Page 110 of When We Touch

Arianna would never forget the sound as his head was struck, his skull crushed. He was deposited in the Thames. When his body was found, it would appear that he had taken a tumble from the bridge, and certainly, if there was an autopsy, it would be discovered that he had been drinking.

She was never left alone.

By the third day, she began to fear what she had longed for—that Maggie would come. Because Maggie would die instantly. Once, it had been what she thought she had wanted. Now, she had learned the truth about such a horrible death. She knew what a pathetic, wretched little fool she had been, certain that she knew so much, that she could handle herself, that she could wile any man into letting her have her way. She had thought it would be a lark, as well as a simple revenge. Now, all she knew was fear.

* * *

The moment the woman began to scream, Jamie was ready. He crossed the darkened alley at a swift pace, swinging her attacker around by the shoulder, and catching him with a right jab to the jaw. The fellow let out a howl of pain, and crashed against the stone wall that bordered the narrow throughway.

“What’d ye do that fer, ducky?” the woman cried out, rewarding him with a swift slap of her shabby reticule against the side of his head.

“You were screaming, I was trying to save your life!” Jamie informed her.

“I didn’t mean to ’urt ’er!” the man cried. He was a lean fellow, light-haired and mustached. Like the prostitute, he was missing several teeth. He carried a small valise.

“What’s in the bag?” Jamie demanded.

“Me carpenter’s tools!” the fellow said. Both he and the woman stared at Jamie as if he had gone daft. Jamie looked into the bag. Not a knife in it, or even a sharp-bladed instrument of any kind.

He passed the bag back to the man. “Why were you screaming?” he asked the woman.

“ ’E cheapened out on me, ’e did! Trying to cheat me out o’ a few d’s!”

Jamie looked to the man.

“Got to have me doss money!” the woman said.

“Pay her,” Jamie told the man.

“She weren’t worth what she wanted!” he complained.

“Pay her,” Jamie insisted.

The fellow looked disgruntled, but dug more deeply into his pocket. “You a copper, or something like that?” the man asked, irritated.

“No,” Jamie told her.

“I didn’t need to pay ’eh, then!” the fellow whined.

“You needed to pay her,” Jamie told him sternly.

“If ye’re not a copper, wot are y’ then?” the fellow demanded belligerently.

“Call me a simple member of a citizens vigilance committee, and quit griping. What can you be thinking, cheating her out of a few pennies when you know she should be inside? There’s a killer on the loose.”

“Aw . . . needs me own doss money,” the man said. “Lost me room today, I did.”

“So far, this fellow isn’t after men,” Jamie reminded him. He looked at the woman. “Get to your doss, then. There’re dozens of lamps out tonight, so it seems.”

“Thank you, sir!” the woman said, and she sped on across the alley. As Jamie watched, she disappeared into darkness again.

“Not a copper, eh? I’ll be on me way, then!” the man said. Frustrated, Jamie leaned against the wall, watching as he, too, started to disappear into the darkness.

Then he called back to Jamie, “Don’t matter much wot I paid that one, sir! She’ll be spending it on ’er gin, long before she looks for a bed for the night!”

Chapter 15

Maggie was quite convinced that she’d never had a better disguise. Cecilia loved to play at her masquerades, and she was equipped with all manner of wigs and makeup.