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

end of a long hall. After a moment, Lila’s pale face peeked from behind it.

“Shh… The girls just fell asleep,” she whispered and moved aside, letting Nat and Anouk enter. The little girls had curled under the duvet. Their faces were clean and they looked innocent in their slumber.

“How are they taking it?” Anouk asked Lila.

Lila looked at the sleeping girls. “They are doing fine under the circumstances, but they miss their mother. And all the commotion upset them, so I gave them something to help them sleep.”

Nat squeezed the woman’s shoulder. “You did a kindly action, Lila. We’re due to meet up with their mother soon and if she turns up, we’ll let her know her girls are here. So could I ask you to take care of the girls in the meanwhile?”

“It’s no problem, I’m happy to.” Lila glanced again at the sleeping Valintina and Danja. Her soft smile made Anouk wonder if she dreamed of having children of her own someday.

“Thank you, Lila. Let’s go outside to talk.” Nat waved at the door.

As soon as they were back in the hall, he asked, “Do you have any idea where Stalo and Biddulph might have escaped to? Maybe you heard a snippet of conversation or something about a place or a person, perhaps his brother.”

Lila shook her head with a remorseful expression on her face. “I wish I could. They really didn’t confide in us. To be honest, I’m not even sure how much they told Madam Valeria.”

“Alright. Well, thank you for your help.” Nat was wearing that unreadable mask again, that could only mean he didn’t like something he had heard… or something he hadn’t heard, like Stalo’s next hiding place. Anouk made a mental note to ask which when they were alone again.

She turned to Lila. “What are you going to do now? Madam Valeria has been arrested and will be sent to jail.”

“Well, we have to talk and decide how we are going to run this place.”

Anouk’s jaw dropped. “You’ll stay here?”

Lila lifted an eyebrow. “Of course. This is a good business and we enjoy our work.”

“Oh! Well… good luck.” Anouk rubbed her neck. It wasn’t her place to question someone else’s career choices.

“You might want to hurry,” Nat said to Lila. “Chief Constable Loka will take an action to get this place closed as soon as Madam Valeria is shipped to the constabulary.”

A mischievous grin spread on Lila’s face. “Well, he can try, but he will find out soon nothing has changed.”

Anouk opened her mouth to ask Lila what she meant, but Nat intervened, “That’s what I thought, but now, Anouk, we need to find Vari and Fitzwil. Then seek Rose.” Nat took Lila’s hand and brought it close to his lips. “Thank you again for your help, and good luck.”

“It’s nothing. Just get the bastards.” Lila laughed and turned to address Anouk, her expression sobering. “I’m so very sorry I couldn’t warn you about Stalo being with Madam Valeria when you went to see her. I learned it after you had already gone in.”

Anouk squeezed Lila’s hand and smiled. “Maybe it was for the best. It most likely would have ended worse than it did. Especially since Mr Sunshine was involved as well.”

“Who?”

“Ah, Jasper.”

Lila gave a snort of a laughter. “Mr Sunshine. Well, that he certainly is.”

Nat and Anouk left the brothel, leaving Lila and her colleagues to discuss their future. Whoever took over the business, Anouk hoped they would do a better job than their predecessor at taking care of the employees, especially when dealing with former warlords gone rogue.

After the perfume-saturated air inside, the cool night with faint odours of urine, horse manure and coal were strangely welcoming. It was closing on midnight, and the street should have been busy, only it was far from it. Roister Street was almost empty save a few carriages and a dark cat.

“Seems like the enforcers have arrested everyone,” Anouk said. “Wonder if they have enough room in their cells.”

“They have most likely scared off the people.”

The clip-clop of hooves echoed from the distance.

Anouk craned her neck towards the sound. “Well, not everyone.”

“That’s Vari and Fitzwil. Let’s go.”

They walked along Roister Street towards the sound of the approaching caravan. Soon the familiar red-green wagon appeared around a street corner.

“Whoa!” Fitzwil stopped the mare. “Stalo got away.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Aye,” Nat grunted.

“Don’t worry, my boy. You’ll find him. Hop in.”

Anouk, in turn, took a hold of the side rail and pulled herself up.

“Can you take us a little closer to The Pits?” Nat asked Fitzwil before opening the door.

“Sure can.” Fitzwil nudged the mare into motion again.

“I’ll send a coded warning to Rose and then we go snooping around Vaughn’s bakery,” Nat said over his shoulder to Anouk.

With mixed feelings, Anouk followed Nat inside. She was pleased they would try to help Rose, but… her shoulders drooped an inch. It wasn’t over yet. As much as she had hoped they would rest and continue the search the next day, they had to press on as long as they had even the slightest scent of Stalo. If only he had kindly let them arrest him, their life would be getting back to normal by now. Rude and selfish man.

Vari was waiting inside, her medical kit on the table. Anouk winced at the sight of it. She ran a quick mental check over her body, listening for any signs of aches or pains. The only pain she detected was her cheek still throbbing where Stalo had hit her. Her shoulders slumped even further—Vari would smear that white stuff on it, for sure.

Vari opened her mouth, but Nat spoke first. “We are both fine but we need to warn Rose. Stalo is still on the run.”

“Yes, I know. A taxi blocked us from following, but we saw them come up through a manhole a block away from the brothel then run towards The Pits.”

Chapter 24

A tilted weathered sign hung over the door. Vaughn’s bakery