Storm and Silence(263)

At that, Mr Ambrose looked up, his eyes flashing icily.

‘Dalgliesh took something that belongs to me, Mr Warren. If that happened in the colonies, and if he were any other man, I wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in his head. Here, business practices are slightly different. But I will get back what is mine, and you’d rather not stand in my way.’

Warren swallowed again. He retreated a step, and bowed. ‘No, Sir. Of course not, Sir. Your word is my command, Sir.’

‘Indeed it is.’ Mr Ambrose stuck the ground plan back into the bag, slung it over his shoulder and took out of the coach another one, which he handed to Karim. ‘Stay here, Mr Warren. Guard the coach, and wait until at least one of us returns.’ He turned away from Warren, towards the entrance of the alley and number 97. ‘Karim, we’re going in. Stay behind me and watch my back.’

‘Yes, Sahib!’

I thought it was about time to make my presence known.

With a little smile, I stepped forward, out of the shadows, and raised a hand. ‘And where do you want me, Sir?’





A Man’s Work


To see actual surprise on the rock-hard face of Mr Rikkard Ambrose would have been too much to hope for. But I had the satisfaction of seeing one of his eyelids twitch about half a millimetre when he caught sight of me.

‘Mr Linton…!’ he breathed.

Karim jumped back, uttering another incomprehensible curse.

‘She really is Ifrit, Sahib! She can walk through walls and appear out of thin air!’

‘Actually,’ I remarked, smiling at him, ‘I drove here in a cab. Sorry to disappoint you.’ My eyes flicked from Karim to Warren. Apparently, he was too startled to have noticed Karim’s slip of referring to yours truly as ‘she.’ But really, it was not Warren’s reaction to my appearance, or Karim's, that I was interested in. Slowly, my eyes drifted back to Mr Ambrose.

His face was still devoid of anything akin to emotion. But there was a muscle twitching in his chiselled jaw.

‘A cab?’ he said, as if it were the dirtiest of words.

‘Yes, Sir.’

‘And this cab, I suppose, is not in the vicinity any more to take you right back to where you came from?’

‘No, Sir.’

‘I didn’t think so.’

Stepping closer to me, he lowered his voice to a chilling whisper that only I could hear.

‘I am not commonly given to expletives, Mr Linton, yet under the present circumstances I find myself justified in enquiring what the bloody hell you think you are doing here!’

‘Coming with you,’ I said cheerily, though the tone of his voice made my whole body quiver.

‘Did I or did I not tell you to stay away from this, Mr Linton?’

‘You did, Sir. But it is after hours. You cannot tell me what to do now.’

Thunderclouds full of lightning flashed in his dark eyes.

‘Did you or did you not hear what I discussed with Warren, Mr Linton?’

‘Yes, Sir. I did.’

‘And? Well?’

‘Well what, Sir?’

‘Tonight’s operation will be deadly dangerous. The moment we are spotted, we will be shot down like animals. Our corpses will be thrown from the docks and never again see the light of day!’

His words sent a cold shiver down my back. To die… to actually die. I had never contemplated it before. I was nineteen, still so young, and had hardly seen anything of the world. And I could die tonight, if I continued on this mad course. Why not turn back? Why not turn away from him, let him go alone? He surely wouldn’t fault me for it.

‘Never see the light of day again? My, my.’ I shook my head. ‘I’m sure that would worry me a lot, once I was dead. Terrible fate for a corpse.’

What was I doing? This was no time for sarcasm? This was serious!

Yes, it is, a tiny voice in the back of my mind said. Deadly serious - which is exactly why you have to go with him.

‘Never, ever joke in my presence again, Mr Linton,’ Mr Ambrose said in a voice that could have frozen an erupting volcano. ‘I do not appreciate it.’

‘Really? I would never have guessed.’

‘The same goes for flippancy, Mr Linton.’ He stepped forward until we were almost nose to chiselled chin. Damn, he was tall! ‘I meant what I said. This is dangerous.’ For a moment I saw a flash of something in his eyes that I think I was not supposed to see. Anxiety, maybe? For what? For the recovery of his lost file?

Or for you?

No! Impossible!

It was gone too quickly for me to see, in any case. Again, a coating of frost closed the brief opening in his armour.

‘I know that it is dangerous,’ I said impulsively, reaching out to touch him. ‘That is why I have to come.’