Mila nodded and sat down in front of the sheets of paper. “Each note is a twenty?”
“Each note ought to be a twenty,” Kennith said. “And they all ought to be from the same house. You find something that don’t look right, let us know.”
Mila’s hands shook, just a little. She didn’t want Helene or anyone else to notice. She picked up a stack of the notes and started counting, best as she could. Slowly, carefully. She didn’t dare make a mistake. Not in front of Helene. Not when Asti had trusted her enough to bring her into this.
The alarm bells jangled. In a snap Helene grabbed her crossbow and loaded it. Mila uncoiled her rope from her waist.
There was a knock on the door. “It’s Almer Cort.”
Kennith looked to Helene. “Who is it?”
Helene nodded over to Kennith to get the door. “He’s from the alley. Asti wants him in on the next gig.”
“What next gig?”
“The—” Helene bit her tongue. “Just get the door. Rynaxes will explain when they get here.”
Kennith opened it slowly while she kept her aim trained on the door.
Cort stuck his spectacled face in the crack in the door. “Just me!”
Kennith opened the door a bit farther and let him in, latching it as soon as the mousy man was inside.
“You take care of Yenner?” Helene asked.
“Oh, yes.” Cort giggled, almost like a girl. Mila found it unsettling. “He’s not going to be any trouble.”
“Dead?” Julien asked.
“He wishes.” Cort giggled again. “Oh, Mister Yenner would be praying for death if he could.”
“What did you do?” Mila asked.
“You, pretty little thing, do not want to know.” He grinned widely at Mila. Helene’s fist cracked across his jaw. “What the blazes was that?” He rubbed at his face, but stepped away from Helene.
“You don’t talk to her like that,” Helene said.
“Where’s Asti? And Verci?”
“Not here yet,” Helene said.
“Where’d they go?”
“Somewhere else,” Mila said. “They get here when they get here.”
“Fine,” Cort said. He went over to the far corner of the stable, dragging a wooden chair with him, and slumped down in it with a dull thud.
“What’s this about?” Kennith asked.
“Let’s get back to counting,” Helene said, returning to the table. “We should have it all sorted and done before the Rynax boys get back.”
When Asti and Verci got back to the stable, the count was done. Mila had kept watch while everyone else was dozing, save Cort. He sat nervously, his eyes darting to every corner of the room, reacting to every creak and rustle. Mila refused to take her eyes off of him.
Asti made no attempt to keep quiet as he approached the worktable. He started throwing the planning models from the carriage job into a burlap sack. The rest of the crew roused, slowly approaching him and rubbing their eyes, then covering their noses once they got close.
“Blazes, Rynax,” Helene said. “You weren’t kidding about the sewer.”
“Can’t be afraid of a little stink to get the job done,” Verci said.
“So,” Asti said when everyone gave signs of being awake, “we did one job and got paid. All good?”
“All good,” Mila said. She pointed over to the six bundles lined up by the door. “Everyone’s share.”
“So now we’re on to a new job,” Verci said.
“What’s this new job?” Kennith asked. “Nobody is telling me anything.”
“You didn’t tell him?” Asti asked.
“Thought you’d want to,” Mila said.
“This come from the Old Lady?” Kennith asked.
“After a fashion,” Verci said.
Asti stepped over to Kennith. “This is the deal. Holver Alley was burned down on purpose. We know who did it, and we’re going for him. But this is a big dog, a lot of barking. Long watch, long plan.”
“What does that mean?” Kennith asked.
“It means that our target has a lot of money and a lot of security, so we don’t rush it,” Asti said. “Frankly, most people wouldn’t touch this job. For us, it’s personal. But I’d understand if you want to walk out.”
“I ain’t walking out,” Kennith said. “I live here.”
“No, right,” Asti said. “I meant that—”
“I get what you meant,” Kennith said. “And I mean it. I live here. May not have been my home that burned, but it’s still my neighborhood. This last gig was personal to me, and you all jumped on. So I’m in.”
Asti grinned. “Good. But you get this is pretty damn crazy. Near impossible.”
“So was tonight’s job.” Kennith nodded with a big smile. “But I expect a fair cut. This will pay well, yeah?”
“We pull it off, big money. But we might not pull it off at all.”
Helene nodded to the bundles. “Lucky we have this payday.”
“We’ve got a bank for this gig now as well,” Asti said.
“Missus Holt?” Julien asked. “She’s helping us?”
“And that doesn’t leave this room,” Asti said. “I’m not going to mix any honey with this, folks. This is a risky gig, trying to filch off a man like Tyne. Risky gig, big money.”
“This ain’t about money, Asti,” Helene said.
“No, it ain’t,” Asti said. “We all could walk right now with our bundles over there and live good clean lives from this day forward.”
“I get a bundle?” Cort asked.
“No!” Helene snapped. “But you’ve already got a nice clean life all set.”
“True,” Cort said.
“Whatever we need to do, Asti,” Mila said. She wanted Tyne to burn, burn like Jina had burned. Burn like Mister Greenfield’s family. Like Asti’s shop.
