They were about to walk away when Finch called over. “Tate!”
The brothers turned as one, and he pointed to Jonny. “This Tate. Can I speak to you and Miss Jones for a moment?”
Jonny nodded, exchanging a glance with Ada.
When they were alone, Finch perched on one side of a crate. “There is still a murder to account for. Barker Blackwood’s.”
Ada swallowed hard. Her murder. The thought that she had actually killed someone still made her blood run cold. But it had been him or Tommy. She’d had seconds to decide, and the only shot she’d had was at his chest.
“I’ve gathered all the information I can, and I’ve come to two conclusions. The first is that you, Tate, had nothing to do with the murder, despite your confession, although you were there.”
“But—”
Finch raised a hand before Jonny could protest.
“I know Miss Jones pulled the trigger. However, the second point I was going to make is that I also know Blackwood was about to kill Tommy Ward. You did what you had to do.”
Eyes wide, Ada nodded. It was the truth, of course. But she had been so worried that no one else would see it that way.
“I consider the case closed,” Finch said. “The details might get out. I can’t help that. But I’ll be sure to note everything that happened. All that might suffer is your reputation.”
“Thank you,” Ada said as Jonny’s arm wrapped around her, holding her close against his side. “I appreciate it. And I’m not so worried about my reputation anymore.”
“Can we leave now?” Jonny asked, a bit gruffly considering what Finch was doing for them, but Ada understood. She was just as eager to return home.
With Jonny.
“Go ahead,” Finch said. “I may have questions about Sharpe and all of this, but that can wait until later.”
“This time, itallneeds to come down,” Jonny said, his voice nearly threatening, but Finch merely nodded.
“Agreed.”
“Use Will. He knows everything there is to know about the operations, and he’ll be happy to share.”
“That I’ll do. Take care, Tate. Miss Jones.”
They nodded, seeing that Rhys, Colin, and Tommy had left.
“They likely went home to avoid being caught up in all this,” Jonny said.
“I don’t blame them,” Ada said. “Besides, don’t you have a game in a couple of days?”
“That we do,” Jonny said. “The FA Cup, actually.”
“Already?” Ada said with a gasp. “I was so distracted by everything, I hadn’t even realized it was so soon.”
“It is,” Jonny said. “And if I let this distract me…”
“Rhys will have your hide.”
“Basically,” Jonny said with a laugh that warmed her to deep within her core, and she promised herself that she would do absolutely everything within her power to continue hearing that laugh as much as possible.
“Time to go home?” Jonny asked, and Ada nodded.
“Absolutely.”
They hadn’t made it far down the docks when Jonny stopped, turning toward her, his expression more uncertain than she had ever seen it before.
