Saving the Scientist (The Restitution League #2)(28)

He gestured toward the door. “I want you safely away before I ignite this.”

Ada crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “And I want to make sure you’re away as well.”

Edison opened his mouth to protest, but wisely bit down on any response. “Fair enough. Let’s get our prisoners on their way, then we can discuss this.”

She followed him out of the cottage to find a tall, round gent standing between a hansom cab and the carriage that had delivered her. Stacked like cordwood between the two lay the three toughs who’d attacked her, their hands and feet bound.

The leader of the group glared up at them. “You’ve no idea who you’re fooling with.”

Edison ignored him and motioned the older man to his side. “Can you help me load this lot in the carriage? I’d like to offer you a proposition.”

The man’s jowls quivered as he studied the nasty group. “It’ll be a tight fit.”

Edison gestured toward the larger carriage. “Take the carriage, the horses too.” He leaned close. “Keep them. This lot’ll have no need of them.”

“Sod all.” The man’s eyes widened. “A hansom for a clarence? Doesn’t seem right.”

“You’ve earned it twice over.” Edison grinned at him. “And it’s not one for the other. If you don’t mind me borrowing your cab, I'll return it in good condition.”

“That would give me a fleet. I could put the wife’s lazy git of a brother to work driving.” His smile bloomed as the possibilities grew. “You’ve got a deal, Mr. Sweet.”

Edison gave him a firm nod. “I’ll help you load up this baggage then.” Before he moved, he pressed a hand against the older man’s chest. “They’re only to go to Inspector Micah Burke. That’s crucial. Straight to him.”

The man tilted his head, clearly wondering at Edison’s unusual request, but he nodded. “I’ve had far stranger requests, can’t say I haven’t.”

Edison laughed. He scooped her battery off the floor of the coach and set it down in the smaller hansom. Then he and the driver tackled the more difficult load. Though it took but a few moments for the two men to pile their baggage, shouting and wriggling into the carriage, by the time Edison latched the door, Ada was trembling with cold. The sun was still high in the sky, but it shone weakly, its power waning with the season.

With a brisk snap of the reins, the old cabby took off for the lane. Edison had one arm in his coat sleeve when he saw her discomfort. He whipped off the garment and held it out to her.

She shook her head. “You’ll be the one up top.” She jutted her chin at the waiting hansom. "You’ll need it more than I.”

He strode forward and wrapped the thin suit coat over her shoulders. “Who said I’ll be up top?” He tugged the fabric more firmly around her, pulling her close enough that she could feel the heat from his body warming the air between them. “I intend to travel in comfort. You’ll have to share, Mrs. Templeton.”

He let go of her and moved to open the carriage door. Once she was settled inside, he hurried back inside to ignite the bomb.

It seemed to take forever for him to return. Ada sat forward on the seat, his coat clutched tightly around her, straining for the slightest sound, praying it wouldn’t be an explosion.

In reality, he came running out only seconds after he’d left. He jumped into the seat next to her and snapped the reins, guiding the horse away at a fast clip. Once they turned onto the lane, he urged the animal on faster, running him just below a gallop until they reached a wide spot in the road, a quarter mile away.

He turned the carriage back around so they faced the cottage and jumped out, standing at the horse’s head. He spoke softly to the beast, massaging the animal’s neck and face.

Ada stared at the tangle of trees and bushes that concealed the little house, her heart in her throat. Would the explosion be too big? Too small? Would it work at all?

In the end, her old life caught flame with more of a muffled whoosh than a bang.

One instant the old cottage slept peacefully beneath straggly, unpruned trees, surrounded by an unruly wall of holly bushes. In the space between one heartbeat and the next, a ball of fire spewed out the windows, the doors, even the crumbling chimney top. Then the whole of the house—the walls, the roof, the doors—blew outward.

A faint breeze, pushed along by the fireball consuming the small home, brushed her cheeks with fire-heated air.

Edison stood with the horse, rubbing circles along its neck, until the first bits of roofing clattered to the ground. “That’ll do it.” He gave the horse a final pat. “Should take some time before anyone realizes there’s no body.”

No Ada Templeton.

She melted back against the hansom’s seat and watched her old life disappear as the fire gobbled up the last of the walls.

Edison returned to the coach and climbed in.

Ada couldn’t stop staring at the flames. “What now?”

“Now we hunt down whoever planned this.” Flames were reflected in his eyes as he, too watched the fire dance. “We run them to ground, then turn your life back the right way round.”

“I mean now. What do I do right now?”

The weight of their plan sank in. Ada Templeton no longer existed. She couldn’t show her face at the dressmaker or the Amateur Scientific Society, couldn’t sleep in her own bed or walk down her own street.