by V. J. Timlin
It wasn’t long before both Madam Valeria and Jasper were handcuffed and the enforcers started to escort them out of the salon.
Madam Valeria spat curses and tried to pull free. She craned her neck and called to Nat. “How could you? I thought we were friends.”
Nat rolled his eyes, but he didn’t respond. Anouk gaped after the madam. “How dare she after all she has done?”
Nat shook his head, staring in the direction the madam had been taken. “It’s better to let it go.”
Madam Valeria’s protests echoed from the hall. Anouk groped around in her head to say something, but failed to come up with anything that might be helpful. “Are Rose’s daughters safe?” Anouk asked instead.
Nat sighed. “Lila took Rose’s daughters to safety.”
“That’s good. It must have been a harrowing night for them.”
Nat opened his mouth to reply, but Chief Constable Loka entered the salon. “Mr Walla. Miss Herring.”
Nat bowed his head. “Chief Constable Loka.”
“Chief Constable,” Anouk replied, surprised by his acknowledgement.
Loka stalked around, scanning the salon. He glanced at the body lying close to the doorway. “One of Stalo De Meriweth’s men?”
“Yes,” Nat said.
“Where is the former lord himself?”
“He got away.” Nat wore an unreadable expression on his face. “I followed them to the basement, but they had locked the door behind them. While I started to pick it, I heard an explosion. They used explosives to seal the tunnel that leads to the sewer.”
Chief Constable Loka grunted. Had he expected Nat and her to fail? Maybe they had been too ambitious, trying to deal with Stalo when there were only two of them. No, four of them. Well, the chief constable shouldn’t feel too complacent. The enforcers had been their cavalry, and even they hadn’t caught Stalo and Captain Biddulph although they had surrounded the building.
The senior enforcer kept pacing around the room. “So Madam Valeria was hiding him.”
“Yes.”
The chief constable plucked his moustache. “She committed an act of treason which means a long jail sentence. And who was the man with her?”
“Jasper, her butler and lover,” Anouk said although she was sure Loka knew exactly who the man had been. “He’s most likely been helping her.”
“Quite.” The chief constable stopped, facing Anouk. “We will question him too.”
“He needs a doctor. I…” Anouk hesitated. “I shot him on his side.”
Chief Constable Loka arched his eyebrow again.
“It was in self-defence. He shot me first… or tried to,” Anouk blurted.
The older man regarded her for a moment in silence, but then shrugged. “Relax, miss. We do not arrest the good guys for shooting at the bad. I will get a doctor to tend his wound.” He resumed pacing. “So, Nat, the hunt goes on.”
“Yes, and about that.” Nat lifted his chin. “I want to talk with Madam Valeria before you take her away.”
“She is already in custody, but we will start her interrogation tonight. Keep me informed.” With that, the chief constable walked out of the salon.
Nat and Anouk exchanged looks. Nat was grinding his teeth in fury. “Fucking idiots! They won’t get anything out of Madam Valeria.”
“I don’t understand.” Anouk scratched her neck. “They still expect us to catch Stalo, don’t they? But don’t let us question Madam Valeria who might actually know where he’s gone. Why?”
“They want that information first so they can make the arrest. But it doesn’t hurt to have bounty hunters on the case in the meanwhile.”
“They want the glory for catching the most wanted.”
“Precisely.” Nat gave her a lopsided smile. “But you heard the man, we have work to do. Let’s check Stalo’s room first.”
“Hopefully Loka’s forensic team haven’t cleaned it completely.”
“I didn’t see any of them upstairs, and now that they have Madam Valeria and Jasper, they will rely on their testimony. I highly doubt they’ll bother with it.”
“Oh, well, they will have a nasty surprise then.”
“Exactly.”
They walked out of the salon to the hall. The chaos had moved to the outside of the brothel. Shouts and calls drifted in through the open front door. Unchallenged, they crossed the empty lobby and ran up the stairs, coming to a corridor where rows of white doors broke the long red walls.
