Strike at Midnight(78)

He finally looked chagrined about his role, and I knew then that he was telling the truth. There was also the fact that if he had been a more involved member of the party to what was going on, then he wouldn’t have been living in that hovel.

“Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked, nudging him so he would look at me. “Anything that would help me to find the duke?”

“It was just supposed to be a few quick jobs,” he said as if he hadn’t heard me. “I lost my job down here at the docks because this new guy had it in for me. He was the boss’s son and he didn’t like to share the pay, so he framed me for stealing and I lost the bit of money I was getting. No one down here would hire me after that.”

“And this Piper guy approached you?”

He nodded. “He said I could earn a few bits of silver for each job.” He looked away, but not before I had seen the tears in his eyes. “My mom has three young ones to look after. I was sending the money to her and I couldn’t bear to tell her that I had lost my job. I was desperate.”

Oh, crap. Now my heartstrings had been pulled. Unfortunately, his circumstances were a common theme down here in Lower City.

“If you help me get the duke back,” I said after a moment’s contemplation, “then I’m willing to put in a good word for you. I won’t see you hang over this.”

“Really?” he asked, and he quickly wiped his fallen tears away.

“If you hadn’t done it, someone else would have,” I said eventually, “and you were the perfect target.”

He let out a large sigh and rubbed at his ankle.

“When I dropped off the duke, I followed their tracks for a little while,” he admitted. “I had my doubts and I felt bad about what had happened because the duke had been nothing but nice to me.”

“And?” I asked, getting my hopes up that he might have actually seen where they had taken the duke.

“I didn’t go all the way,” he said with a look of regret on his face. “I needed the money and I couldn’t risk them catching me. I’m sorry.”

“Did you see anything at all?”

“No,” he replied. “It was dark.”

Damn it. When were we going to catch a break in this case?

“I did see lights a way off from the lane, though,” he continued, interrupting my internal rant of frustration. “It looked like candlelight coming from windows, but it was high up from the ground. As if it was a place on the slight incline of a hill.”

“Anything else?”

“No,” he said, letting his head fall at such a failure. “It could just have been someone’s home.”

There were quite a few scattered houses in the forests that weren’t part of the village, but I doubted many chose to make their home in the Nightmare Woods. Not unless they were up to no good.

“Can you draw me a rough map of where you saw it?” I asked, and I stood up and dusted myself off.

“If you have something I can scrawl it on, then yeah. I remember the way.”

“Good,” I said, leaning down and putting my arm under his to help him up.

“What are you doing?”

“Helping you,” I said, and he leaned his weight on me as he used his other leg to hoist himself up. “The Pirate Ship isn’t far from here, and you can scribble it down on something in there.”

“Then what?” he asked as he hobbled next to me with his arm around my neck.

“Then, if my friend Pinocchio is in there, I’m going to offer him payment to keep an eye on you until I return.” I turned to give him one of my “don’t fuck with me” smiles and he grimaced. “He has some big-ass pals at The Pirate Ship, and they’ll make sure you’re looked after.”

“Then I’ll be arrested,” he said with a defeated tone. “Won’t I?”

“If I have my way you will spend some time in the Royal Dungeons while we sort all of this out, instead of the jailhouse.” I didn’t dare leave him amongst the law-enforcement idiots. “But you will answer for what you’ve done so far. That’s the best I can do.”

There was silence between us for the rest of the way, but before we boarded The Pirate Ship, he turned to me and said, “I really hope you do find the duke. He’s a good man.”

“Me too, kid,” I said as we worked together to get him up the ramp. “Me too.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

A Nice Night for a Stakeout





After leaving Billy with Pinocchio and a few of his cronies at The Pirate Ship, I headed back home to stock up on my weapons.

Marcel was managing the bar when I walked in, and it looked like Melody had finished her set for the evening. The stage was bare, but there were still a few revelers drinking the night away. He would keep the bar open for another couple of hours yet.

“Where’s Mel?” I asked as I walked behind the bar.

“Gone for a swim,” he replied as he took a coin from a paying customer. The guy who handed it over was swaying, so no doubt this would be his last drink before Marcel cut him off.

“Okay,” I said, pointing to the key that was on a chain around his neck. “I need the key to the weapons hold.”