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She approached him but when he took no note of her, she cleared her throat. “Do I knah you?” Jack asked in a languid tone.
“Yes you told me to come here,” she said, taking out the card from her pocket. “You gave me this.”
Recognition filled his eyes. “Ten 'ells, you ac'ually came.” Without dismissing the men he was conversing with, he stepped toward her and quietly steered her away from them. “I didn’t think you would ac’ually come.”
Ariadne frowned. “You told me to come.”
“I suggested it. I didn’t expect you would take me up on it. As you can no'ice, this isn' the place faw a woman to be.”
Ariadne sniffed. “Then why did you ask me to come in the first place?”
Instead of answering her, he laughed. Ariadne bristled at that. She was this close to losing her temper and doing something she would most definitely regret. But she didn’t want to call attention to herself. “What’s so funny?”
“That you actually came. You really live up 'o your repu'a'ion,” Jack said, wiping invisible tears from the corner of her eyes. “Queer, yes but interesting, too.”
“What do you want from me?” she asked. “If you continue to talk in riddles, I’ll leave.”
“Wait,” he said quickly sobering. “I do know of your talents. My offer still stands. Are you willing to workwithme?” With—he wanted her to workwithhim. The difference stuck with her and she knew that she had come to the right place. She didn’t want to work for someone else but here she could work for herself.
Ariadne nodded, knowing she was taking a huge gamble. For all she knew, he could have nefarious intentions with her. That’s why she had carried a knife in her boot and another at her hip. One couldn’t be too sure of men, especially men like Jack who were nothing but tricksters.
He beckoned her upstairs, climbing a rickety set of stairs. Ariadne looked down at the men below. No one saw them leave, but she doubted anyone would come to her rescue even if they did. In places like this, each man was for himself.
Jack led her to a small room upstairs. It was empty except for a bed and table. “What place is this?” Ariadne asked, looking around.
“My room. But don’t worry I don’t have that kind of intentions for you,” Jack said, winking. Ariadne didn’t ask him to elaborate. “I wanted to show you this.” He handed her a watch.
Ariadne looked up at him, frowning. “I don’t have much experience repairing watches.”
“You don’t have to repair it. You have to pull it open. Inside of it, there is something I want but I’m finding it impossible to take it out,” Jack explained.
“And you want me for that?” Ariadne asked skeptically.
He nodded. “I know George Davy has all sorts of instruments in that studio of his. I don’t want the job to make too much noise, which is why you’re the best person for it.”
“You’re afraid of a snitch,” Ariadne said, finally understanding why he wanted her.
“I pay handsomely for people who keep things discreet,” he said with a meaningful look. She took the watch from him and examined it on the flat of her palm. There didn’t seem to be a space to fit something inside there but the discovery of her mother’s pendant had taught her better.
“Think of yourself as an independent contractor. You do the job I give you and I won’t get in your way. That way both of us are happy,” Jack said with a smile. Ariadne knew things were seldom as simple as they appeared.
“When do you want it?” she asked.
“Take however much time you need. I’ll come by next week to collect it. You don’t have to come down here again,” he said.
Ariadne looked up from the watch. She didn’t know why he seemed so astonished that she had shown up. “Were you not expecting me to come in the first place?”
“I honestly didn’t know what to expect of you. Rumors are all I know of the Davys. But besides that, I do know somewhat of your family. You have one younger sister who is the picture of an English rose,” he said.
Ariadne narrowed her eyes sharply. “How do you know about her?”
“I know everything around here.” He placed a hand by his ear. “Thief’s ear.” Ariadne had at first thought of him as only a petty pickpocket but now she began to realize that there was more to it than appeared. Jack wore shabby clothes and pants that were torn at the seam, exactly how an improvised man living in these quarters would be. And yet there was something about him that she couldn’t place a finger on.
“Come now, I’ll escort you. You’ll get your payment when I come to collect the watch,” he said. “Just don’t misplace it.”
“I won’t—” Ariadne began and then she looked up and saw his face. That’s not what he had meant. “I’m not going to steal it. I’m no thief. If I was, I wouldn’t come looking for work here, of all places.”
“You have a lot of guts, I will say that,” Jack said. They walked out of the pub and back to the alley. Sun was blazing up in the sky, marking forenoon. Edward must be waiting for her at the studio. The memory of their kiss lingered at the back of her mind.
“I’ve met all saw's ov people in my line ov wawk and you managed 'o surprise me,” Jack said, pulling her back to reality. She mentally chastised herself. This wasn’t the time to daydream of Edward.
“You’re not much older than me,” Ariadne said. He spoke as if he was fifty and seen the world.
Jack chuckled. “True, bu' time is subjective. I knah that you will be able 'o finish the job. An' once you do, I'll 'ave mawe work faw you,” Jack promised.
“Thank you,” Ariadne said, secretly wondering what she had gotten herself into.
