Scupper plummeted, landing like a big cat at her back. In one swift movement, he slung his arm around her chest, pulling her against him, the flash of a blade at her throat.
A rabid filly couldn’t have looked more feral than the woman’s wide eyes and flaring nostrils. To her credit, though, she didn’t cry out.
Brudge grinned. “And you know nothing about me, missy. I will have that flying lion, and I will have it now. Where is it?”
“I cannot speak,” she ground out, voice raspy, “with a knife to my throat.”
He glanced past her to Scupper. “Let her go, but don’t let her get away.”
“Ye sure, guv’ner?” The big oaf’s curled moustache twitched. “Me mum used to say better a loaf o’ bread on the table than a feast in the clouds.”
Brudge spit out a curse. “I’ve had enough of your mother’s blabberings. Do it!”
Scupper immediately loosened his hold, stepping back a pace, knife yet at the ready.
The woman gasped for air as she brushed herself off, ruffled as a peahen, then lifted her nose in the air. “The griffin is locked safely away, Mr. Brudge. Out of your hands and mine. I came here to tell the fictitious Mr. Khafra as much.”
“Claptrap! I don’t believe a word of it.”
“Neither do I believe that even if I had the relic with me, you’d have enough money to purchase it. So it appears we are at a stalemate. I suggest we all walk away disappointed and call it an evening.”
“Hah!” he barked. “You underestimate the lengths I am willing to go to get my hands on that moneymaker.”
“Then you will have to deal with Mr. Price, not me. He’s the only one with the combination to the safe.” Her lips flattened into a smug line.
Blast it all! This was not going the way he’d so carefully planned. He rubbed at the ache in his hip, yet another part of his body gone wrong from all the limping over the past fortnight. What to do? How to salvage this?
Wait. Why take on the work of it himself?
“You’re a crafty woman.” He aimed his finger at her. “Find a way to wheedle that statue out of Price, then send word to Dandrae.”
“It won’t work. Mr. Price is a man accustomed to having his own way. No amount of cajoling from me will part him from the griffin, for his mind is set on owning it. I only came here tonight to encourage Mr. Khafra to come to Price House and make Mr. Price an offer. Too bad he wasn’t a real man. Now then, if anything should happen to me as I walk out of here”—her gaze snapped to Scupper, then back to him—“Mr. Dandrae will hear about it. He doesn’t take kindly to any sort of violence during transactions. Your hired gorilla may be able to overpower me, but neither of you can stand against the forcesof Mr. Dandrae. He plays by Jamaican rules, not English. And so once again, I bid you good night, gentlemen.”
She whirled, the slap of her hem hitting Scupper’s shins.
Saucy wench. Brudge raised his fist, shaking with rage. “This isn’t over, missy. You hear me? This is not over!”
22
Setting down his pen, Edmund leaned back in his chair. Late morning light filtered into the study, exposing dust motes hovering in the air. Most of the staff had recovered from the bout of influenza, but not all ... and when they did, he’d request a thorough cleaning of Price House.
His gaze drifted back to the words he’d scrawled on the notepad.
What soft lite doth brake be-ond,
At donning, a yonning, a yell-oh howr,
In yor eyes, my wurld’s reborn,
New promis, new luv, for-ever sworn.
He smiled. This was nearly as dramatic as the Egyptian story Ami had written. Had her tale influenced his thoughts? But no. He sucked in a breath.Shehad influenced him. She filled every crack and crevice of his mind, and this poem—God help him—was not only about her, it was for her.
He grabbed the pen and slashed a thick black line through the words. There wasn’t a chance in all creation he’d ever go through that sort of humiliation again.
A knock rapped on the frame of his open door. Professor Dalton peeked in his head, his explosion of grey hair looking as if he’d just been struck by lightning. “I wonder if I might have a word, Mr. Price? Shouldn’t take long.”
“Absolutely. Come in.” He rose slightly, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. “I was going over the tally from yesterday. It’s quite impressive.”
