An entire night spent crouched on a rooftop, all so that he could help Bennet so that Bennet, in turn, would help Sebastian.

All for Darquesse.

Now it was halfway through the following day and Sebastian was still here, waiting for something to happen. He really didn’t want to have to kick the door down. Kicking the door down would probably lead to violence. Plus, he’d never kicked a door down before and was worried his foot might just bounce off.

A little after noon, he saw Bennet harassing people on the street, waving a photograph under their noses until they snapped at him, in some cases shoving him away. Sebastian tried waving, tried catching the man’s attention, but eventually had to resort to shouting Bennet’s name to make him look up.

They met in the alley behind the small house.

“I thought I’d hallucinated you,” Bennet said. He needed a shave and a shower, but at least he was sober.

“Bennet, you should go home. The man I followed yesterday led me to that building, right there. If Odetta is inside, I’ll bring her to you.”

“No, I have to be here, I have to do this. She’s my wife – don’t you understand that? Are you married?”

“I am not, no.”

“Then you don’t understand. But I can’t leave. If she’s in there, I have to go in. Now.”

“We don’t know who else might be waiting,” Sebastian said, placing a restraining hand on Bennet’s arm. “It’s better if we keep an eye on the place, make a note of who comes and goes, formulate a plan, so that when we do go in, we’re prepared.”

“Has anyone come and gone since you’ve been on that roof?”

“Well … no.”

“Whoever has her, they’ve obviously no intention of bringing her back to me,” said Bennet. “We don’t know what’s happening in there. We don’t know if she’s hurt, or how scared she is, and we don’t even know why she’s been taken. But I cannot stay here while the love of my life is being held captive. I’m going in. Now, I don’t know you, but—”

“I’ll help,” Sebastian said, sighing. “Just please follow my lead, OK?”

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Bennet confessed. “I’ve never been in a fight in my life.”

“Yeah, well, I have,” Sebastian said. “And I really try to avoid them as much as possible.”

With Bennet behind him, Sebastian sneaked up to the small house. He took off his hat, and peered through the window. He counted three men in the gloom. They were big, and seemed to just stand there, stoop-shouldered, not saying anything.

Bennet peeked. “Hollow Men,” he whispered.