Gilbert hesitated—she could feel him weighing his options. But then, playing his part, he gave a slow, reluctant nod, looking for all the world like an obedient little brother.
But as he turned, Brown’s hand shot out, fingers clamping around Gilbert’s arm.
“You aren’t going anywhere.” The horrid man was relishing this.
Daisy’s stomach clenched, but her smile didn’t falter.
But inside? Inside, she was already planning how to rip these men apart.
“Unhand him!” Daisy demanded before a hand covered her mouth. With no onlookers to help, the two bobbies clumsily dragged Daisy and Gilbert back into the front room of her shop.
The instant the hand left Daisy’s mouth, she inhaled, intent on letting out a piercing scream. She didn’t get thechance, though, before pain exploded along the side of her face.
She barely registered the sound of the door slamming shut as she staggered, reeling from the blow.
“Daisy!” Gil’s cry made her chest go tight.
Her ears rang. Her cheek throbbed. But she still managed to meet her brother’s stare. He was ineffectively pulling against the officer’s hold.
“I’m fine,” she assured him.
Stay alert.
Officer Giles flexed his fingers like he was considering hitting her again, then grabbed her wrists instead. She didn’t fight him.For now.
“So, we’re offing her too?” he asked, tightening his hold.
Too???Oh, God. Did that mean Alastair was already… no. She refused to believe it.
Brown shrugged. “His Lordship said no witnesses. Nothing to lead the authorities back to him.”
A cold knot formed in her gut.
Officer Brown sighed, irritated. As if Daisy were nothing more than an inconvenience. “Let’s get away from the windows.”
“Right.”
Daisy and Gilbert were rudely shuffled back to the kitchen, away from the street. But being in her element meant she was not without options.
Her pulse pounded as she mentally considered possible weapons.
Cast iron pots. Knives. Boiling water.
She just had to wait for the right moment.
“Let’s deal with the boy first, eh. Then we can have a spot of fun with her.” The fiend’s breath blew hot on her neck. And although his nearness physically repulsed her, it didn’t matter.
“What do you mean, ‘deal with the boy’?” she demanded.
Above all, she would protect her brother.
“You’ll know soon enough,” Officer Brown responded in clipped tones.
“We’ll slit his throat—make it look like a burglary.” Her captor was glancing around. “But tie him to a chair first.”
“We should charge extra for two of ’em. His Lordship can afford it.” Officer Giles sounded almost gleeful.
Charge him extra.Daisy’s breath shuddered in her lungs. Gilbert, caught by the other corrupt policeman, was looking on with more than a hint of terror in his eyes.
