Jonny.
He was hunched over a table at the back, speaking to a man who was, at the moment, in the shadows. Could it be Sharpe?
Ada knew she should walk away, that to enter and speak to Jonny or Sharpe would only be inviting trouble, but she couldn’t leave now. Not when she had set out to put everything to rights tonight.
She pushed through the heavy door into the crowded tavern, thick smoke stinging her eyes.
She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the dingy interior.
Rough-looking men hunched over the bar, nursing pints of ale, while others huddled around tables, muttering amongst themselves. A few glanced up at her entrance, their gazeslingering on her a beat too long. Ada tugged her hood forward and wove through the crowd, heart pounding against her ribs.
In the last moment before she stepped forward to confront Jonny and Sharpe, she paused, reconsidering the situation, taking a deep breath to calm herself and think rather than act.
Maybe she should wait this out, see what came from this conversation before her.
Thenshe would strike.
Jonny stared at the man before him with loathing.
Sharpe had called him here for the ledger – or so Jonny had thought. Jonny had come because he was willing to take the chance to try to settle any differences and convince Sharpe to leave him be.
Sharpe, of course, had other ideas.
Jonny had thrown the ledger down on the table between them, and when Sharpe simply grinned, Jonny’s stomach sunk in the realization.
Sharpe didn’t care about the ledger.
He had only wanted to get Jonny to come, to give him a reason to be beholden to him.
“You know what it’s like to work with an organization like mine,” he was saying. “You want for nothing. You would make more in a week than you would in a month working as a shipping clerk.” He said the last words as though they left a bad taste in his mouth.
Jonny shook his head. “That’s not the kind of work I want to be doing. I thought I made that very clear when I left Blackwood.”
“Left Blackwood and your brother. Who was one of Blackwood’s most trusted men.”
“So it seems.”
“Barely a word has been said about you, and already your teammates have turned against you. If they knew the full truth, how would they react?”
Jonny didn’t say anything. He simply stared Sharpe down.
What bothered him the most was that Sharpe was right. They were already suspicious of his intentions, having missed a few practices.
He had considered telling them the truth, asking for help. But he couldn’t. They would never view him the same, would never forgive him for what he had done in the past, nor for keeping any of it from them.
He had to figure this out himself.
He was alone. As he had always been.
“Thank you for your offer, Sharpe,” he said, not hiding the sarcasm in his voice. “But I will be declining. Now, if you would leave me be, I would greatly appreciate it. I will bring nothing against you if you would just stay away from me and from my family.”
“How could I do that when your family has always been such an integral part of this organization?”
“My father is dead. Will does what he wants to do.”
“You would rather be in prison, then? I can make all of the accusations against you go away with your acceptance.”
“I’ll figure that out for myself. You have the ledger. Now, leave me be, Sharpe, you hear me?”
