Page 26 of Into the Dark

Oscar smiled. “Then I’ll come with.”

Chris rose to their feet. “If it’s all right with everyone else, I’d like to take the van into Howlston itself and photograph some of the abandoned buildings.”

“Knock yourself out,” Oscar said.

“Whereas I’ll be staring at video and listening to audio.” Tina stood up, smoothing her skirts.

Zeek perked up. “Need any help?”

Adrienne cleared her throat. “We have our own audio and video to go through, Zeek. We didn’t bring our whole setup with us, unlike some people, and I’m not staring at a laptop for hours by myself.”

“How un-ambitious of you,” Chris said, just loudly enough for Adrienne to hear them.

Her eyes narrowed. “Areyougoing to buy us a van to lug stuff around in? No?”

“I thought all those views you get would pay for one.”

Nigel slipped out of the tent, fleeing the argument. A few moments later, Chris emerged with an annoyed expression on their face and headed for the van without speaking. Oscar followed them out, and Nigel held out his hand.

Oscar took it, and together they walked across the drive toward the front stairs. The spring air still held some coolness, and not a cloud marred the solid blue vault of the sky. Birds sang in the trees, proclaiming their territory to one another. If they climbed out of the valley, no doubt they’d find mountain laurel and rhododendron thickets in bloom.

Oscar stopped at the bottom of the steps, causing Nigel to stop as well. He stood on the first step, so they were at eye-level with one another.

“Hey,” said Oscar with a grin.

Nigel grinned back. “Hey yourself.”

They kissed under the bright sky, mouths warm and hungry—until Nigel felt a sneeze building.

He turned aside and sneezed into his elbow, then sniffled. “Sorry. Very romantic.”

“And I brought you to such a picturesque location,” Oscar teased.

Nigel pulled a tissue out of his pocket pack and blew his nose. “Damn allergies.” He swallowed, wincing a little at the soreness developing in his throat. He could use a cup of tea with lemon and honey, but that would mean driving over to Weston.

Worry creased Oscar’s brow. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine—just allergies. I get them every spring, but they’re a lot worse than usual.” Nigel shrugged. “Different pollen over here than in Durham, I guess.”

“Okay.” Oscar kissed him again, then looked up at the door. “We should get to work, even though I’d rather just make out with you.”

“I’m sure being inside will kill the mood pretty quick.” Nigel led the way up, the door squeaking open at his touch.

Hopefully the sunlight would keep any spirits at bay for the time being. He’d brought a high-lumen flashlight in case it didn’t, as well as a pouch of salt. At least they weren’t going very far inside.

“Is it just me, or has the patch of mold on the wall gotten bigger?” Oscar asked, stopping in the hall to stare at the black fuzz.

Had it? Nigel tried to remember what it had looked like yesterday. “I’m not sure. Maybe it likes the warmer spring days?”

The old secretary’s office was stuffed with filing cabinets, their metal bottoms slowly rusting onto the old wooden floor. They were locked, but a quick search of the desk turned up some keys, as well as dried-up pens, a rubber band ball whose bands had melded into a single entity, and an ancient stick of gum.

They unlocked cabinets one by one. The first Nigel checked was given over to invoices and the other paperwork involved in running any institution. Fortunately some long-ago employeehad been organized, and all the file folders were neatly labeled, which made scanning through them much easier.

“These look like patient records,” Oscar said from the cabinet he’d opened.

Nigel’s heart quickened. “How far back do they go?”

“I don’t know.” He opened the drawer marked F-H and began to flip through them. “Finley, Fuller…there’s no Fox.”

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