“The necklace wouldn’t have arrived on one of Saville’s boats, though,” Fletcher muttered thoughtfully. “It was coming from Ireland, right? Courtesy of George Waterhouse and Co.”
Kane inclined his head. “Saville’s company employees would have dealt with it when it arrived. They would have decided where it should dock.” He swallowed an impatient sigh. “Maybe we should have gotten hired on here. I figured Saville’s personal crew would know more than the dockers. That we might be able to track down some kind of ledger. But…”
“You couldn’t have known,” Fletcher said. “It was a good idea. I doubt the dockers know anything about which ships are carrying what exhibits. Besides, people are clamoring for these jobs, and they’re picked at random. You can’t con your way in.”
Kane sighed. Those had been his exact words when he’d convinced Fletcher they were better off conning their way into Saville’s inner circle. And even now, when it seemed he’d made the wrong choice, Fletcher still supported him without question. What had Kane done to deserve such undying loyalty?
He knew the answer: He hadn’t done anything. Other than condemn his friend to a lifetime of servitude.
“Ward has never wanted something this much,” Kane said darkly as they continued down the docks. “At least not that I can remember. I’m afraid of what he’ll do if we fail.”
There. He’d said it.
Fletcher cast him a sideways glance. “You’re important to Ward. Everybody knows that.” He elbowed Kane lightly in the ribs. “That’s why I hang around you. For the safety.”
Kane felt as though someone had injected ice directly into his bloodstream. He forced a painful grin, unable to bring himself to respond.
A number of ships had been anchored away from the main docks, some of them bearing words Kane didn’t recognize. Partially due to impatience—and partially because he couldn’t bear to continue theconversation he and Fletcher were currently having—he grabbed the arm of a young docker walking past.
The boy started. He couldn’t have been more than twelve, Kane saw now, with a shock of reddish hair and dirty cheeks. When he cursed, though, it was with the vocabulary of someone far older.
“Calm down,” Kane barked, trapping the boy between himself and Fletcher. “I only want to ask you something. And I’m not going to hurt you,” he added, “so relax. Do you know if any of these ships came from Ireland?”
“It’s important.” Fletcher’s arms were crossed, his face damp from the misty wind and the river spray. The boy shied away from his towering form, a seemingly automatic reaction.
“I—I don’t know,” he said. “It’s busy round here as of late. There might’ve been such a ship, though. If there was, I ain’t telling you for free.”
Kane made a noise in his throat. “Fair enough. Here’s my offer: You answer the question, andhedoesn’t chuck you in the river.” He tilted his head at Fletcher, who was stone-faced.
The boy blanched, then glowered. “Blazes, fine! That one at the end arrived this morn. Some of the older guys were saying it had come from round those parts. That it was full of expensive shit. A bunch of fancy-dressed toffs and coppers came by as it was being unloaded. I stayed back, mind you; father tells me not to trust men like that. That’s all I know.”
Kane’s stomach plummeted. Could that have been the Irish ship transporting the Waterhouse exhibit? He hoped not, given that everything on board had apparently already been moved. With his luck, though, he wouldn’t be surprised.
“That might well be it,” Fletcher said, echoing Kane’s thoughts. He peered in the direction the boy had gestured, easily able to seeover the heads of everyone else in the vicinity. “It’s certainly a fancy enough vessel. I think we might be in trouble, Kane.”
Kane roared his frustration into the wind, spurring the boy to run like hell. Panic and helplessness rendered him speechless for a moment, and he yearned to hit something as he dragged his hands through his hair, yanking at the roots. Everything they’d done up until now had been to avoid this very outcome, and it had all been for naught.
“We’re going to have to steal the blasted necklace from the Exhibition, Fletch.” To Kane’s horror, his voice held a quaver.
“Okay,” Fletcher said, staring out over the fog-shrouded river. The set of his mouth was determined. “Okay, that’s not ideal, but it’s fine. We’ll make it work. You always have a plan, right?”
A laugh bubbled like hysteria in the back of Kane’s throat. Yes, he did tend to have a plan, but this wasn’t supposed to be happening. He wasn’t supposed toneeda backup plan. Sure, he’d spent sleepless nights imagining how he might steal from the Exhibition if it came down to that, but those had been stress-induced exercises in futility.
He forced himself to take a steadying breath. Fletcher’s life was on the line. And just as they’d said a hundred times before, there was nothing the two of them couldn’t steal.
“Yeah,” Kane said, even as his stomach continued to churn. “Yeah, Fletch. I’ve got a plan.”
KANE
THE FIRST TIMEKANE SAWWARD, HE’D BEEN CRYING.
Kane, that is. Not Ward. Maria and Cristian Durante had been yelling at each other in irate Italian and had ushered Kane from the room and slammed the door, so he’d been forced to listen to their voices from behind a wooden barrier. It hadn’t made much of a difference, though Kane could no longer remember what they’d been arguing about. He only knew it had frightened him. His mother, too, had been frightened—he could hear it in her voice. And so he’d stuffed his fingers in his ears and cried, even knowing his father would say he was too old to be doing such a thing.
That was when the silhouette of a young man appeared in the hall. For a heartbeat, Kane had thought the man was a specter; no one had knocked on the door, and certainly no one else shared their apartment. The man must have seen Kane’s fear, because he’d put a finger to his lips, which had turned up in a smile. His eyes were toolight a brown—almost yellow—and when he spoke, his soft voice was audible even over the yelling.
“Don’t be afraid. What’s your name?”
Canziano, Kane must have said, though the only part of the conversation he remembered clearly was the part that came next.