“I don’t suppose his name is on one of those doors,” Anouk said.
Nat gave her a sideways look and smirked. “That would be handy, but luckily I know which one it is. Lila said it’s the third on the left.”
They walked to the door. Nat pressed his ear against it and listened. Then he tried the doorknob. “It’s locked.”
Nat knelt in front of the door. He fished a lock pick from his pocket and set to work—the faint sound of metal scraping against metal, then a click came from the lock. Nat placed his hand on the doorknob and pulled his revolver. “Just in case, stay behind me and be ready.”
Anouk pulled the prod from under her jacket and backed a couple of steps away from the potential line of fire then bobbed her head. Nat pushed the door open, taking cover behind the frame. It banged against the wall, but nothing happened. They risked a peek inside, finding the room empty.
Nat slid his gun back in the holster. “Let’s snoop around.”
Anouk gave a soft snort to his choice of word, but said nothing.
They searched the room from floor to ceiling. She had a hard time picturing Stalo there. The walls were red, matching the general colour theme of the place. So were the velvet curtains, hanging at the head of the king-sized bed. The art on the walls and other surfaces reflected the same erotic scenes as Anouk had seen in the hall and salon.
Stalo owned little—two suits and a pair of boots. None of his belongings revealed anything about Stalo as a person. No pictures of his family or even of himself when he still had his title and land, let alone anything that might have hinted where he would go for refuge.
“How disappointing,” Anouk muttered after she had checked every crack and corner in the bedroom. “Such an inconsiderate man! Didn’t even leave a note.”
“Not quite. I found a letter.” Nat sat at the edge of the bed.
“You did? Where?”
“From behind that bureau on the floor.” He smoothed the crumpled paper against his thigh. “It’s from his brother.”
“His brother? I’m surprised he has any living relatives.”
“Aye, he’s a Mitli monk.”
“Mitli monk?”
“Mitli is the god of peace which is ironic really since the majority of monks are sons of warlords. I’ve never met Stalo’s brother, but I know they are twins, and people say he was only slightly softer, whatever that means.” He turned his attention back to the letter.
Anouk sat next to him and leaned in to read the paper his was holding in his lap. Tight and precise handwriting ran from edge to edge of the small sheet.
Dear Brother,
Thank you for enquiring after my health—I am in good order. I must admit I was surprised to hear from you. After falling into disfavour with our King Ionnas III, I was not expecting you to come back to Anglea. When it comes to your suggestion, I need to consult our Lord Mitli.
Go with Mitli’s blessings.
Yours, Soltan
Anouk looked at Nat. “At least one thing is sure, he didn’t like his brother’s reply since he had crumpled the letter and tossed it on the floor. I wonder what the suggestion was?”
Nat folded the letter and slipped it into his inside breast pocket. “I don’t know, but I strongly suspect it was something to do with getting back his land and title.” He stood up and strode towards the door. “Let’s go talk with Lila.”
They ran up another flight of stairs. Nat rapped in four rapid intervals on a door at the end of a long hall. After a moment, Lila’s pale face peeked
from behind it.
“Shh… The girls just fell asleep,” she whispered and moved aside, letting Nat and Anouk enter. The little girls had curled under the duvet. Their faces were clean and they looked innocent in their slumber.
“How are they taking it?” Anouk asked Lila.
Lila looked at the sleeping girls. “They are doing fine under the circumstances, but they miss their mother. And all the commotion upset them, so I gave them something to help them sleep.”
Nat squeezed the woman’s shoulder. “You did a kindly action, Lila. We’re due to meet up with their mother soon and if she turns up, we’ll let her know her girls are here. So could I ask you to take care of the girls in the meanwhile?”
“It’s no problem, I’m happy to.” Lila glanced again at the sleeping Valintina and Danja. Her soft smile made Anouk wonder if she dreamed of having children of her own someday.
“Thank you, Lila. Let’s go outside to talk.” Nat waved at the door.
