The Locksmith by Linda Calvey (reading in the dark .TXT) 📕

He raised it to his lips and planted the softest kiss on her skin. Ruby shivered, feeling flustered and out of her depth.

Archie seemed to sense Ruby’s discomfort. He slowly lowered her hand and returned to his chair, giving her the space she needed.

His voice was huskier when he spoke. ‘When your bruvver gets back, I want to speak to him about puttin’ work his way.’

‘Oh we’re back to business, are we?’ Ruby’s eyebrow was arched this time. She started to collect up the plates but Archie stopped her.

‘I’ll do this, you sit and relax. Sorry, I’ll talk business with Bobby later,’ he called now from the kitchen where he began stacking the dishwasher.

‘Actually, it’s me ya need to speak to when it comes to makin’ a deal,’ Ruby said in the doorway. ‘Bobby does the work, I make the deals, that’s the arrangement.’

Archie stopped what he was doing and looked back at her. She could tell he was impressed.

‘You are most definitely not just a pretty face,’ he murmured, stepping towards her. The air seemed to still as Ruby looked into his eyes, and he got closer and closer. Archie put up his hand to stroke her face.

The door opened and Bobby walked in with George toddling beside him.

‘Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt,’ he said sheepishly.

Quick as a flame igniting, Archie dropped his hand and stepped back.

Ruby exhaled. Bobby looked between the pair of them as if there was electricity in the room.

‘You weren’t interruptin’,’ Ruby stammered, making Archie smile.

‘I was just tellin’ Ruby I want to put some work your way but she tells me I make the deals with her,’ he said.

Bobby grinned. ‘Yes, it’s Ruby who does the deals. That’s who the mastermind is.’

‘There’s a safe in a pub not far from ’ere. I want it emptied, and I’ve been told your brother Bobby is the man for the job.’

Ruby nodded.

‘Can ya do it?’

‘That all depends . . . if the price is right, and I check it out first,’ Ruby murmured. ‘Isn’t that right, Bobby?’

‘My Ruby likes to make sure everythin’ is kosher first. She won’t agree to a deal unless she can check it out first,’ he agreed.

Archie nodded.

‘All right. I’ll give ya the address. So what are your terms?’ He directed this to Ruby.

‘Half of whatever’s in that safe,’ she said, crossing her arms and staring straight back at him.

Archie rubbed his chin. He looked over at her. ‘It’s a deal, Ruby Murphy. How could I refuse ya?’

He held his hand out, this time to shake. She took it, feeling his skin against hers and she couldn’t help herself, she shivered. If Archie noticed he didn’t say anything. Instead, almost as an afterthought, he put his hands in his jacket pocket and drew out a distinctive blue Tiffany box.

‘For you,’ he winked, giving it to her and walking off to his car before Ruby could answer. Once the low throaty hum of the car had vanished, she opened it slowly. Inside was a bracelet strung with a neat row of diamonds. She held it, mesmerised, as the rocks glittered in the sunlight. Was this a promise of things to come?

CHAPTER 25

‘You know Archie wants you, don’t ya?’ Bobby said as they sipped their drinks in the Bermondsey pub they were casing.

Before Ruby could answer, the landlord, a man in his forties who was propping up the bar, laughed loudly. Heads turned to track the sound.

Ruby fidgeted. ‘What do you think of him? Would it be terrible if I did go out with him?’

Bobby took a swig of his pint.

‘Listen, Rube, I want ya to be happy. He seems a diamond geezer, and he’s respected by Charlie. At the end of the day, it’s your choice, sis.’

It was Ruby’s turn to sip her white wine.

She looked around. ‘We’ve got a job to do, and right now that’s more important than whether I fall for Archie Willson,’ she said, batting his words away.

Bobby arched his brow. ‘Not avoiding the subject, are we? All right, Rube. Let’s ’ave a proper look at this place.’

‘You know this job is so that Archie can see if he can trust us. We’ve not done a pub break-in for ages, but soon we’ll be doin’ bigger jobs than ever before. Charlie wants us to go big-time now he knows we do what we say we’ll do,’ Ruby said, her manner now businesslike.

Bobby nodded.

‘As your reputation grows, we’re going to have to stop casing joints ourselves. It won’t be good to be seen somewhere that gets done over a few days later. People will put two and two together—’

‘And make four,’ finished Bobby.

Ruby had ordered the drinks at the bar, and the landlord had openly eyed her up. They were becoming too visible, their reputation growing too steadily in the underworld, to risk casing joints for much longer.

‘Let’s do this and get home. George is only in nursery for the afternoon so we don’t ’ave loads of time. I’ll pop to the ladies’ and see if I can get an idea of the layout,’ Ruby said.

‘Be careful, Rube,’ said Bobby amiably, keeping one eye on her as she walked off to the toilets.

Ruby was in luck. The ladies’ was directly opposite a door that, when opened, led upstairs to the private flat above the pub.

Looking over her shoulder to reassure herself she couldn’t be seen, she slipped through the door and walked as slowly and quietly as she could up each step. Pausing at the top, she waited for a moment. There was no sound from any of the rooms. Ruby peered round the doorway into the first room, which seemed to be the landlord’s bedroom. It was messy with men’s clothes hung over the end of the bed, and a stale smell of sweat. Needs an airing, she thought, wrinkling her nose.

On she crept, to the next room, which was an even messier bathroom. It was obvious the landlord lived alone.