The Girl and the Clockwork Conspiracy: Clockwork Enterprises Book Two

by Nikki Mccormack

  He chuckled. “You took to it a little faster than I expected.”

  Macak, not wanting to be left out of the conversation, climbed up onto Chaff’s chest and sat there, staring down at both of them. Drawn by the irresistible power of feline expectation, they both started to pet him. He lifted his head, inviting a scratch on his white chin, which Maeko obliged. Chaff stopped petting and poked at the metal paw.

  “Quite the contraption. You couldn’t have made off with a less conspicuous cat? He’ll never fit in with the strays around Whitechapel.”

  She grinned. “He wanted to come.”

  “Can’t say I blame him. Given the choice between you and a sibling-slaughtering mad man I’d probably choose you too.”

  “Probably?” She poked him in the ribs and he twisted away. Macak rode out the motion, digging in his claws.

  “Ouch! He’s almost as prickly as you, Pigeon.” Chaff lifted the cat then. “And right now he needs to chivvy along. Those claws are sharp and that metal is really cold on bare skin. Besides, I need to go make sure things are proceeding as planned.” He set Macak down above his head and got up, helping her up with him. Then he picked up her clothes from on top of the carrier and handed them to her. “I imagine you’ll want to change back into those. Which reminds me.” He turned his back and began putting on his shirt while he spoke. She took the cue, standing and putting her back to him while she swapped shirts as fast as her sore back would allow. “Where’d you get those togs? I didn’t get the impression Mr. Folesworth was the type to dress a bird in boy’s clothes.”

  “Em.”

  “The detective?”

  She caught the edge in his voice and an ominous stillness fell over the room, as if they all waited for something, like an explosion. Here was another thing she probably should have mentioned up front. Now that she thought about it, was today the day she was supposed to meet Em again?

  “Yes. The detective.”

  “Care to explain why she’d be doing you a favor like that? She didn’t strike me as the generous type.”

  “She’s definitely not. It wasn’t a favor.” She glanced around to make sure he wasn’t looking then changed out her trousers.

  “I had a feeling. What did you do for her?”

  “I gave her information. The night he was snuffed, the commissioner met with Lucian. Em’s investigating his death or Lucian’s involvement with him. Or maybe she’s still following up on the incident with his partner. I’m not exactly sure.” Something she needed to clarify when she met with the detective again, though she didn’t know how or when that would be under the circumstances.

  “Didn’t we have a talk about communication when I first took you under my wing?”

  She finished fastening the trousers and turned around. He was already facing her and his wicked smirk made her wonder exactly how long he’d been looking. “Yes. I believe your exact words were ‘you tell me everything, Pigeon, and I’ll tell you what you need to know’.”

  There was a knock on the door. He gave her his dashing scoundrel grin and reached for the handle. “That sounds about right.”

  She threw a balled up sock at him as he opened the door. It bounced off his cheek and Diggs caught it.

  Diggs chuckled and tossed it back at her. “Good to see you’re feeling more like yourself, Mae.”

  She caught the sock. “Morning, Diggs.”

  “How’re things going?” Chaff asked.

  “Exactly as planned, excepting I found some grumpy harlot in men’s clothes sneaking round the building. Says she’s looking for Maeko.”

  Chaff gave her a meaningful glance. “Talk of the devil…”

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Maeko tucked the remaining contents of her coin purse into an inside pocket of her jacket, then she and Chaff followed Diggs back out to the more devastated front section of the building where he had left Em waiting. Diggs stopped at the doorway into the room, letting Maeko approach the detective with Chaff hanging a few steps behind. It was a bit like having a guard, which didn’t seem an out of place thought since neither boy looked overly happy about the woman’s presence.

  Maeko ignored the challenging glances the two exchanged with Em. “I thought we were supposed to meet later today?”

  Em smirked. “And you were going to show up for that, were you?”

  “I don’t know. Things have changed.”

  “Just a little,” Em answered, prickly as usual. “It took me a while to confirm that you’d left the flat after the airship incident without drawing attention to myself. I figured you would have come back to this.” Her eyes swept the broken down room and the two boys with open disdain.

  Chaff stepped forward to stand at Maeko’s shoulder.

  “This is where I belong. Did you come here to insult my friends and me or do we have business to conduct?”

  “There are a number of developments since the explosion that I find curious. I hoped you might be able to shed some light on them. And I thought you might like to know that Captain Garrett and two of his band have been arrested in connection with the airship explosion.”

  Maeko’s mouth went dry. “What about Ash?”

  Em glanced at Chaff with a knowing smirk and Maeko winced inwardly. The question had simply popped out. Perhaps she should have waited to get Em alone before asking, though, from where she was standing, Chaff’s expression still looked stone cold, his eyes not leaving the detective.

  “They haven’t arrested the two boys. Although they aren’t done with the investigation yet. I have some important things to talk to you about. Can we go somewhere private?” Em pointed to the exit.

