“You’ve had men watching me.” Julius breathed out through his nose, trying to keep his temper in check. His friends were only trying to help.
He wanted to plant his fist in their faces.
Sutton stepped forward. “Gentlemen, it’s cold and wet, and I have a book I’d like to finish tonight. Not”—he narrowed his eyes at Julius—“Pride and Prejudice. Can we leave off the bickering and search the office?”
“Fine.” Julius gritted his teeth.
Dunkeld merely grunted.
Picking a piece of paper off the floor, Summerset held it between the tips of two fingers. “What, exactly, are we looking for? A signed confession from the ring leader?”
“How droll.” Dunkeld walked past, bumping his shoulder into Summerset’s.
“And this is blank.” Holding it up to the light, Summerset flipped the paper over. “A lot of the papers on the floor are blank.” He rubbed his fingers together. “And oily.”
Sutton scanned the paper in his hand. “And this looks like racing scores. From eight years ago.”
Julius poked his tongue into his cheek. Grabbing a handful of papers, he examined them. “I don’t even know what these are. They read like a diary.”
“Ooh, anything naughty?” Summerset peeked over his shoulder.
“Will you grow up?” Dunkeld slowly turned in the center of the room. “What is going on here?”
The door rattled in its frame. Julius rushed to the exit and depressed the handle. It didn’t open. He threw his shoulder into it. A harsh chuckle came through the door, followed by several loud bangs.
“Allow me.” Dunkeld pulled him aside and kicked the door with a leg the size of a tree trunk. The wood vibrated but remained shut. He kicked it a few more times. “They must have barricaded it with a boulder.”
“Or you’re not as strong as you think you are,” Summerset said.
“Can the two of you please shut up?” Sweat rolled down his back, and Julius’s shirt clung to his skin. They were trapped. His pulse pounded in his ears, and he didn’t hear if anyone responded.
Striding to one of the boarded-over windows, Julius pulled open the pane. He tested the strength of the planks nailed to the outside wall. There was no give. He pounded his fist against the wood. Whoever had closed up the window had the skill of a carpenter.
“Shh. Everyone be quiet.” Sutton pressed his ear against the door. They all listened to the slight creaks on the porch, the hushed whispers. Something hissed, sounding like a colossus sucking in a deep breath.
“Fuck.” Clenching his fists, Sutton backed up. “Everyone get away from the walls. They’ve set the building on fire.”
“That would explain the oil poured over the floor.” Summerset strode to the corner of the room, his heels clicking on the wood planks. He picked up a rickety chair, tossed it aside. “The papers and furniture make nice kindling.”
Smoke coiled under the edge of the door. It snaked a leisurely path around a stack of papers before drifting towards the ceiling.
“Ideas anyone?” Sutton felt the side wall, and shook his head. “The fire’s been set on multiple sides.”
Dunkeld propped his foot on the desk and unsheathed a large knife from inside his boot.“I’ll work on a window.”
Sutton nodded at Summerset. “Help me with the desk.” They each picked up a side and used it as a battering ram on the door. Sutton yelled over his shoulder, “How’d they know we’d be here?”
Julius ran a hand through his hair, his gaze darting around the small room. The smoke was becoming thicker, scratching his throat, and the walls seemed to sway ever closer. He needed to focus. “They didn’t. Or not us in particular. They know Liverpool’s men are searching all the offices. I think they picked one that would make a good trap and waited. We just happened to be the lucky bastards who walked in.” But would they ever walk out?
Dunkeld was chiseling at the edge of the window where board met wall. Sutton and Summerset had found a rhythm trying to pummel down the door. And Julius was standing like a lackwit in the middle of the room.
He needed to help his friends, get out of here, and get back to Amanda.
And he had nothing.
The blade snapped in Dunkeld’s grip. Coughing, he kept his fist wrapped around the handle and punched at the boards.
Julius covered his mouth and nose with the elbow of his sleeve. His eyes watered. He stumbled forward, thinking to help at the door, and tripped over a chair. The back snapped off. Julius blinked down at it, an idea forming.
