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

she could. Footfall echoed again when she reached the roof. Nat followed right after her. They lay flat, looking down at the alley. For a while they saw nothing, nor did they hear any more footsteps. Had the rat-catcher and the madam’s men changed their mind? Anouk allowed a soft sigh of relief to escape her lips. Maybe it was a false alarm, just someone who needed to pee. After all, the alley seemed to be one big urinal, based on the sharp stink.

No, the steps echoed again. This time more softly and advancing further into the alley. Anouk lowered her head. They should be fine as long as they didn’t make any noise. A shaft of light flickered in the alley. Anouk frowned. Had Madam Valeria sent only one person to look for them? It scanned the surface of the cobblestones as if looking for something. Anouk narrowed her eyes. Or was he the murderer or his servant? Darkening evening made it impossible to see who the person was, but the figure against the moving light looked slight. A woman? Or young boy? One thing was sure, he or she wasn’t there for Anouk and Nat, but for the cufflink.

If the cufflink indeed belonged to the murderer, the bastard had sent his servant to remove the evidence. Didn’t have the balls to do it himself. Typical rich asshole.

Nat whispered into her ear. “Either a child or a woman.”

“A servant?” Anouk whispered back.

“Most likely. I’ll capture her. Watch my back.” Nat turned to crawl to the ladder, but Anouk grabbed his hand. “What?”

Anouk hesitated. “Supposing she has a gun or something? She might not be that harmless.”

“That’s why I asked you to watch my back. We can’t let her escape before we have spoken to her. She might know something about the murder.”

“Alright, but be careful,” Anouk whispered before letting go of Nat’s hand.

She pulled her Phines. This was it. The time to test her guts to use it but she wasn’t happy about it. She directed the shaking barrel towards the moving figure.

Nat climbed down. He made no sound but something alerted the figure to his presence.

The woman, for it was not a child after all, dropped to her knees before jumping up again. She spun and threw something at Nat. He dodged aside, evading the missile. A hollow clank echoed from the walls—a stone. Nat darted after the figure who ran towards the mouth of the alley.

Anouk hesitated. Should she shoot in front of the person to stop her? Or at least slow her down so Nat would catch her before she vanished to Roister Street?

Before Anouk had decided her course of action, Nat caught the escapee. The figure screamed. She kicked and clawed Nat, putting up a fierce fight. She didn’t seem to have any weapons unless nails counted as such.

Anouk hurried down. The woman’s screams echoed in the alley. Shit, she would alert the whole of Roister Street.

When Anouk reached Nat, he had the woman’s arm twisted behind her back in a tight restraining lock and had her pressed against the wall. She was still struggling, trying to free herself from Nat’s grip, but at least she was no longer screaming.

“Let go of me,” the woman snarled.

Anouk lifted an eyebrow. Her voice sounded vaguely familiar. Where had she heard it before? Nat took his torch and handed it to Anouk.

“Would you be so kind and show us some light?”

“Certainly.” Anouk switched the light on. The beam revealed the round face of a young woman with sky-blue eyes. Streaks of blonde hair had escaped from under her cap. She was the same woman who had called to them from the window when Anouk and Nat had visited Madam Valeria for the second time.

Chapter 20

“Lila,” Nat said, a mixture of surprise and hardness in his tone. “What are you doing here and what were you looking for?”

Lila squinted and blinked her bloodshot sky-blue eyes under the light of the torch. She wore a dark men’s suit, buttoned all the way up to her small chin. Modest and conservative were the words that came to Anouk’s mind.

“Same as you, Nat,” Lila said, defiance restating in her words.

“How do you know what we were looking for?”

Lila hesitated for a moment. “You’re bounty hunters.”

“So?”

Had Madam Valeria sent her to spy on them? Anouk narrowed her eyes, studying the girl’s childlike face. No, that didn’t make any sense. How would the madam even know she and Nat were there? Unless the rat-catcher had told her. But he didn’t know who they were and their facial features were covered.

Lila dropped her chin to her chest, tears glinting on her cheeks. “This is where Mr London murdered Shannah. But he lost something valuable here or so I heard. A golden cufflink, I think it was. Anyway, I hoped to find it and blackmail him and Madam Valeria.”

“Mr London?”

Lila nodded, her head hanging. “Stalo De Meriweth’s alias. He demands everyone call him by that name, but I know who he is. I’ve seen the wanted posters.”

Anouk and Nat exchanged looks. A shudder ran through Anouk. He had adopted the name of her hometown. How… perverted! More importantly, the information confirmed Amanda’s lead; Stalo and Madam Valeria were working together.

“Where’s Stalo staying at the moment?” Nat asked.

“In the brothel as Madam Valeria’s guest.” Lila twisted her head further towards Nat. “Nat, please let go of me. I’m losing the feeling in my hand. I’ll tell you all I know. I want that bastard caught and hanged for what he did to Shannah.”

Nat stepped aside but stayed within arm’s length. Lila rubbed her shoulder and wrist before she turned to face them, wiping her tears.

“Mr London… Lord De Meriweth came three or four days ago. He wanted to see Madam Valeria. A business proposition the madam couldn’t pass up, he said. He claimed to have this device that allows him to travel back and forth between worlds.” Lila paused and looked at Anouk, her eyes reflecting