I'm the Secret You'll Swear to Keep

/Nineteen/

"Maybe it was from Josh?" Patrick asks, scanning the note that sits on their bed.

"I doubt it. He's not a spy, he's a guard. Guards don't go on missions and guards don't go in the air-ducts."

"Maybe Laura knows?" Patrick stands, grabbing the note. "It's worth a shot to ask her."

Pete sighs, slapping his hands to his thighs before standing. Together, they head down to Laura's office, often making theories about the mysterious letter. Laura's eyebrows raise when they walk back in.

"You're back?"

"We found a note," Patrick slides it on her desk.

"Who wrote this?" She stares at it.

"No idea."

Her eyebrows knit together in confusion. She's never found anything like this. Would there be more? Who left it? Do they need to go find a struggling agent?

"Where was this found?" She sets it down on her desk.

Pete eyes it. "In the air ducts."

"Why the hell were you in the air ducts, Peter?"

"We tested Patrick's new spot to make him more comfortable with it. He started hearing a noise so I went searching."

"Was it right outside your vent?"

"No, ma'am. It was approximately five vents down."

She thinks for a minute. Surely the two have thought of every theory of where this letter has come from. That approach wouldn't work. There's no telling how long it was in the duct, who wrote it, or why they were sorry. Laura takes a new approach.

"Five vents down..." She mumbles. Does the number five have a significance? Surely not. "That would mean the note was left by the fifth vent, correct?"

Pete and Patrick lock eyes momentarily before turning back and nodding to Laura.

"So that would mean the note was left five rooms away from yours," She mutters aloud, pulling up the map of the floor again. "So we need to figure out who lives...here," Laura points to the room in question.

"What's the room number?" Patrick stands. "I'll bring them here."

"Room...308," Laura nods to Patrick.

"That's Andy's room," Pete says quickly.

Patrick's eyes widen. "What if it's from Joe!?"

"Joseph is dead, Patrick. We don't have time for nonsense," She scowls and stands with the note. "Perhaps Andrew would know why the letter is there."

Patrick and Pete follow her out of the office and up the stairs. Laura mentions how Andy was depressed at one point after Joe's death, and the note could've been from him. It takes Andy a moment to answer the knocking at his door. 

"Hey, what's going on?" He asks, plastering a smile on his face. It's clear he's been crying. It's been a rough day for him.

"A note was found outside your vent in the air ducts," She hands him the paper. "Do you have any idea where it came from?"

Andy's eyes scan it. They move back to the first word and read it again. It's silent as Andy re-reads the note time after time. His eyes begin to water, and suddenly he's holding the paper to his chest, head hung in sadness.

"Andrew," Laura cocks her head.

"It's Joe's handwriting," Andy whispers. "It's from Joe."

~~~