Page 54 of Protecting his Heart

Owen settled into a seat. “What’s that?”

Brett waved at Felix, who leaned against the desk. “I was looking a bit deeper into the calendar. You know, where it was bought from, that kind of thing. And I found something weird. It’s not readily available anywhere.”

Owen frowned. “What does that mean?”

“It means the calendar was specially made. There are no indications of where, no copyright or business details anywhere, which should’ve clued me in, really.” Felix’s forehead creased and then cleared again. “Anyway, I delved deeper, looking at the photographs and realised something.”

Brett sighed. “You really need to get to the point.”

Felix glanced at him, pursed his lips and continued, “The photos are all of coffees made by Book Drunk.”

Owen’s heart dropped. “What? How is that possible?”

Felix shrugged. “Maybe they know you like going there.”

“Am I the only one who thinks this is weird? Likeweirdweird,” Evan said.

“Not the only one,” Brett mumbled. “Felix is going to see what else he can find out, but because the photos are copies of the original, he doesn’t think he can get much else from them.”

Originally, Owen hadn’t been too fussed about receiving gifts from a stranger, but with each piece of information they found, he was beginning to think this person was a stalker rather than a nice admirer. He wasn’t sure how to react to that, so he pushed it aside. He had received nothing else, so maybe he should be grateful.

“Okay, thanks. Anything I need to know before tomorrow?”

Brett shook his head. “Go home and rest for the last day. I’ll catch you up with everything in the morning.”

Owen shook hands with them both before leaving, Evan following.

“I’m not convinced the admirer is a good person,” Evan said.

Owen reached for Evan’s biceps, stopping him. He cupped his face. “I’m not sure, either, but let’s hope for the best and plan for the worst.”

“Which would be?”

Owen pointed to Sec HQ. “They’re already doing it. Tracking evidence, following leads, seeing where it takes them. If there’s something hinky about whoever this is, Felix will find it.”

Evan nodded, and his mouth quirked. “Hinky?”

Owen snorted and kissed him. “Shut up.”

They headed home, and even though Owen was feeling better, that brief excursion had worn him out. As they settled down to watch a movie, he fell asleep. Evan woke him a little later fordinner, and then they headed to bed for an early night. And although Owen wanted to tease Evan and bring him off, he didn’t have the energy. He promised to make it up to him.

“You don’t need to make anything up to me. You’re healing. I’ll be more than happy when you’re back to being one hundred per cent, and then we can catch up on us. Sleep.”

****

Being back at work was both a curse and a blessing. He was glad to be out of the house and seeing his friends again, but he was just as bored as at home, but only while sitting there. Brett had, indeed, caught him up on everything that had happened, including the shooting. They still didn’t have any suspects, and there didn’t seem to be any CCTV around that caught anything that could help them. The police were still investigating, but they’d put it down to it being a fanatic. That didn’t help them figure out who was the target.

As he sat outside Freddie and Damon’s suite for his short stint covering Locke’s lunch break, the door opened, and Freddie beckoned him closer.

“Yes, Your Highness?”

Freddie pursed his lips at him, but Owen just shrugged. There was no way he would ever lose the honorific when addressing him. “Come on in. I want to catch up with you.”

“I’m fine, Your—”

“Inside. Now.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” he mumbled, entering the prince’s domain. He stood awkwardly. “How can I help?”

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