“I am looking for a boy who walks with walking sticks, Nix. Miss Knight’s brother. He has been abducted.”
“Walking sticks, you say?” the informant asked, his eyes going left and right.
“Yes,” Ruby whispered.
“Was down at the Anchor earlier, and Mary, one of the girls who works there, said there was more trouble afoot on theGodfrey.”
“What kind of trouble, Nix?”
“Well now, that’s the thing, Mr. Howarth. Seems yelling was heard, which is not unusual at the docks, but this was a young boy demanding he be released.”
“Did anyone see the boy?”
“No. But Sally saw someone walk on board with a wriggling sack over his shoulder. Behind him came another man carrying what looked to her like crutches.”
“You need to find Mr. Deville and Mr. Zachariel Deville, Nix, and send them to the docks.” He gave the location he’d dropped his cousins at.
The man nodded and hurried away after Forrest pushed some notes at him.
“Let’s go.” Towing Ruby behind him once again, he ran out onto the street. Hailing a hackney, he told the driver he wanted to go to the docks.
“I will kill them if they have hurt him.” The eyes she turned on him were now filled with rage. He liked it better than the fear. Her hands were clenched into fists on her thighs.
“There is no point in them hurting him. They just want to scare you into submission. My guess is they will return him soon.”
“But surely they know I would have looked for him and had others helping me.”
“Yes, but I doubt you would have found him. They know that. Know that by the time he was returned to you, you would have been hysterical.”
“I am rarely hysterical.”
“You take my point. They do not know that we are involved, Ruby. I believe they would have returned Adam, and then approached with what they wanted next, knowing that you would be cowed by how easy it was to take your brother.”
“I would have done anything.”
He turned her chin to face him. “We will get through this, and you will both be safe. I will ensure it is so.”
Their eyes held, and he knew she felt what he did. It was there in the blue-gray depths for him to see. She was aware of him.
“After this is done with, we are going to talk, you and I.”
She nodded but did not speak again. Just clutched his hand until the carriage stopped.
CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE
She was ice-cold with fear. Adam, her little brother, the boy she loved so much, had been taken from her by someone. She knew it had to be that man. He was showing her that he could hurt the person she loved the most if she did not do as he said, like Mr. Howarth had said.
Forrest Howarth still held her hand inside his big one, and she wanted to be tethered to him. Wanted to know she was not alone in this. Ruby didn’t know why he was doing this for her, or what he’d meant when he said they needed to talk, but she didn’t in that moment care.
She was not alone in the search for her brother.
Her hand was the only part that was warm on her body. The big, strong man at her side had told her to trust him. Told her that he would get her brother back. She had to believe him.
The hackney stopped, and they stepped down. Mr. Howarth paid the driver, and Ruby saw they were still a good distance back from the docks.
“Why are we not going closer?”
“I want no one to recognize us.” He looked at the sky. “It will be dark soon, and we will have cover. This is going to be dangerous, Ruby. I must insist you follow my lead.”
