Soon, at Jonny’s request, they were all gathered around the table in the corner that Rhys used as his informal meeting place whenever a private conversation was required.
Tommy, apparently, was no longer content with simply holding Minnie against his side and hauled her right on top of his lap, despite the few stares that they received from around the tavern.
Emmaline and Rhys sat across from them, Rhys’s arms folded in front of him, Emmaline leaning forward, her eyes bright. Lily was leaning into Colin’s side, while Jonny’s expression revealed nothing, as usual. Ada, who had joined them at the match, was on the other side of Minnie and Tommy. She had told Minnie that while she knew she wouldn’t be much help, she would support her, however possible.
“Any news, Jonny?” Tommy asked impatiently.
“I’ve just heard some murmurings,” he said. “Blackwood wasn’t happy about the incident at the docks, of course, although he couldn’t outright say anything, as kidnapping a woman is pushing it too far for most. I’d imagine he’ll take action soon.”
“By trying to take me again?” Minnie asked, unable to help the shiver that ran through her body, one Tommy tried to smooth over by running a hand down her spine.
“Let’s hope not,” Jonny said, his angular face becoming sympathetic. “He was willing to look the other way, however, if Tommy would throw the game today. Now that he clearly hasn’t, we need to be ready.”
“No more waiting,” Tommy said. “I know we said we’d try to provoke him into coming to us, but we can’t keep looking over our shoulders, waiting for him to take some kind of action against us. We need a plan ourselves.”
Jonny’s lips curved into a smile that Minnie recognized asone that frequently graced Tommy’s mouth. While Tommy’s plans were often harmless pranks, from what she had learned about Jonny, most of his had far higher stakes.
“We will do so,” he said, looking around at them all. “Do you trust me?”
“No,” was the first answer, surprisingly from Ada. They all turned to look at her, and she shrugged in answer, her eyes swinging round on all of them but landing back on Jonny. “You’ve given us all of this information but provided no inkling of how you’ve discovered it.”
“Have I been wrong?”
“No,” she said. “And that’s what is most worrisome. I know the rest of them trust you because you are their teammate, but how much do we know about you? Jonny, are you willing to tell us who you truly are and how you come across all of this information?”
They all waited uneasily for Jonny to answer her, but he only stared at Ada unnervingly.
She stared right back.
“You’re not scared of me?” he asked, raising one of his scarred eyebrows.
“Do I have reason to be?” she asked, lifting her chin.
“While this is a rather fascinating turn in conversation, it is not helping us,” Rhys said, interrupting, placing his large hands on the table as though to say that his word would be final. “Jonny’s right. He hasn’t steered us wrong, and, so far, he has always been on our side. I see no reason not to trust him now, and I’m sorry, Ada, but we have no other choice.”
“There’s always a choice.”
“Fine, but today the choice is to trust him. At least, that’s my choice. But Minnie speaks for herself.”
Rhys looked at them, waiting.
“Jonny, I’ll trust you. You’re my teammate, and you’ve hadmy back more times than I can count,” Tommy said. “But it’s up to Minnie.”
Minnie looked at Ada and then at Jonny, before her gaze finally met and held Tommy’s.
“I understand what you’re saying, Ada, truly I do. I have questions myself about where all this information comes from, to be honest, but at this point, we don’t have much choice but to listen to what Jonny has to say. He’s proven himself two or three times now, and we cannot afford not to listen to him.”
“Thank you, Minnie,” Jonny said, nodding his head as though any arguments were over with. “Now, here’s my idea. We know Blackwood's biggest shipment of the year is coming in three days’ time. My sources tell me it's his most valuable haul yet – smuggled goods, illicit cargo, the works. He'll have all his top men there to oversee it."
Minnie's eyes widened. "You want to catch him in the act."
Jonny nodded grimly. "Exactly. With the customs officials either on his payroll or too scared to act, we'll have to do this ourselves. Gather evidence and expose his whole operation."
Tommy frowned. "That's a huge risk, Jonny. Blackwood will have the docks locked down tight. How do we even get close?"
"That's where Minnie comes in," Jonny said, his gaze shifting to her.
Minnie felt Tommy stiffen beneath her. "No," he said immediately. "Absolutely not. We're not using her as bait."
