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Cal blew out a slow breath. His lungs had tightened, his heart pounded, and he could feel a drop of sweat run down his back. The pull of the tables was almost irresistible. He could play for hours on credit, maybe even win big. Win back all he’d lost.
He’d still have time to catch the train. He could throw the dice a few times and then go to the station.
Cal bit the inside of his cheek hard. The lure of the tables was almost irresistible. But he was stronger than this. He would beat it. And he knew if he walked into the club, he wouldn’t walk out tonight. He wouldn’t walk out until he was thrown out, having lost everything and owing Surry more than he could ever pay.
Cal looked at the ring. He didn’t generally feel sorry for his marks, but Mrs. Benton didn’t deserve to have her wedding ring replaced with paste and tin. He wasn’t proud of himself. He wasn’t proud of how he’d lost control over the past year, how he’d woken up to find himself thousands of pounds in debt. How he’d been caught cheating and had to beg for his life.
Not his finest hours.
Neither had been the weeks he’d spent planning the con he’d pulled off tonight. And what did he have to show for it? Food in his belly? A flat to call his own? Neither. Only borrowed clothes and a train ticket he hadn’t even purchased.
“I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on your offer, Mr. Surry.”
“Oh, really, Mr. Kelly? Are you certain?”
“I’m certain enough. I won’t be darkening your door again.” He took two steps back, so he couldn’t see the floor of the club. “I’ll be going now, if that’s all.”
“Go ahead.” Surry gestured with one hand. “But you’ll be back, Kelly. I know your type. You always come back.”
Cal walked out the door, took the steps quickly, and pushed past the two oafs and into the alleyway. There he took a deep breath, several of them, hands on his knees. Finally, he stood straight. Surry was right. Cal had always come back in the past. That was why he had to go to the station. He should have gone to Danny’s to return his evening clothes and collect his own clothing. But Cal didn’t trust himself.
He had the ticket. He’d go now or he’d never go.
The station was several miles away. Cal started to walk, his mind still on the gaming tables behind him. The distraction cost him as that was when Morganstern’s men stepped in front of him. Morganstern had sent four of them.
Longshanks, who must have been almost seven feet, gave Cal a thin smile. “We’ve been looking for you, Mr. Kelly.”
“Have you now? I thought I made it clear me affections lie elsewhere.”
Longshanks didn’t even smile. “Do you have the blunt you owe Mr. Morganstern?”
Cal hadn’t forgotten about the twenty pounds he owed Morganstern. It had just slipped his mind the past few days. “Of course, I have it. I’ll just stop home and bring the blunt by in an hour or so.”
“I don’t think so, Mr. Kelly.”
Cal should have known that trick wouldn’t work again.
Longshanks gestured to his men. “You’re coming with us.”
Cal ducked and swerved and rolled out of their grasp. “Can’t tonight, Longshanks!” he called as he ran, full tilt, for the train station.
But though he’d taken the long route and used every trick he could think of to lose the four buffoons, he hadn’t managed to shake them. And that was why he and the prim Miss Murray had ended up pressed against the wall of the train alcove.
Only she hadn’t been quite as prim as he’d thought. In fact, when she’d put her watch to his head and her arm about his neck, he half wanted to marry her. A woman as wily as she was a woman after his own heart. It didn’t hurt that she had her ample bosom pressed against his back either.
And then as expected all hell had broken loose, and she’d hit one of the oafs in the head with her umbrella and threw coins at the other. A man couldn’t help but be smitten by a woman that fiery and foolhardy.
Of course, by the time he’d dealt with Longshanks she was on the train and heading away from him. Cal had almost grabbed the train’s back rail, but he’d lost his footing thanks to Danny’s too-big shoes and his blurred vision. When he climbed back to his feet, the train was picking up speed. Cal watched it chug away then looked behind him at Morganstern’s men, who were starting to come for him. His head throbbed just thinking about fighting them.
He’d always been a fast runner. Taking a deep breath, Cal sprinted for the train, his lungs burning as he struggled to inhale the cold air. He pumped his arms, ignoring the tightness in his already weary legs and the dagger-like pain slicing through his head.
Almost there.
The platform ended in a brick wall just ahead. Despite his every instinct to slow down, Cal picked up speed. He had one chance to grab hold of the retreating train. If he missed the back railing, he’d slam into the brick wall.
Cal judged the distance remaining, sidled to the edge of the last few feet of the platform, and leapt.
