She forced herself not to glance back to see if she could spot Jackson among the other patrons.
Don’t fight your nerves.
She added her own advice to her racing thoughts:Don’t panic.
A convincing lie was most often the simplest.
“Hobbs ’ad a disagreement with a horse owner and got pinched by the magistrate ’fore he made it back to London,” she said. True, all of it.
Now came the lie.
Anna licked her lips, the prosthetic hair on her lip tickling her tongue. “Got word ta me ’fore he got taken away.” She sniffed and put her fist on the table, a show of determination she’d seen young men constantly display growing up. “Said if I done got word back ta ya, I’d get what blunt was promised fur me troubles.”
Mention of payment had the barkeep’s shoulders relaxing. A new glint was in the man’s squinty eyes: understanding. “Aye. You’ll get your payment. Soon as I get confirmation you know the code name.”
Suspicion, inflexibility, and more were in the man’s voice. He’d take nothing less than a grand show of a young man’s ego.
Anna risked discovery and raised her chin, sure to look the man in the eye when she said in a low voice, “The Printer.”
The barkeep dropped the posturing and grunted. “Wait here,” he said before he wound his way around the bar and disappeared down the hall that must have led to a back room.
Minding her balance, Anna leaned back to watch the man stop in front of a door along the hall.
The man’s hand vanished into an inner pocket... before producing a key to unlock the door. He opened the door and closed it behind him.
Only two reasons someone locked a door: to protect valuables.
Or secrets.
Anna’s head swam with sudden anticipation. She slid off the stool. With a quick glance at the rest of the tables to see no one paid her any attention, she ambled down the hall, hopefully appearing to anyone who glanced over like a drunk who’d taken a wrong turn looking for the back alley to relieve themselves.
Sure to keep her back against the wall to stay in the shadows, she came to the door and pressed two fingers near the latch.
The door was locked again.
This time from the inside.
There was a whisper of breath at her ear and a familiar smell of horses and spicy soap.
“Why did you leave the bartop?” Jackson whispered, his tone stiff. “We’ll be noticed here immediately. The plan was once you got payment, you left.”
“There was no payment,” she said. “Not only did he recognize that I wasn’t Hobbs, but after our exchange, the barkeep went straight here. To a room that islocked.”
Jackson understood immediately. Even in the shadows, his eyes were bright and focused on the wood beyond her shoulder. But he shook his head. “Tonight isn’t the right time to take a peek. Go back to the bar. If the keep comes back with the coins, then we know he bought whatever story you cooked up.”
Anna wouldn’t think about how his belief that she’d concocted a believable story warmed her insides. He still had a lot to answer for after this was all over. An assassin. What a wedding present! And here she’d expected embroidered cushions. The ego of the man. Herhusband. How dare he keep this business with the Home Office quiet. Would he truly have let her continue to believe the broken axle was an accident?
“Tonightis the perfect time,” she said. “What if he didn’t believe my story and is now warning whoever is back there to clean house?” Jackson’s attempts to hide how important wrangling up these criminals was had been ill at best. If the use of young children was any indication, this criminal ring needed to be stopped.
“What if this Printer character is here now?” she pressed. “Not but a few feet behind a locked door?” She raised a brow. “You know they’ve used the same lock that is on your front door, Duke?”
Jackson’s body stiffened. “No.”
She scowled. “You enjoy that word, don’t you?”
“If I’d known we’re to rob the place, I would have worn a darker jacket,” Roberts said, coming up behind Jackson. Not so much as a whisper of sound at his approach.
Jackson said without turning, “Anna believes the counterfeiting ring may be operating out of the back room here.”
