“Go home, Miss Nightingale. In fact, all of you go home, and I will retrieve this woman with Mr. Forge.”
“No,” Ellen said, refusing to be impressed by the detective. He had a way about him that was steady and yet authoritative. He’d not raised his voice, but Barney Forge had capitulated. “We will come, and I will help Penny. You could be overpowered by this scum.”
“Exactly,” Leo said from beside Ellen. “We will all go with you, Detective Fletcher.”
The muscle in Grayson Fletcher’s jaw ticked. Clearly, he was not accustomed to having his orders disregarded.
“I do not need your help and have been dealing with this kind of scum, as you so eloquently put it, for years.”
“As you are alone, and he has his brothers here, we will stay with you,” Leo said. “Granted, they are just now waking up, but they could be offended at you taking their brother away.”
“These are his brothers?” the detective asked, nodding to the two men who were struggling to their feet.
Alex nodded.
“Then, if you will not leave, I suggest we move before they realize what is happening,” he said in a hard voice. “Lead the way, Mr. Forge.”
Ellen walked with her brothers and Mungo behind Barney Forge and the detective.
“He’s going to lecture us when this is over,” Leo said.
“I have that feeling too,” Alex added. “He’s bigger than you said and very authoritative.”
“I never mentioned his size,” Leo snapped.
“I’m sure you did, or perhaps that was Ellen.”
They walked on discussing the angry man in front of them, which she was sure he could hear.
Grayson Fletcher thought she should be home safe. Ellen would never simply sit and wait for life to come calling again, just as she would not wait for a man to offer her protection.
Her uncle and aunt had ensured she could always look after herself. They had shown Ellen how to be strong when for so long she’d simply known how to behave like a lady should and little else. It had been a revelation to know she could, in fact, take steps to keep herself safe if she needed to.
The place Barney Forge led them to was a small narrow building about a ten-minute walk from the Hope and Anchor. He then did something very foolish and tried to make a run for it.
Detective Fletcher stuck out his foot, and the man hit the ground hard. He then hauled him to his feet. Pulling a rope from his pocket, he tied his hands.
“Clearly trusting you was a mistake, Mr. Forge. I will not make the same one again.”
Ellen shivered at the cold tone.
“I bet he’s a right mean bastard when he wants to be,” Alex whispered.
“Open the door,” the detective said. Mungo did it without comment, which surprised the Nightingale siblings. He usually had an opinion on most things.
The hinges made a loud squeaking noise, which simply added more authenticity to the dark eerie night.
It was as cold inside as it had been out, and the thought of Penny Tompkins in here somewhere alone was terrifying. Ellen hoped they found her.
“Leo—”
“She’s here and so is the brooch.”
His tone did not brook questioning. He found things but never wanted to talk about why he had that skill.
“Where is she?” Detective Fletcher asked Barney Forge.
When he didn’t speak, the detective put his hand on the man’s shoulder and squeezed. Forge yelped.
