Warner 26 #3
“Oh yes, Sebastian was quite devoted to her,” Hugo insists, unfazed.
“Even as a child, he used to follow her around like a magnet. Rosabelle liked Sebastian just fine, but he was”—Hugo hesitates, blinking—“he was always a peculiar boy. He seemed happy to do nothing but trail after her for hours. In fact, he often did.”
There’s a tense silence as this revelation settles.
“Forgive me”—Castle frowns—“Mr. Wolff, have you come here to tell us you’re worried for your daughter? Concerned about her possible interactions with Sebastian?”
Hugo looks up.
“No,” he says. Then quickly: “I mean, yes, of course—I’m always worried about her. I’m worried about both of my daughters. She—I don’t know where Clara is. Or how she is. I—I tried to ask, but Rosa, I mean, Rosabelle, she wouldn’t—she wouldn’t tell me anything about Clara—”
Hugo cuts himself off, falling silent.
He’s tripping over his words again. His fear is building.
The more agitated he gets, the more he struggles to focus on a thought, which means his anxiety is heightening, and I can feel it escalating toward a confession.
Castle looks as if he might speak, but I catch his eye, trying to tell him, without speaking, to wait.
Castle frowns but says nothing.
We hold still in the quiet. A dark feeling of foreboding raises the hair at the base of my neck.
When Hugo finally breaks his own silence, it’s with a ragged, shaking breath. “My—my memories are starting to come back,” he forces out.
My adrenaline spikes.
“I don’t know why, or what it means,” he says, “but I—I’m beginning to remember things—things I saw before they tried to kill me—”
Another sudden silence.
Another breathless beat.
“I think something—something is happening to me,” Hugo chokes out. He clenches his fists and releases them, then flattens his hands against his thighs before pushing up his sleeves in jerky movements. “And I’m—I’m scared.”
I keep my face calm. My voice neutral.
“Why are you scared?” I ask. “What are you remembering?”
“I’m not just remembering,” he says, his eyes wide. Bloodshot. “I’m forgetting, too.”
His sudden jumps of fear are like swings of a hammer to my spine. I fight to keep my face placid.
“Sometimes,” he says, “I lose hours—hours of my day. I don’t—I don’t know—”
My pager flashes in my hand.
I glance at the notification without thinking.
Rosabelle: I’m done
Take me back to the rehab facility
I need to speak with Sebastian
This revives my anger so aggressively she might’ve driven a letter opener into my eye.
I wish I’d left my pager in my pocket.
I do not want to interrupt this moment with Hugo, but I don’t trust Rosabelle.
I feel forced to write back.
No
“I—I think I should go,” Hugo says, bolting upright. His fear is so loud it’s alarming.
“Don’t,” I say, my voice heated.
“No, no, it’s all right,” he says, tripping over his chair legs. “I’ll come back tomorrow—when you have more time—”
“I have time now,” I insist.
My pager flashes again.
Rosabelle: I wasn’t asking
Take me or I’ll go on my own
Impossibly, this sends me into a greater fury.
Don’t you dare, I write back.
“Mr. Wolff,” says Castle. “There’s no rush—”
When I look up, Hugo is already moving toward the door.
“Hugo,” I say sharply.
He stills, as if electrocuted. He doesn’t turn to face me.
“I—I really should go,” he says. “I didn’t mean to trouble you during this busy time.”
I fight to take a deep breath.
This isn’t about troubling me.
Hugo came here to tell me something, and now he’s lost his nerve.
“You’re scared,” I say to him. “Of me. Of what I might say.”
Hugo freezes again, his shoulders tensing.
“Why?” I demand.
Another flash of my pager.
Rosabelle: I don’t take orders from you
Good night
I clench my fist around the pager, then nearly close my eyes in anger. My head is pounding.
“Gabriel,” I say, raising my voice.
Everyone stiffens. Castle shoots me a questioning look.
The door opens, Gabriel’s shaved head making a reappearance. “Yes, sir?”
“Lock down the recovery room.”
His eyes brighten with concern. I feel his shock, but he doesn’t ask questions. “Yes, sir.”
Gabriel retreats, and Hugo, whose energy is frantic, catches the door jerkily before it closes. “I’ll leave you to deal with your emergencies, sir,” he says. “We can talk another time.”
“Mr. Wolff—”
Hugo nods at Castle. “It was nice to meet you, sir.”
“Hugo—” I try to say.
My pager flashes again.
And again.
Rosabelle: You had them barricade me in my room?
You can’t keep me locked up
You’re only forcing me to hurt people
I’m weighing the potential loss of killing Rosabelle just to get rid of this headache when Hugo hesitates at the threshold.
“I’ll—I’ll reach out tomorrow, sir,” he says to me. “I’ve taken up too much of your time today.”
“You know that’s not true,” I say to him.
He only swallows. But as he pulls the door closed behind him, lifting his hand stiffly in goodbye, alarm flares hot through my head.
The door snicks shut.
“What is it?” says Castle, watching me. His concern is palpable. “What just happened?”
I look at Castle, not seeing him.
I’m trying to decide whether I imagined what I just saw. Trying to remember whether Hugo has ever had tattoos.
“I don’t know,” I whisper.
At his wrists, snaking up into his palms, Hugo’s veins appeared to be black.