As soon as they were back in the hall, he asked, “Do you have any idea where Stalo and Biddulph might have escaped to? Maybe you heard a snippet of conversation or something about a place or a person, perhaps his brother.”
Lila shook her head with a remorseful expression on her face. “I wish I could. They really didn’t confide in us. To be honest, I’m not even sure how much they told Madam Valeria.”
“Alright. Well, thank you for your help.” Nat was wearing that unreadable mask again, that could only mean he didn’t like something he had heard… or something he hadn’t heard, like Stalo’s next hiding place. Anouk made a mental note to ask which when they were alone again.
She turned to Lila. “What are you going to do now? Madam Valeria has been arrested and will be sent to jail.”
“Well, we have to talk and decide how we are going to run this place.”
Anouk’s jaw dropped. “You’ll stay here?”
Lila lifted an eyebrow. “Of course. This is a good business and we enjoy our work.”
“Oh! Well… good luck.” Anouk rubbed her neck. It wasn’t her place to question someone else’s career choices.
“You might want to hurry,” Nat said to Lila. “Chief Constable Loka will take an action to get this place closed as soon as Madam Valeria is shipped to the constabulary.”
A mischievous grin spread on Lila’s face. “Well, he can try, but he will find out soon nothing has changed.”
Anouk opened her mouth to ask Lila what she meant, but Nat intervened, “That’s what I thought, but now, Anouk, we need to find Vari and Fitzwil. Then seek Rose.” Nat took Lila’s hand and brought it close to his lips. “Thank you again for your help, and good luck.”
“It’s nothing. Just get the bastards.” Lila laughed and turned to address Anouk, her expression sobering. “I’m so very sorry I couldn’t warn you about Stalo being with Madam Valeria when you went to see her. I learned it after you had already gone in.”
Anouk squeezed Lila’s hand and smiled. “Maybe it was for the best. It most likely would have ended worse than it did. Especially since Mr Sunshine was involved as well.”
“Who?”
“Ah, Jasper.”
Lila gave a snort of a laughter. “Mr Sunshine. Well, that he certainly is.”
Nat and Anouk left the brothel, leaving Lila and her colleagues to discuss their future. Whoever took over the business, Anouk hoped they would do a better job than their predecessor at taking care of the employees, especially when dealing with former warlords gone rogue.
After the perfume-saturated air inside, the cool night with faint odours of urine, horse manure and coal were strangely welcoming. It was closing on midnight, and the street should have been busy, only it was far from it. Roister Street was almost empty save a few carriages and a dark cat.
“Seems like the enforcers have arrested everyone,” Anouk said. “Wonder if they have enough room in their cells.”
“They have most likely scared off the people.”
The clip-clop of hooves echoed from the distance.
Anouk craned her neck towards the sound. “Well, not everyone.”
“That’s Vari and Fitzwil. Let’s go.”
They walked along Roister Street towards the sound of the approaching caravan. Soon the familiar red-green wagon appeared around a street corner.
“Whoa!” Fitzwil stopped the mare. “Stalo got away.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Aye,” Nat grunted.
“Don’t worry, my boy. You’ll find him. Hop in.”
Anouk, in turn, took a hold of the side rail and pulled herself up.
“Can you take us a little closer to The Pits?” Nat asked Fitzwil before opening the door.
“Sure can.” Fitzwil nudged the mare into motion again.
“I’ll send a coded warning to Rose and then we go snooping around Vaughn’s bakery,” Nat said over his shoulder to Anouk.
With mixed feelings, Anouk followed Nat inside. She was pleased they would try to help Rose, but… her shoulders drooped an inch. It wasn’t over yet. As much as she had hoped they would rest and continue the search the next day, they had to press on as long as they had even the slightest scent of Stalo. If only he had kindly let them arrest him, their life would be getting back to normal by now. Rude and selfish man.
Vari was waiting inside, her medical kit on the table. Anouk winced at the sight of it. She ran a quick mental check over her body, listening for any signs of aches or pains. The only pain she detected was her cheek still throbbing where Stalo had hit her. Her shoulders slumped even further—Vari would smear that white stuff on it, for sure.
