“Anthony, I understand your drive,” Abigail said, stopping in her tracks. “But this isn’t about what feels right. It’s about what’s defensible. If we move too fast, we lose. The law will side with the man who has the money and the influence. Vanburgh owns half the town.”
“I’ve seen him and his men,” Anthony said, his tone rising just enough to convey urgency without anger. “Tate isn’t just some hired hand. He kills. If we wait for the law to catch up, more people will die. Including those you care about.”
“Including you,” she said quietly. “Anthony, I don’t doubt what you’ve seen. I trust you. But I can’t sanction a fight without backup. Not when the world is tilted so heavily in Vanburgh’s favor.”
Anthony let out a slow breath, weighing her words against his own instincts.
“We’re not waiting,” he said finally. “We just need to do it carefully. Quietly. Watch, observe, strike if it comes to it...but I won’t sit by and do nothing.”
Her fingers twisted the edge of her apron. “And if you act alone? You could end up in a cell. Or worse.”
Anthony wanted to tell her about what happened in town, but it wasn’t important anymore.
“I’m already armed,” he said. “I’ve evaded worse than Vanburgh’s men. I can handle myself. But I can’t handle the thought of sitting idle while he poisons water and burns homes.”
“Anthony, you think I don’t want to help?” she asked. “I do. But we need a plan that’s smart. That gives us leverage. That keeps people safe. Legal proof...corroboration. That’s leverage.”
“I hear you, ma’am,” Anthony said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “We get proof. We watch the men, we map the barrels, we find witnesses. But the moment we see them moving, we act.”
She shook her head. “And you think they’ll wait around to give us a perfect chance?”
“They won’t. That’s why we do both: observation and readiness. Proof and preparation. I’ll fight when I have to, but I don’t want to. I want the right fight. The one that stops him without letting him slip away.”
She studied him for a long moment, her jaw tight. Then she nodded.
“All right,” she said. “We do it your way and mine. We watch, we document, we prepare. But we don’t charge blindly. Not yet.”
“Agreed. We’ll split duties. I’ll keep an eye on Vanburgh’s men and track them. You handle the legal and observational side: notes, witnesses, evidence. Anything that ties him directly to the poison or the fire.”
Her hands relaxed. “And if it comes to a direct confrontation?”
“Then we’ve already done the work,” Anthony said. “The proof is there. And Vanburgh won’t have the moral high ground.”
Abigail let out a long breath, her eyes flicking to the window.
“I still don’t like the risk,” she said. “But...if anyone can pull this off, it’s you, Anthony. Just promise me we do it smart. Legal first, action second.”
“I promise,” he said, meaning it. “Smart doesn’t mean slow. It means precise.”
“And you’ll be careful,” Abigail said. “I need you alive. Right now, the town’s in danger because of him. We make sure we handle it the right way. Together.”
Anthony nodded. “Together.”
After a while, it became evident that all their thoughts had to be written down. Anthony couldn’t keep all the information in his head. It was too much.
He had to see it all on paper.
Anthony moved toward the small writing desk by the window, brushing aside a pile of clean bandages. He dropped to one knee and spread out a notebook and a few sheets of parchment.
“We start here,” he said, tapping a line of notes he had jotted earlier.
Abigail leaned over, peering at the scribbled diagrams. “You counted the barrels?”
“Not all, but enough to know the pattern,” Anthony said. “They’re dropped upstream. Vanburgh wants minimal witnesses.”
Abigail frowned, her eyes following the scribbles on the paper.
“We need more than observation,” Anthony said. “We need evidence they can’t ignore. Witnesses, markings, maybe even a stash of the poison itself. I’ve got a general sense of where they keep supplies, but it’s dangerous to go poking around blindly.”
