“I don’t blame either of you,” Kane reassured them. “But I’dappreciate if you could help me nail down who can be trusted and who can’t. I’m grateful to have men like you I can rely on. Men I don’t need to question. It doesn’t go unnoticed.”
Elijah blinked, while Adam simply appeared dumbstruck. It dawned on Kane that this was what he’d been missing. Ward had inspired fear, but he had also made you feel important, appreciated, even if that appreciation held the hint of a threat. By handing out tiny bits of praise, he made youwantto appease him. He made you feel like the tasks you carried out on his behalf meant something.
Kane was a natural at wielding fear; it was the predominant emotion he recalled feeling in Ward’s presence. But if he wanted to retain any sort of loyalty, he needed to give his men something in return. And maybe, in his case, the gratitude could be real.
“Spread what happened to Cleland, too,” Fletcher suggested, wrenching Kane from his epiphany. “I’ll do the same. Once people find out what happened to him and Ferrington, I don’t think they’ll be quick to attempt anything similar.”
“Maybe leave out the part where I got shot,” Kane said wryly. “Which brings me to the reason I summoned you here in the first place: Was anyone else charged with guarding my office over the past couple of weeks?”
The job was primarily Adam’s, but he was allowed to leave as long as he found someone to take his place. Adam’s brow furrowed. “If it wasn’t me, then it was Harvey Solomon. He was keen to volunteer. Said he wanted more responsibility around here, to prove to you that he could be trusted.”
Unfortunate. Harvey was only sixteen or so—he’d been the one to raise his hand during that initial meeting in which Kane had shot Yardley and Davies. The boy tended to keep a low profile, and Kane had admittedly never given much thought to where his allegianceslay. Harvey could well have been manipulated by someone like Cleland.
“Bring Harvey to me.” Kane settled back into his chair, hands folded on his chest. Each beat of his heart felt like someone was taking a hammer to his ribs. “Immediately.”
Adam ducked his head and slipped into the hall, Elijah on his heels. A beat of silence followed their departure before Fletcher spoke. “Do you really think it was Solomon? He’s hardly more than a kid.”
“I don’t know who else it could have been.”
Fletcher scrutinized Kane. “You going to kill him?”
“Of course not.” Kane snorted. “But I’m interested to hear his explanation.”
No sooner had he spoken then did Adam and Elijah reappear, dragging Harvey Solomon between them. They wore twin deadpan expressions, and the gangly, pale-haired youth looked small and resentful in comparison. Only his large blue eyes betrayed his fear.
“Thank you,” Kane told Adam and Elijah, never dragging his gaze from Harvey’s. “You can leave him.”
The moment they were gone, Kane interlaced his fingers on the desk. Fletcher cocked his head, donning his intimidating persona as he watched Harvey like a hungry animal. The boy was struggling to present as unruffled—this was obvious to Kane, who had been in the same position many times. Still, it looked as though a gentle push might send him toppling over.
“Harvey Solomon,” Kane said, drawing out the boy’s name. “Good to see you again. I hear you had a nice chat with Adam Cromwell the other day. One where you asked for more responsibility. I believe he gave you the job of guarding this very office, did he not?”
Harvey’s gaze darted from side to side; he seemed to be trying to look anywhere but at Kane or Fletcher. “Yes. That’s true.”
“I’ve always been rather amenable where you’re concerned, have I not? I’ve always been willing to give you a chance to prove yourself as a member of this crew.”
“I am grateful for that,” the boy muttered.
“Are you?”
“Yes.”
Kane made his voice even more saccharine. “Would you say you’ve been loyal to me, Harvey?”
Sweat had begun to bead on Harvey’s upper lip, and he sucked it into his mouth before answering. “I believe that I have.”
“Tell me: Do you take me for an idiot?”
The abrupt shift in Kane’s tone made Harvey flinch. The boy glanced to Fletcher and then away just as quickly, finding no support there. He was a cornered animal who had only now realized he was trapped. “I do not.”
“Thenwhy”—Kane stood, leaning across the desk to fix the boy with the full weight of his stare—“would you think it prudent to lie to my face?”
That was enough to quash Harvey’s last shred of resolve. He visibly crumpled, that sullen expression giving way to one of consternation.
“I didn’t want to do it, okay? I wanted to gain your respect! But then Cleland and Ferrington showed up, and… They made me second-guess everything. Said you weren’t going to be kingpin much longer, and if I wanted to stay alive once you were gone, I was better off aligning my loyalties with them. What was I supposed to do? It was me against the two of them. I didn’t have much of a choice. They were only in your office for all of five minutes, I swear it.”
None of this surprised Kane. He had long ago pinned Harvey Solomon as a coward. The boy had no doubt caved to Cleland even more easily than he’d described. “I need you to listen to this questionvery carefully, and be honest when you answer:Did they take anything else?”
“I didn’t know they took anything at all.” Harvey gave a rapid shake of his head, his breathing somewhat labored. “I mean, I suspected they had, but I don’t recall them carrying anything when they left.”
