Then Came You (The Gamblers #1)(109)

She stared at him steadily and made her tone very soft. “We’ll face it together. Don’t protect me, Alex. Just let me stand by your side.”

Alex looked at her a long moment. Abruptly he slid his arm around her waist and swung her from the carriage. She slipped her hand in his as they walked to the doorway of the nethersken, where a battered door had been removed from its hinges and set aside. Two officers waited for them, greeting Alex respectfully. They looked askance at Lily. One of them murmured that there had been some deaths during the invasion of the building. Perhaps she wouldn’t care to go inside.

“She’ll be all right,” Alex said curtly, and preceded Lily into the nethersken, still retaining her hand. The air in the building was stifling and fetid. They climbed a few broken steps and proceeded down a narrow, garbage-littered hall. Insects crept busily up and down the walls. The repulsive odor of burnt herring came strongly from one of the rooms they passed, where someone must have toasted fish in the blackened fireplace. There was little furniture except a few bare tables and pallets strewn on the floor. Straw was stuffed in between the shards of glass at the windows. As they went deeper into the nethersken, toward the sound of voices, Alex felt Lily’s hand clench tighter on his until her fingers had formed a crushing vise.

They approached a large room crowded full of officers. They were engaged in subduing outraged suspects and reporting information to Sir Nathan. Wailing children were ratted out from the corners of the building and brought to him. Nathan stood in the center of the room, surveying the scene calmly and giving soft-voiced orders that were obeyed with alacrity. Alex paused as he saw three piled-up bodies before them in the hall, ragged men from the rookery that must have been killed in the fray. He heard Lily’s soft gasp, and he looked more closely at one of them. Nudging the lifeless body with his boot, he turned it over. Giuseppe’s glassy eyes stared up at them.

Lily recoiled from the sight and whispered his name.

Alex surveyed the blood-soaked body without emotion. “Knife wound,” he observed with detached interest, and pulled Lily with him into the crowded room.

Upon seeing them, Nathan signaled for them to stay there, and he made his way to them. “My lord,” he said, and gestured to the bodies behind them. “The plan worked only too well. Knox made his way here as soon as night fell. It was only through the efforts of our man Clibhorne, a specialist on the rookery, that we were able to follow him through the area—roof, yard, and cellar. By the time our forces arrived, Knox had already killed Gavazzi out of fear that he would betray the entire scheme. Knox has confessed to us that afterward he intended to return the child to Lady Raiford and collect the reward money she had promised.” Nathan gestured to the sullen Knox, bound and seated on the floor in line, his back to the wall. He was lined up with four other men, all of them captured gang members. Knox glared at Lily with hatred, but she was too anxious to notice. Her gaze traveled frantically over the half-dozen children in the room.

“What of these children?” Alex asked Nathan.

“All belonging to well-heeled families, according to Knox. We’ll try to return them to their parents—without accepting reward money, since these crimes were perpetrated with the aid of an officer.” Nathan glanced at Knox with cold disdain. “He’s brought shame on all of us.”

Lily stared at the gathered children. Most of them were blond and fair, sniffling tearfully and clinging to the officers who tried in vain to comfort them. The little group was a heart-wrenching sight. “She’s not here,” Lily said dazedly, her face white with panic. She wandered forward, trying to see through the crowd of men. “Are these all the children?” she asked Sir Nathan.

“Yes,” Nathan replied quietly. “Look again, Lady Raiford. Are you certain none of these is your daughter?”

Lily shook her head violently. “Nicole has dark hair,” she said desperately, “a-and she’s younger than these children. Only four. There must be more, she must be here somewhere. Perhaps in one of the other rooms. I know she’s afraid. She’s hiding from all these people. She’s very small. Alex, help me look for her in some of the rooms—”

“Lily.” Alex’s hand clenched on the back of her neck, silencing her frantic babble.

Trembling, she followed the direction of his gaze. A Learie’s bulky form crossed before them, blocking her view. Then she saw the small figure in the corner, half-hidden in shadow. Lily froze, her heart thumping so hard that it seemed to drive the air from her lungs. The child was a wrenchingly perfect little replica of her mother. Her eyes were dark and somber in her small face. Her tiny arms were clutched around some rags that had been knotted to resemble a doll. Standing in shadow, she solemnly watched the milling adults before her. No one had noticed her because of her quietness, like that of a mouse peeping from a secret corner.

“Nicole,” Lily said in a choked voice. “Oh, God.” Alex let go of her as she moved forward. But the little girl shrank back, staring at her cautiously. Lily’s throat ached, and she wiped clumsily at the tears that slid down her face. “You’re my baby. You’re my Nicole.” She crouched before the child. “Sono qui,” she said in a voice that shook with suppressed emotion. “I’ve waited s-so long to hold you. Do you remember me? It’s your mama. Io sono tua mama, capisci?”

The child looked at her alertly, responding to the Italian. “Mama?” she repeated in a tiny voice.