Vari opened her mouth, but Nat spoke first. “We are both fine but we need to warn Rose. Stalo is still on the run.”
“Yes, I know. A taxi blocked us from following, but we saw them come up through a manhole a block away from the brothel then run towards The Pits.”
Chapter 24
A tilted weathered sign hung over the door. Vaughn’s bakery didn’t look like it had been in business for months, although Nat said it went under just three weeks prior. Its dark windows opened to the street like black holes, sucking all the light through its four frames, reflecting none back. One of the windows had already been broken. Either someone had checked if there was anything valuable left behind, or local children had found it impossible not to throw a stone through it.
The echoes of the bell striking twelve times had silenced ten minutes earlier, and nothing stirred behind the black windows or down the street.
When Vari and Fitzwil joined Anouk and Nat at Vaughn’s Bakery, they reported seeing no suspicious activities. Anouk wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad sign.
“Either this is a very well-laid trap or no one is here,” Anouk whispered to Nat.
He didn’t reply, but kept scanning the immediate area. Anouk had never claimed she was an expert in seeing hidden threats, but by now there should have been some activity going on either inside the building or outside on the street. Or was she being naive once again?
Rose hadn’t answered Nat’s message. Anouk hoped it meant she had managed to escape and was busy finding her way back to her daughters but dreaded that instead she was already dead.
Nat whispered to Vari and Fitzwil, who nodded and backed deeper into the shadows. He turned to Anouk. “The place is empty, so Vari and Fitzwil are heading back to the wagon while we go inside for a closer look.”
Anouk swallowed and touched the hilt of her katana on her back. “Okay, lead the way.”
Nat crossed the street and to Anouk’s shock walked straight to the front door. Although the bakery seemed deserted, she had expected Nat to find the back door and go in that way.
He picked the lock in a few moments and cracked the door. Its hinges moaned for the lack of use. Anouk grimaced when the sharp metallic whine bounced from the walls of the narrow street. She shot looks around, expecting crooks to materialise from the shadows, but no one attacked. With a sigh of relief, she followed after Na
t.
The smell of tobacco, dust and damp mould wafted to Anouk’s nose. Her night goggles gave a green hue to the eeriness of the barren bakery.
“Take your goggles off. I’ll turn the torch on,” Nat whispered.
Anouk complied. A soft click sounded when Nat turned on the lamp. The yellow beam pierced the thick darkness and revealed a slice of dark and wooden floor. As it moved horizontally, the white tiled walls came into the view, creating a stark contrast against the counter and shelves that were the same dark wood as the floor. Everywhere showed signs of disturbed dust.
The floor creaked under their weight. Again, Anouk tensed, expecting Stalo’s throat cutters to leap out at any second. Judging by Nat’s cautious steps, so did he. But just as on the street, no one jumped them or fired a gun in their direction. Bit by bit, Anouk relaxed. They were alone and safe. Well, as safe as anyone could be in The Pits.
They searched the shop, finding nothing but the ashes of tobacco and empty food wrappers. The lingering scent of cigarette smoke hinted the premises hadn’t been deserted long.
“Wait here and watch my back while I check the kitchen.”
Anouk unsheathed her katana. “Watching your back.”
Nat patted her shoulder before he veered around the counter and vanished behind a wall. The creaking sound of the floorboards came from the kitchen when he moved around. There was something comforting in the groans of the boards. Anouk faced the front door, readying herself to deal with anyone who dared to step through it.
Nat’s footfall halted. There came a loud crash and a high-pitched scream. Anouk jumped, almost spitting out her heart, and darted to the kitchen. In the beam of yellow light she saw the face of…
“Rose,” she blurted.
Rose had her back pressed against the wall. The eyes in her pale face were as big as the frying pan she was holding over her head.
“Don’t come any closer. I swear I’ll smash your skulls if you do,” she growled.