Lady Sophia's Lover (Bow Street Runners #2)(92)

No one has ever given him an opportunity to change, Sophia had said. If he had just one chance at a different life… think of the kind of man he could become.

Ross was going to give him that chance, for Sophia’s sake. If he did not try to help her brother, it would be a permanent wedge between them. “I am going to make you an offer,” he told Gentry. “I advise you to consider it carefully.”

A cynical smile crossed the young man’s face. “This should be interesting.”

“You’re aware of the evidence against you. If I choose, I can make it disappear.”

Gentry stared at him with sudden alert interest, as he was entirely familiar with the process of deal-making. “What of the witness who is ready to testify?”

“I can also manage that.”

“How?”

“How I handle it is none of your business.” Ross did not glance at Sophia when he heard her sharply indrawn breath. He sensed her astonishment that he would be willing to compromise his principles for her brother’s sake. In almost a dozen years in the judiciary, he had never done anything that could be considered corrupt. Manipulation of evidence and witnesses went completely against his nature. However, he swallowed down his scruples and continued grimly. “In return for my efforts, I want something from you.”

“Of course,” Gentry said sardonically. “That’s not hard to guess. You want me to leave the country and disappear.”

“No. I want you to become a runner.”

“What?” Gentry demanded.

“Ross?” Sophia asked at the same time.

Were Ross not so doggedly intent, he would have been amused by the blank looks in the identical pairs of blue eyes before him.

“Don’t play with me, Cannon,” Gentry said in annoyance. “Tell me what you want, and I’ll—”

“You call yourself a thief-taker,” Ross said. “Let’s see if you are man enough to do it by the rules. Without brutality or lies or false evidence.”

Gentry seemed aghast at the notion of becoming a public servant. “How in God’s name did you come up with such an insane idea?”

“I thought of something Morgan says… a runner and the criminal he catches are two sides of the same coin.”

“And you think Morgan is going to trust me?”

“Not at first. You’ll have to earn his trust day by day.”

“I’ll be damned if I scrape and bow to a bunch of Robin Redbreasts,” Gentry sneered, using the nickname inspired by the runners’ dress uniforms.

“You’ll hang if you don’t,” Ross told him. “I’m going to keep possession of the evidence against you, and I will use it at the first sign that you are not performing your job to Morgan’s satisfaction.”

“How do you know I won’t bolt?”

“Because if you do, I will personally track you down and kill you. Your sister’s life, not to mention my own, would be far more pleasant without you in it.”

The atmosphere was alive with hostility. Ross could see that Gentry almost believed the threat. He waited patiently, letting him mull over his options.

The young man sent him a baleful stare. “You’re going to use me,” he muttered. “I’ll be some kind of damned feather in your cap, and you’ll use any public favor I’ve got left to further your own plans for Bow Street. The newspapers will hail you for converting Nick Gentry into a Bow Street runner. You’ll make me betray everyone I know, and give evidence against all my accomplices. And after ensuring that I’m despised by every man, woman, and child from Dead Man’s yard to Gin Lane, you’ll send me to catch thieves and murderers in the places where I’m most hated. On top of all that, the salary you give me won’t be worth a damn.”

Ross considered the accusation thoughtfully. “Yes,” he said, “that sums it up fairly well.”

“Jaysus.” Gentry let out a mirthless laugh. “Go swive yourself, Cannon!”

One of Ross’s black brows arched. “Shall I take that as a yes?”

Gentry responded with a curt nod. “I’m going to regret this,” he said sourly. “At least the hangman would have snuffed me quickly.”

“Now that we’ve come to an agreement, I’ll take you back to your cell,” Ross said pleasantly. “You’ll be released tomorrow morning. In the meanwhile, I have some arrangements to make.”

“Ross,” Sophia said anxiously, “must John go back in there tonight?”

“Yes.” His gaze dared her to protest.

Prudently she kept her mouth closed, although it was clear that she longed to plead for her brother’s sake.

“It’s all right, Sophia,” Gentry murmured. “I’ve stayed in worse places than this.” He slanted a baleful glance at Ross as he added, “Courtesy of your husband.”

Over the course of a ten-year relationship, Ross had never managed to shock Sir Grant Morgan as he did now. Returning to Bow Street No. 3, he went directly to Morgan’s office and described the agreement he had reached with Gentry.

Morgan stared at him with complete incomprehension. “What did you say? Nick Gentry can’t be a runner.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s Nick Gentry, that’s why!”