“All right,” Asti said. “Verci and I are going to hold on to our shop space. Helene, you and Julien hold on or cash out, your choice. But find yourselves a flop somewhere in North Seleth. Public and respectable. Try and get work that’s the same.”
“Work?” Helene asked. “Like what?”
“They’re hiring on the docks,” Verci said. “It doesn’t matter what. It’s got to look like you’re going clean.”
“Or open a shop,” Asti said.
“What kind of shop could we open?” Helene asked.
“A butcher shop,” Julien said from the corner. His eyes were wide, and Mila had never seen such a smile on the big man’s face. “We could do it, Helene. You could head out of the city and hunt deer and rabbits and bring them back to the shop and we’d sell the meat and the fur. Like we always used to talk about.”
“Crazy dream, Julien,” Helene said.
“You don’t have to be a big success,” Verci said. “Just look clean.”
“Right, right,” Helene said. “Look clean. Wear a pretty dress.”
“Me?” Cort asked. “What do I do?”
“Talk to the people about selling your shop,” Asti said. “But drag it out best you can. They’re hot to buy, and you don’t have a debt, so you can mess with them.”
“That’s it?” Cort looked disappointed.
“For now.”
“What’s my job?” Kennith asked.
“This stable is going to stay as our base, if that’s fine by you, Ken.”
“Fine,” Kennith said. “That’s all?”
“Start working on a carriage for us,” Verci said. “We don’t have a plan yet, but I can bet we’ll need to get away quickly when we do the job.”
“Fast carriage.” Kennith nodded. “I can do that.”
“What are you boys doing?” Helene asked.
“Scouting the job,” Asti said. “When we know more of the plan, we’ll tell you what
you need.”
“Wonderful,” Helene said, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t have a job,” Mila said.
“Get a flop in Keller Cove,” Asti said. “Low digs, spend as little as you can. Make sure no one notices you.”
“No one ever notices me,” Mila said. “And then what?”
“Then get yourself some street boys. From Seleth if you can.”
“What for?”
“To run and deliver things and to ask no questions as long as they get some silver. You know some good ones?”
“Yeah,” Mila scowled. “I know a few. Then what do I do?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re up.”
Mila didn’t like that answer. Asti was saying he didn’t have a plan, but she had a sense he knew exactly what he planned for her next, he just wasn’t telling her.
“Fine,” she said. “Are we done tonight?”
“Money up and get out,” Asti said. “Leave word where to find you here at the stable. Kennith is the center.”
“I’m the center?”
“Until we tell you otherwise, all messages through Kennith. Now, good work, get out, get some sleep.”
Mila grabbed a bundle and opened the door. It was already getting light outside.
“Long night,” she said.
“Damn long one,” Verci said as he took his bundle. “Raych isn’t going to be pleased.”
“You’re bringing home a pile of money, brother,” Asti said. “Women like that.”
Chapter 16
VERCI DIDN’T MAKE IT back to Hal and Lian’s house until well after sunrise. He found Raych sitting on the steps of the front stoop, cradling Corsi in her arms.
“You’re later than you said you’d be.” A cup of tea sat on the stoop next to her. She slid it over to Verci as he sat down on the steps. She leaned over to kiss him, then pulled away. “And you smell terrible.”
“The night went a little different than planned.” The tea was cold, but he drank without complaint.
“Bad different?”
“In some ways,” Verci said. “Mostly just different.”
“Did you do the job?”
“Yes.”
“Did you get paid?”
Verci held up the bundle of bills. “Yes.”
“Are the Constabulary looking for you?”
“Don’t think so.”
“So it didn’t go too bad.”
Verci grinned and took another sip of tea. “True enough. Any one you get away from is a good one, as Dad used to say.”
“The less yeast, the better,” Raych said.
“What?” Verci asked.
“That’s what my dad used to say,” she said.
Verci laughed and leaned over to the baby. “You listen to your mother, young man. Learn about bread instead of the trade.”
“But bread is boring, Dad,” Raych said in a baby voice.
“Bread is safe, son.” He touched Corsi’s cheek. This boy wasn’t going to do anything like what he had to do last night. Not if he could help it. “Bread is clean.”
Raych looked back up at Verci, her eyes wide and wet. “So is this it then? We’re clean, we’re set, we can get on with our lives?”
“Not exactly.”
Raych’s face fell. “Verci, I . . . I’ve been sitting out here on the stoop since five bells. Lian thought I was insane, Hal didn’t know what I was doing, and I couldn’t very well explain it to them. My heart raced with every single person I saw come around the corner. I’ve been a mess, Verci. I don’t think I could take another night like tonight.”
“I don’t think I could, either,” Verci muttered.
“But you’re saying you aren’t done?” Her voice cracked.
“Asti and I learned something tonight, Raych.”
“About time for him to learn something.”
Verci chuckled wryly. Sometimes he forgot how much his wife disliked his brother, how little respect she had for him. Raych often overlooked his own faults, the sins of his past, but she clearly placed the weight of those sins on Asti’s shoulders. Raych conveniently ignored the fact that Asti had gone straight, sought some kind of redemption, long before Verci ever had. Asti was paying a higher price for the path he chose than Verci could ever imagine.
