subtle haze over everything in my life. And it all seemed to focus in on the letter that I still couldn’t bring myself to open. The pale white envelope was still sealed tight with my name scrawled across the center in what could only be my father’s handwriting.
But here’s the kicker: Even if I wanted to open it, that wasn’t a possibility anymore. It hadn’t been for the past week
Ever since I lost the damn thing.
I sat in my chair, feeling the weight of my mistake fall hard on my shoulders. Why was I such a twat? I should have just opened the letter as soon as it was handed to me. It could have been handled right there and then. Instead, I couldn’t find it anywhere, even after turning my home and my office upside down and inside out.
Funny how much I cared about the letter after it was gone.
The afternoon sunlight broke through the open window behind me and flooded my office in light. It must have been a half an hour that I sat there, racking my brain for any clues as to where I had put it.