“I might have said that.”
“You lied.”
He shrugged as though it was of no consequence.
She lightly slapped his chest. “Do you see? This is why I told you that you cannot stay close to good people whilestill being involved in a world that involves Gideon Sharpe.”
He looked down at her, his eyes dark, and she absently noticed a gold ring in the middle of his hazel eyes, drawing her in.
“Minnie was involved when her father put his money in with Blackwood — same as you. I only used my knowledge about his operations to help them out.”
He wasn’t wrong about that, as much as she wanted to blame him for all of this. It was much easier than blaming Blackwood or Sharpe – or even her father – although she had already taken her revenge upon Blackwood, whether she had meant to or not.
“I know you’re in there, Jonny! We never finished our conversation earlier today. Come on out, or next time we speak, it will be in front of your entire football club. How would you like that?”
“What are you going to do?” Ada hissed when Jonny stayed still, crouched over her. She had a feeling that he was trying to buy some time, to think this through.
“I’m going to get us out of here,” he murmured in her ear before he leaned over, picked up a rock, and then sent it flying, skittering across the dock far enough away from them. There was a pause, and then footsteps as Sharpe sent one of his men to investigate.
“Let’s go,” Jonny whispered in Ada’s ear, his breath on her neck causing her to shiver. “This way.”
He wrapped a strong, warm hand around one of hers, tugging her to her feet, although he motioned for her to stay down in a crouch. She knew she should pull her hand away, but she supposed it made sense to stay together. To separate would only lead to a greater chance of discovery.
She stayed low, following Jonny, who seemed to know the way as if he had designed this maze of crates himself.
They were practically silent as they crept across the docks, finally emerging beside a warehouse that had been abandoned for the night, shadows dancing around them as the only light that reached the recesses of the buildings here was from the moon.
“Stay against the wall,” Jonny said quietly, and she nodded, following him until they neared the edge of the building. Over the crates in front of them, Ada could just make out the outline of Sharpe and his men, who were still searching about the crates before them, nearing the place where she and Jonny had been hiding just minutes before.
“We have to run between the buildings, and the light might hit us,” Jonny said. “We’ll have to be quick. Are you up for it?”
“Of course,” Ada said, frowning at him. What kind of question was that? She reached down and pulled her pistol out of her skirts, palming it, just in case.
She didn’t think Jonny had noticed until he looked at her, glanced down, and then said out of the corner of his mouth, “You’re not going to shoot me with that, are you?”
“Accidentally or on purpose?”
“Either.”
“Certainly not accidentally. I know my way around a pistol far better than that. Intentionally? I haven’t decided yet.”
One corner of his lips curled up in a smirk as he nodded. “Noted. Ready?”
“Ready.”
As silently and as quickly as they could, they slipped across the lit expanse. Just as she was stepping back into the darkness, Ada risked a glance over her shoulder to where Sharpe and his men had been. As she did, Sharpe turned in their direction as though he had sensed them, and Ada could have sworn that their gazes met and held. Whether or not he knew who shewas, she had no idea, but as he called to his man and pointed toward her, Ada turned and met Jonny’s waiting stare.
“Jonny?”
“Yes?”
“We have to go. And we have to go now.”
Jonny didn’t know what she had done, but what he did know, from that look in her eyes, was that Ada was currently feeling something he had never noticed in her before — fear.
As they broke out into a run, reaching a stretch of empty docks, he knew that he could trust Ada to keep up with him, that she wasn’t going to fall into his arms in fear or exhaustion.
“We’re close,” he said. “Nearly to a street with plenty of taverns and people.”
