“Inspector Harold Finch. He’s too wholesome and has no family in Manchester to threaten,” Jonny explained. “Blackwood had no leverage to get him to work for him.”
Inspector Finch had listened to their story without any surprise, obviously already aware of Blackwood and his growing influence in the community.
“And you swear you can provide all the evidence to take him down?” he had asked.
“We swear it,” Tommy promised. “All you have to do is be at the docks tomorrow evening at eight.”
“Very well,” Inspector Finch said, although it was obvioushe didn’t entirely believe that they could bring this to fruition. “We’ll be there.”
“You have to remain out of sight, though,” Tommy said. “Otherwise, Blackwood will call it off.”
“Trust me, we know how to be discreet,” Inspector Finch said with a patient smile, as though he was trying not to roll his eyes.
“How many men can you gather?”
Inspector Finch winced. “Probably three I could trust.”
“Three? Blackwood will have five times that many men,” Colin said.
“Then that is where we come in,” Rhys said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Now here they were, and for the first time, Tommy was grateful for the multitude of shipping crates that littered the docks, giving them plenty of space to hide.
Jonny had directed them to the hub of activity. It was dark, night having already fallen, which was the only time Blackwood would conduct such an operation, to hide in the shadows.
“It is ridiculous that you are here,” Tommy muttered to Minnie, who knelt before him, the scent of her sweet pea shampoo in his nose. “We should have done this without you.”
“Not if you wanted Blackwood,” Minnie said. “You could have gathered evidence on their dealings, but not on Blackwood himself unless he had a reason to be here and we could accuse him of a specific action.”
“I hate that the reason is you.”
“There’s Garrick,” Minnie said under her breath, peering into the darkness as men gathered around the docked ship. They operated under the dim light of the half-moon and the gas lamps strung on posts, causing flickering shadows to blend with the silhouettes of the men who were hard at workmoving the illegal cargo which Blackwood used to barter and bribe businesses in Manchester. “Here I go.”
Tommy pulled her in, giving her a quick, hard kiss, hoping that she understood all the love he was pouring out of himself and into her. He’d never done anything harder than letting her go to the enemy.
Even so, watching her walk forward with a straight spine and head held high allowed a rush of immense pride to fill him. She was so brave despite the nerves he knew were rushing through her.
“Garrick?” Minnie’s voice rang out clearly through the night as Tommy kept his eyes on her, not allowing her out of his sight for even a second.
“Well, well, look who we have here,” he heard Garrick say. Tommy’s blood ran hot with hatred for the man who had bested him one time too many. “What is little Miss Draper doing here tonight?”
“That would be Mrs. Ward,” Minnie said, her voice still strong, and as much as Tommy was terrified, he had never been prouder of her. “I would like to speak with Mr. Blackwood.”
“Would you, now?”
“I would.”
“And just how did you know we would be here tonight, Mrs. Ward?”
“This is where we had our last encounter, did we not, Garrick? Or do you not recall one of your men swimming with the fish?”
There were a few guffaws at that, although most were quickly silenced by Garrick’s glare.
“I also heard a rumor you would be back here tonight,” Minnie said.
“Rumor from who?”
“Whispers on the docks,” she said with a shrug. “Now, will Blackwood be here to speak with me, or not?”
