Page 50 of Molly Boys

They stood in awkward silence, the only sound in the room the ticking of the carriage clock followed by a tiny little chime signifying the quarter hour.

“Was the tea not to your liking?” Ev asked as his eyes fell on the tray. “I could ask Henry–”

“Please don’t trouble yourself, Lord Stanley,” the inspector answered.

“Please, take a seat,” Ev offered and Franklin once again settled himself on the sofa as Ev took the wingback chair opposite.

They sat in silence once again.

Ev was miserably embarrassed now that he was face-to-face with the attractive inspector. This man had seen him in such a vulnerable moment, a man he hardly knew, but he couldn’t detect a hint of judgement in his dark steady gaze. In fact, he couldn’t read the man at all, which simply ratcheted up his nervousness further.

He cleared his throat, giving what he hoped was a cordial smile. “Please forgive me for receiving you so informally.”

“Not at all,” Franklin answered gruffly. “I’m sure you’re still recovering from…”

“Um, yes,” Ev muttered awkwardly. “Thank you for your assistance the other evening.”

“Lord Stanley…”

Before Inspector Franklin could utter another word, Ev stood abruptly, causing the man to stand also. Crossing the room to the sideboard, Ev lifted the decanter and filled a glass, lifting it with shaky hands, but as it reached his lips, a large warm calloused hand closed over his, lowering the glass back to the silver tray.

“I don’t pretend to know what it is that haunts you,” a low voice rumbled, so close to his face he could feel the warm puff of breath against his skin. “But I know you won’t find it at the bottom of a bottle.”

Ev turned his head slightly to find the inspector so close he could feel the heat of his body. Inspector Franklin’s eyes were as dark as the midnight waters of the lake he’d spent so much time watching at his childhood home in Derby. The feeling of home and safety wrapped around him like vines tethering him in place and filled him with such a violent longing he almost swayed.

It was improper and so beyond the bounds of civilised interaction for two men, especially two men who barely knew each other and were from such different social classes, to stand so closely together. It spoke of an intimacy that shouldn’t exist between the two of them.

“You have no idea what my life is like,” Ev whispered hoarsely.

“No I don’t,” Franklin rumbled. “You’ve got your demons, I can see that, but I’m not here to cause trouble for you. I’m not your enemy.”

“Then why are you here?”

Franklin closed his eyes briefly as if the answer was painful to admit. “I wanted to know that you were all right,” he murmured. “The other night…” He shook his head as if trying to dispel an image too awful to comprehend. “For a moment, I thought I was too late.”

Ev couldn’t speak, couldn’t breathe, surrounded as he was by the presence of the man beside him. He could smell the clean scent of his soap and underneath it, something that was uniquely his. His voice was a low rumble that warmed Ev’s belly and made him ache with want.

He stepped back, leaving the full glass on the sideboard to cross the room to the fireplace, and opened a small silver cigarette box. Retrieving a cigarette and a box of matches, he lit it and exhaled slowly as he stared down at the fire and the inspector began to speak.

“I went to The Lotus Flower last night looking for a witness, someone I suspected could tell me David Perkins’ whereabouts the night he was abducted,” Franklin said from across the room. “I found you by accident. You were quite intoxicated by that time, but you said something…”

Ev’s spine stiffened, his heart beating a wild, panicked tattoo in his chest as he turned his face toward Archie.

“What did I say?” he asked, dreading the answer.

“You spoke of Charles Wakefield and David Perkins,” he said quietly. “You knew them, didn’t you?”

Ev turned his attention back to the fireplace, closing his eyes briefly as a wave of sadness washed over him.

“Lord Stanley.” Inspector Franklin took a hesitant step toward him. “I’m not here to cause you trouble, like I said, but this monster has taken two victims now and you were nearly the third–”

“Twelve,” Ev said before he could stop himself.

“Pardon?”

He looked back at his visitor. “There are twelve victims.”

“Twelve?” His face paled. “How could you possibly know that?”