The Gadget: The Rondon Chronicles Book One by V. Timlin (speed reading book .TXT) 📕

darkness. When she reached the bottom, she was standing almost knee deep in sludge. Her stomach protested the smell and the idea she was standing in human waste. She drew deep breaths through her mouth, trying to calm her rebelling innards.

Scraping metal echoed down from the manhole, cutting off the last source of light. Utter blackness surrounded her, and she became more aware of where she was and what microscopic horrors swam among the water—she gagged.

Nat appeared at her side and switched on a torch. “They are coming this way. Better put out some distance in case they decide to look here.”

The shaft of light revealed a domed tiled tunnel. Nat’s top hat scratched the ceiling when he pushed his way forward through brown liquid. The sight of floating waste confirmed to Anouk she was in liquid shit. Her stomach flipped and she threw up.

“Sorry,” she whispered to Nat, who looked over his shoulder. The darkness hid his face. She was grateful for not being able to read his expression. This wasn’t her grandest moment.

The hollow sound of metal grating stones came from above. Nat switched the torch off. He put his hand on Anouk’s shoulder and whispered next to her ear, “Don’t move, don’t make a sound.”

Anouk nodded, although in the darkness Nat wouldn’t see it. He kept his hand on her shoulder. His action comforted her and helped her keep her wits.

Over her pounding heart and the gurgle of the wastewater, she listened to the men debate above. The echoing walls of the sewer blurred the words, but by the tone she guessed they were arguing if they should climb down to check for their targets or not. A beam of light scanned the small area just behind them. They stood downstream, and water flowed undisturbed, concealing their presence—unless, of course, the men climbed down or either of them made a sound like a sneeze. Thinking of sneezing, Anouk’s nose started to tickle. Oh shit… She pinched her nostrils, trying to subdue the growing pressure inside her nose.

The shaft of light disappeared and the scraping sound came above again. Anouk couldn’t have held it a second longer. A soft sneeze bounced from the brick walls like a drop of water hitting hot stones.

Nat turned the torch on. “Let’s go.” He proceeded to head deeper into the sewer.

Anouk had hoped that they would wait for a while and climb back up to the street level. “We’re not going back up?”

“Yes, we are, but not in The Pits.”

Anouk’s shoulders slumped but knew it made sense. Captain Biddulph and his men were searching for them there. “You know where this leads?”

“Aye, to Oxbridge Street.”

They waded downstream in silence, Nat leading the way. He chose the tunnels at each intersection with such certainty, Anouk was convinced this wasn’t his first trip through these sewers.

She played the events in her mind over and over again. The way Nat lost his cool when seeing Captain Biddulph and pursued him with such recklessness was worrying, to say the least. He had some explaining to do whether he liked it or not.

“Nat, I know you don’t like to talk about your past, and I respect that. But because of what just happened back there…” she pointed towards the tunnel ceiling, “…I need to know who Captain Biddulph is.”

Nat turned to face Anouk, his expression guarded. He looked at her for a long moment. Debating the bare minimum he would have to tell?

“You don’t need to go into details if you don’t want to, but, please, tell me who he is.”

“He was… is Stalo’s right hand.”

A cold shiver ran down Anouk’s spine. Yes, that was the bare minimum in words, but just a picture can tell a thousand words, and this one statement had the same effect. She nodded. “That’s all I need to know.”

Relief replaced the wariness in Nat’s face. “I won’t act as rashly the next time. I promise.”

“I hope not. You almost got yourself killed.” Anouk forced a smile on her face. “That’s rude, you know.”

“Aye.” Nat placed his hand on her shoulder and his expression softened. “Thank you for not being as reckless, and for throwing that stone at the captain. That distracted them enough so I could drop the smoke bomb.”

That was the most comradely gesture there was. A surge of disappointment flashed through Anouk. “Well, someone has to be the rational one here,” she grumbled. “And I was actually aiming at the other guy with the gun, but never mind. Let’s get moving. As fun as standing knee-deep in shit is, I want to get back up.”

Nat chuckled and resumed wading. Anouk followed, mentally kicking herself. What did she expect? Nat thanking her for saving his life with a hot passionate kiss? She suppressed a snort. There were more important issues, damn it. She cleared her throat. “Wonder what Biddulph and his men were doing in The Pits. Recruiting more men?”

“That and gathering information,” Nat said, his voice neutral.

Anouk’s mind lurched and she gulped. “Do you think Rose might be in danger? I mean, she said she’d ask for us about those men at the harbour? I’ll never forgive myself if we’ve put her at risk.”

“Look, I know it sounds cold, but sometimes you have to let those kind of thoughts go. They only slow you down. I promise, we’re going to check on her as soon as we can, but we can’t let worrying control our actions. You have to trust that Rose knows what she’s doing.”

“Helping her husband was a different matter.”

“Aye, but there was nothing in her message that hinted she’s in trouble. We’ll go back again when it’s dark. I’ll send a message to Rose. But before that, let’s do some shopping. We need to be prepared, nevertheless.”

“What? Now?”

“Yes, now.”

“But we can’t,” Anouk exclaimed.

Nat looked over his shoulder. “Why not? It’ll be dark soon.”

“Because we stink, that’s why.”

“Amanda won’t mind.”

“Wanna bet?”

Nat chuckled again. “We’ll be there soon.”

* * *

Amanda’s Emporium was closed.

“We missed the opening hours.” Anouk