The New Hand, Part Sixteen

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

~

It took a long bath, a shave and a decent night’s sleep in a good bed before David felt human again. He and Adam had splurged on adjoining suites in one of San Francisco’s finest hotels—and he had to admit that they were worth every penny.

He woke up early and eager to get started. He strolled into Adam’s room without bothering to knock and then shook him awake. Adam opened his eyes and glared up at him, obviously annoyed by his presumption. But then he nodded at David and rolled out of bed.

David glanced over at him a few minutes later while he buttoned up his waistcoat. Adam had just finished washing up and was now putting on his shirt.

“Do you object to breaking into Stephen’s flat?” David asked him.

Adam shook his head. “Not under the circumstances. Do you always wear a waistcoat for such occasions?”

“Always,” David assured him with a wink. “And a frock coat and a cravat. The better dressed you are, the less likely anyone is to credit you with breaking and entering.”

“I suppose that makes a certain amount of sense,” Adam admitted as he opened his valise and took out a waistcoat of his own. “By the way, I noticed some old newspapers downstairs in the lobby. It looks like they go back at least a month or so. We ought to pour through them for any mention of Stephen before we go through this.”

“Good idea,” David agreed. “What do you suppose Ed Niles did with the body?”

Adam shrugged. “A quick, private burial, I’d imagine. Did Stephen have a girl?”

“Not really,” David answered as he fiddled with his cufflinks. “He mentioned some sixteen-year-old that he was half-heartedly courting. Wealthy family, good blood, et cetera. But he hadn’t proposed to her yet and she had a number of other beaux.”

“What about friends who might miss him?”

David considered that. “Yes, there were one or two. I didn’t meet them, but Stephen mentioned them too. Niles must have told them some story or other.”

Adam nodded as he tied his cravat. “But he had no other relatives around?”

“No. Ed Niles is a widower—no surprise there; he probably drove his wife into an early grave—and Stephen was an only child.”

“All right,” Adam said as he shrugged himself into his frock coat. “Let’s get some breakfast and then take a look at those papers.”

All told, the two men spent over an hour in the lobby perusing a month’s worth of news. There was certainly no mention of Stephen’s death, but a tidbit in the society pages implied that the young man had left San Francisco in order to study abroad.

“Well, that’s convenient,” David said with disgust. “Now Niles just has to wait a few months and then announce that his son died of pneumonia in London or Paris.”

“Right,” Adam agreed, frowning over the news. “No need for anyone here to know that the boy shot himself.”

LINK TO PART SEVENTEEN