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/> As long as the men were able to keep firing, nobody could get to them. Marguerite hated to think what might happen if they ran out of bullets.
“We need to run for the entrance Kerrigan is at,” Joe murmured. “I am going to hide us with gunfire, but I need you to run. Don’t stop until you reach Kerrigan. Stay with him. Keep your head down and, whatever you do, don’t step out onto the street.”
“Why? What are you going to do?” she demanded, terrified at the thought of being shot.
“I will be right behind you, but I need to create some cover. Just do as I tell you, Marguerite,” he pleaded.
She nodded nervously.
“Go,” he snapped suddenly.
He pushed her roughly into the alley and stepped after at the same time that he began to shoot. He lifted his second, smaller gun out of his boot and used that too. There was one resultant boom from the carriage but it went wide of both of them.
Marguerite dived into the narrow space behind Kerrigan who nudged her against the door and shielded her with his body.
“She’s home,” Kerrigan called. He then turned to Marguerite. “When I tell you, go straight out of here and right past the shop. Just wait a minute because there are two more we need to clear. The carriage is facing the opposite way. It will give you the ability to get out of here. Joe will know which way to go from there.”
There wasn’t enough room in the doorway for the three of them. Kerrigan used hand signals to Joe to tell him. Both men reloaded their guns and waited for Brandon and Jacob to pick off the three remaining men still left on the street. Finally, they could leave.
“Go,” Kerrigan suddenly snapped and pushed her roughly toward the entrance at the same time that Joe left his cover and began to shoot at the carriage again.
While Brandon and Jacob occupied the men on the street, Kerrigan and Joe fired a volley of shots at Sayers. With his precious carriage being hit, Sayers swiftly moved on and the carriage disappeared from view. Kerrigan and Joe looked at each other and raced for the exit.
Marguerite had no idea what was going on. Her ears hurt from the noise of the gunfire but she daren’t even think about that right now. She couldn’t. If she did, she knew she was going to burst into tears and, this time, she might not stop.
“He can’t follow us,” Joe murmured when they reached the end of the street. “He has to turn that blasted beast around and come after us. On foot, we are faster.”
“Then let’s go,” Kerrigan ordered.
“Do you know something?” Marguerite gasped when they finally eased to a stop several streets away. Her heart pounded so heavily she was struggling to draw breath.
Joe looked at her. “What?”
“I don’t think it is something in that shop they are after,” she gasped.
“Do you think it is your father’s skills they want?” Joe asked as he gasped for air.
“No,” Marguerite shook her head to save herself from having to speak for a moment.
“I think they are protecting something in that shop,” she whispered. “Whatever it is, I think it might be something that my father was likely to have found if he had continued to go there.”
Joe stared at her, and then looked at Brandon and Jacob who had come to join them. He considered that for a moment. There had been no sign of a break in, or altercation inside any of the buildings. It was highly unusual for not only the shop owner but the worker to vanish as well.
Had Donaldson been placed there by Sayers to get hold of the keys and gain access to the property? Had Sayers removed Eustace to stop him reporting the crimes going on there?
It is certainly something Sayers would do, Joe mused.
From the looks on his colleagues’ faces, they all thought the same too.
It stood to reason that they were using the shipments of clocks to transport stolen goods. It was a perfect ruse. After all, a hugely expensive piece of furniture like a clock would be carefully packed, and likely to remain undisturbed until it reached its destination. Someone like Sayers would protect a ruse like that at all costs.
Suddenly oblivious of his colleagues’ thoughtful frowns, Joe stepped forward, clamped his hands on either side of Marguerite’s head and kissed her soundly.
“Oh,” she whispered weakly when he finally lifted his head.
“I think we have just had a major boost in this investigation,” he announced with an air of satisfaction.
“What do we do about it?” Jacob asked. “Do we search the workshop next?”