“We know who had the alley burned.”
Raych swallowed hard. “What can you do about it?”
“We’re going to get him, Raych.”
Raych’s voice went hard, her eyes narrowed. “Get him how, Verci?”
Verci shrugged. “Not sure. Break him. Rob him blind. Make him pay for what he did to us. To the whole alley. All our friends.”
“Our friends, Verci?” Raych’s voice went up an octave. “What about our family? You, me, and Corsi?”
“What about Win Greenfield’s family? Who’s going to get justice for them?”
Raych faltered. Clutching the baby tight to her body, she looked down at the ground. “So . . . so go to the Constabulary.”
“This man bought out the Fire Brigade, Raych. The law won’t touch him. If they could get him, they would have done so a long time ago.”
“He’s that bad?”
“Yes.”
“That powerful?”
“Yes.”
Raych smacked him across the head. “Then what makes you think you and your stupid brother can do a blasted thing to him?”
“Who else can, Raych? Who else is going to? This man has to pay, and the only people who could possibly do it are people like—”
“Like you and Asti? Desperate and too clever for your own good?”
“Well—”
“Your brother has nothing to lose. Can you really say the same?”
Verci sighed. He’d known she would say something like that. “I can’t abandon him. Not for something like this. There’s . . . there’s too much at stake.”
“Our lives are at stake, Verci. Our family, our life together.” She was on her feet, pacing back and forth as her voice grew louder. “Just let him go, let it all go!”
“That’s not fair, Raych. That’s my brother.”
“And I’m your wife!”
“And if I told you to throw Lian off a bridge for me, would you?”
Raych paused. She bit at her lip. “No, of course not.”
“If your sister needed you, you’d want me to back you up, wouldn’t you?”
Raych nodded silently.
“And I would, Raych.” Verci got down on one knee in front of her. “I’ve got to do this. Not just for Asti, but for me. That man . . . that man ruined my plans, my dreams. I want to get him. I want to make him pay. Don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Good,” Verci said. “That’s settled then.”
“Promise me, Verci,” Raych said. “Promise me you won’t do anything too stupid, you won’t get yourself killed.”
“Of course,” Verci said. “I want justice, but I’m not stupid.”
“Good,” Raych said. She sighed and looked up at her sister’s house. “Can we at least move out of here and get our own place again?”
“You’re damn right we can,” Verci said. “We do have a sack full of money, after all.”
“Thank the saints for that. Now go find a bathhouse before you come inside. I don’t think you want to explain to Hal and Lian why you smell so blasted awful.”
Asti came down from the upper rooms of Kimber’s Pub with all his belongings in the world slung over his shoulder. Kimber stood at the bottom of the stairs, her face sad.
“I was getting used to having you around here, Asti,” she said.
“I’m not someone you want to get used to, Kim,” Asti said, putting on his warmest smile. “You know that.”
“Where are you heading to?”
“I’ve got a new flop, all mine, over in Keller Cove.” A terrible flop, purely for the purpose of scouting this job, but it made for good appearances if anyone was paying too close attention to him.
“Keller Cove?” Kimber’s eyebrow went up. “I didn’t think you’d east up.” Her voice cracked a little when she said that, hitting Asti in the heart. She thought he was abandoning the neighborhood.
“No, Kimber . . .” he faltered. “That ain’t it at all.”
“You left once already. I got that,” she said.
“That was joining Intelligence.”
“I know,” Kimber said. She turned away and walked over to the bar. “That was service, not easting up. Plenty of North Seleth boys went Army or Navy. You pulled Intelligence. That ain’t leaving us.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You’re flopping in Keller Cove!” she snapped. Her eyes were red and welling up.
“No, it’s . . .” Asti stopped himself. He liked Kimber plenty, but he couldn’t tell her about the job, about Tyne, about any of that. “This neighborhood is always my home, Kimber. I ain’t walking out on it.”
Kimber scoffed as she picked up a cloth and wiped down the bar. “Just a single job, real quick, then you’ll come back, right? I’ve heard it before.”
“Kimber, did we get married at some point and I’ve just forgotten?” Asti said. “Why are you taking it so personal?”
She shook her head, not looking at Asti. “It’s nothing, nothing. I’m being stupid.”
“You’re doing all right, right?” Asti asked. “I mean with money and everything?”
“Could be better,” she said. She went behind the bar, her head staying down, never looking Asti in the eye. “Always the story in North Seleth, right? Always could be better.”
“That’s the truth,” Asti said. He moved closer to her, reaching out but nervous to touch her, like she might explode if he did. “But you’re not in trouble, right?”
“No,” she said. She stood and faced him, wiping at her wet eyes. “Not in trouble, not yet. I don’t have to take any offers. I don’t want to.”
“You’ve got offers?” Asti asked.
She nodded. “A couple. Nothing much. Nothing worth leaving home for.”
“Don’t take any,” Asti said hotly.
The Holver Alley Crew Page 20