‘I saw everything from my hiding place among the trees.’
‘Mr Beyton is very foolish.’
‘Agreed,’ he said, ‘but he’s a clever fool. If we hadn’t been careful, one of us could now be cooling our heels behind bars. He hired someone to follow him and you almost got caught.’
‘What would you have done in that instance?’
He drew a pistol from his belt. ‘I’d have used this.’
‘Be careful, Vincent.’
‘I’ll kill anyone who gets in our way,’ he asserted. ‘That includes Beyton or anyone else he’s stupid enough to bring along. We’ve come too far to worry about the occasional death.’
‘What do you think we should do?’
‘We should make Beyton suffer for trying to trick us. I’d really like to send his wife an account of how he and Mrs Horner spent their time together but that can wait. Now that we’ve had one ransom from him, we should ask for another and bleed him dry. It’s the least that he deserves.’
‘How long are we going to keep her locked up?’
‘She’s not going anywhere until we’re ready, Jane.’
‘I’m beginning to feel sorry for her,’ she confessed.
‘Then you ought to remember the way she pushed you aside and locked you in the cellar. If I hadn’t heard the noise of the door slamming, she might have got away completely. Think what would have happened then.’
‘All our plans would have been in shreds.’
‘Mrs Horner stays where she is.’
‘What about her meals?’
‘Reduce the portions even more,’ he decreed. ‘If she complains, tell her that it’s all Beyton’s fault. That will give her something to think about.’
Tom O’Gara and Moses Dagg were enjoying a meal on the ship. Since he was due to fight that evening, Dagg took care to eat sparingly. He knew that he had both the skill and the punch to defeat his opponent but he also realised that it would have to be early on in the bout. Even on their brief acquaintance, he’d seen that Donkey Johnson was a powerful man. If the fight dragged on, it would become a test of endurance and Johnson might wear him down. Dagg resolved that he wouldn’t let that happen. It would lose Dermot Fallon a lot of money and leave Dagg himself in a battered condition. Remaining at liberty depended on his being able to move quickly and defend himself against arrest.
They were in the captain’s cabin when a stone hit the window and caused it to crack even more. It was the signal that Dermot Fallon had returned. They went up on deck and lowered the gangplank to let him and his dog aboard then drew it up again.
‘What happened?’ asked O’Gara. ‘Did you see Kearney?’
‘Were you able to strangle the rogue?’ added Dagg.
‘No,’ said Fallon, sulkily.
‘Don’t tell me that he escaped.’
‘There was no chance of that, Moses. It would be easier to escape from Dartmoor than from the tenement. Everybody was on guard.’
‘So why didn’t you kill him?’
‘I was too late. Kearney jumped out of his window and landed dead at my feet. He made a terrible mess on the paving.’
‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ said O’Gara.
‘Some of the blood went over me,’ complained Fallon, showing the specks on his sleeve and trousers. ‘I wanted to make him die slowly. He chose a quicker way.’
‘I’m worried, Dermot. A suicide will be investigated. That might bring the Runners back to the tenement. Someone may say something out of turn.’
‘They won’t do that, Tom. Besides, what can they say? Nobody knows that we’re here, not even Mary. It’s only a question of time before it’s safe for me to move back in with my family.’
‘I’ve got a family back in New York,’ said Dagg, nostalgically. ‘Tom has got a child or two along the east coast. He believes in spreading his love about.’
O’Gara grinned. ‘I can’t help it if women like me.’
‘If their husbands ever catch up with you, expect a lot of trouble.’
‘That’s the beauty of being in the navy, Moses. You can take your pleasure where you find it then sail away before their husbands catch up with you.’ He glanced at his cousin. ‘Is everything ready for tonight?’
‘Yes,’ said Fallon, ‘the place will be packed.’
‘There you are, Moses. You’ve achieved fame as the Black Assassin.’
‘I don’t want to be remembered as the man who beat Donkey Johnson,’ said Dagg, bitterly. ‘If our demands are not met by the Home Office, I want to be known as the black assassin of Viscount Sidmouth.’