At that moment, a soft knock sounded on the door.
“Come in,” Kane said, not breaking eye contact with Jules. He knew it would be Tom before the man spoke.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Tom said haltingly. He wore a frown, attention flicking back and forth between Kane and Jules as he discerned the situation. “Er—I’d come back, but someone is here to see you. He said it wasn’t prearranged, but he’s quite adamant that the two of you meet at once.”
Kane let the dart gun fall back into the drawer with a clatter. “By all means, send him up. And Tommy, make sure Julian finds his way to Adam and Elijah, would you? They’re to visit a chap at the docks who’s long overdue for some trouble.”
“Indeed.” Tom held the door open wider, indicating that Jules should exit first. Jules complied, although not before shooting Kane a final glance of resentment. Kane’s only response was a tight-lipped smile.
He leaned back in his chair as the door slammed shut, releasing a long breath. A skull peered at him from the cabinet of curiosities, its infinite black sockets a horribly apt representation of how he felt at present. Hollow and lifeless, confined by delicate panes of glass, collecting dust. He hated it, the way Jules had looked at him. It was true—a kingpin won respect with threats and violence. They gained loyalty by providing protection, but that came second, not first. A weak leader was a dead one. And if Kane wasn’tthis, what else was left for him?
With that thought, he straightened his spine, barking an order for whoever had just knocked a second time to enter.
No part of him was prepared for the man that appeared.
“Hunt,” said Richard Price Senior, letting the door latch shut behind him. “It’s been a while.”
Although Kane had seen the inspector’s son recently—when theyoung man jeopardized his plan to steal from the Crystal Palace, in fact—he was less familiar with the more esteemed of the two Prices. He might not have known the two were related at all; Price Senior was gray where his son was dark-haired, with a square jaw and a mustache like a wire brush. He was tall and broad where Price Junior was slight, and his eyes were a generic shade of blue with an oddly vacant quality. Kane had met with him on Ward’s behalf a few times and didn’t recall it being a particularly pleasant experience.
He rose from the desk to grasp Price’s fingers firmly. “Inspector. It has indeed. Please, call me Durante—I see no point in keeping up the charade. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
What Kane really wanted to ask wasHow did you know where to find me?Given recent events, he didn’t trust either of the Price men as far as he could throw them. But he arranged his expression into one of cool calm, determined not to show how the inspector’s appearance had rattled him.
Price ignored the question. “I’ll admit, I didn’t think to see you stepping up as the new kingpin.”
“Were you expecting someone else to take Ward’s place?”
“Not necessarily, though I suppose I hadn’t given it much consideration. If you’d asked me, I wouldn’t have thought we’d see the end of Alexander Ward so soon.” Price gave a somber shake of his head. It was impossible to tell whether the emotion was sincere. “And a fire, at that? A freak accident? I would have thought Ward too clever, too careful, to be taken out that way. That man planned for every outcome.”
“I’d argue that’s theonlyway someone like Ward could have been killed.” Kane forced the bite from his voice, interlacing his fingers as he relaxed back into his chair. He gestured at the seat across from him. “It could only have been an accident. Anything else, and he would have seen it coming.”
Price sat, tilting his head. “A fair point. I expect he taught you to think the same way.”
“Ward taught me everything I know.”
“Bled the humanity right out of you, did he?”
“I’m sure there are some who would say as much.”
“And you?”
“I’d say it remains to be seen.” Kane let that sit between them for a moment before straightening. “I’m in the role whether you like it or not, Inspector, and I can guess why you’re here. So tell me: Is the agreement you had with Ward going to continue, or are we going to have a problem on our hands?”
Price’s laugh was curt. “You’re bold, I’ll give you that. I know what you did, and how you made a fool of my son in the process.”
If he hoped the admission would catch Kane off guard, he was about to be disappointed. Kane was no fool—he’d known there was no possible outcome in which the inspector didn’t learn what had happened at the Exhibition. After all, he was Ward’s link to the Metropolitan Police, andsomeonehad delivered the information about the planned heist to his son. When Junior cornered Kane at the Crystal Palace, the young sergeant had thrown Ward’s lack of trust in his face. But it wasn’t Kane whom Ward hadn’t trusted—it was Zaria.
And he’d been fucking right.
“Your son made a fool of himself,” Kane said. “He’s almost too easy to manipulate. A shame he didn’t inherit his father’s cunning.”
Price wasn’t appeased. “Youshothim.”
“With aleuite ammunition. He wasn’t seriously harmed.” Besides, Kane wasn’t the one who’d pulled the trigger. That had been Zaria, brandishing the weapon she’d created to incapacitate anyone who got in their way. A good thing, too: This meeting would be a hell ofa lot less pleasant if they’d killed the inspector’s son. The fact that Junior had blamed Kane, though, was interesting. Perhaps the miserable bastard hadn’t wanted to admit he’d been shot by a woman.
Kane should have sold Zaria out right then and there. He should have, and yet it felt like the sort of petty snitching a child would do. Better to let Price think everything had gone according to plan.
“When you make my son look foolish, you makemelook foolish,” Price snapped. “I don’t appreciate that. Then there are the Irish exhibitors to contend with—they’re furious about the theft from their exhibit. You really couldn’t have chosen something a little less conspicuous to steal?”