  Somewhere private like her coach, which would put her at the woman’s mercy. If she went, Chaff would be upset, but it would give her the opportunity to check in on Ash and get Em’s input on the situation. The detective might have a miserable attitude most of the time, but her experience could prove useful.

  She looked up at Chaff who eventually left off glaring at Em to meet her gaze. Resistance blazed like an out of control house fire in his eyes.

  “I need to go with Em. Just for a bit.”

  His eyes narrowed. “You’re in no shape to be out adventuring.”

  “I have to do this. Please trust me.”

  His shoulders stiffened and he leaned a few inches away from her. Not an encouraging sign. “I do trust you. One of the things I trust you to do best is get yourself into trouble.”

  Em chuckled. “He may not be as dumb as he looks.”

  Maeko threw an arm out to stop Chaff’s sudden advance, grinding her teeth against the pain the sudden gesture caused. Diggs also moved into the room, ready to intervene, though she wasn’t entirely sure on whose behalf.

  She gave Em a piercing look. “Can you leave us alone for a minute?”

  Em shrugged. “I’ll be outside.”

  When she was gone, Diggs turned and vanished back deeper into the building, also leaving them alone. The tension in the room swelled the moment the others were gone.

  She met Chaff’s eyes and started to speak, but he put a finger to her lips, his touch gentle despite the anger she saw in his eyes.

  “You’re hurt and there could be others like that bludger out looking for you. You know this is a bad idea.”

  So many arguments went through her mind, all of them things he could counter easily enough. The bottom line was that she wanted to check on Ash and she wanted, deep down, to see Thaddeus suffer for what he’d done, assuming, of course that she wasn’t wrong about everything, but now wasn’t the time for self-doubt. If she went into hiding with Chaff, Thaddeus would probably give up on her after a while, but he would also get everything he wanted. As least if Em knew the truth, there was a small chance that something might be done about it.

  “Yes. I know it’s a bad idea, but I’m going to do it anyway and you know that.”

  He closed his eyes for a quick second and took a deep breath. “I’m not letting you get hurt again.”

&n
bsp; “You know that isn’t in your hands, Chaff. You can’t keep me safe from myself.” Macak, who had been hanging back, now sauntered over and wound through her legs, making it easier for her to force a smile and hide the pain it brought her to see such torment in his eyes. “I’ll meet you in Whitechapel tonight.”

  He wanted to argue, she could see it in the set of his jaw, the tension in his shoulders, the white knuckles of his fist. Instead, he released the fist and brought a hand up to her cheek. A flutter rose in her stomach. The butterflies were back, but it wasn’t fear that called them in this time. He stepped in and kissed her, his hand on her cheek trembling with pent up emotion. This time she shifted closer, ignoring the pain, and kissed him in return, as much to savor the heady sensation of that contact as to thank him for letting her win, because he was going to let her win.

  Delicious warmth flooded through her, a pleasure so intoxicating she slid one hand around the back of his neck to keep him there. Her lips parted slightly when his did and his tongue slipped between them. She tensed, letting out a tiny squeak of surprise. His other hand came to rest on her hip and pulled her body against his. The brief flare of pain in her back wasn’t enough to make her want the moment to end. The longer they kissed, the more she wanted be closer to him. She opened her mouth a little more, exploring and tasting him, delighting in the feel of his body pressed against her. A flood of longing heated her, the pounding of her heart drowning out thought.

  He drew back, ending the kiss, and rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. It took her a few seconds to get her balance again. They were both breathing hard.

  “If you need me, I’ll be here until tonight to see that all the boys get moved out.”

  “Can I leave Macak with you for now?”

  He nodded. “Be careful,” he murmured.

  She took hold of the hand that still rested on her hip, surprised by how much she didn’t want to walk away, and made herself step back from him. He looked perfect standing there in the midst of the broken down building, strong and lean, a hunger in his eyes burning for her. He wanted Maeko the street rat. The little half-Asian pickpocket whose every flaw he already knew. It was flattering in a way she wasn’t used to, but what surprised her more was how much she reciprocated that feeling.

  “I will.” She squeezed his hand then loosened her grip, letting their hands slide apart. “Ganbatte.”

  “Ganbatte.”

  *

  Em watched with her shrewd gaze as Maeko climbed gingerly into the coach. She sat on the edge of the seat and met the detective’s questioning look. The coach began to move at the customary knock on the roof from Em.

  “It doesn’t take skilled sleuthing to see that you’re in a considerable amount of pain.”

  Was that a hint of concern in the cold woman’s voice? With the lingering inner glow from her parting with Chaff bolstering her mood, it was all she could do not to make a jesting comment on that, but she didn’t want to brass Em off. “I found your rooftop shooter. He put a fine effort into crushing the life out of me.” She told Em all about the man’s strange arm and what he’d said about being paid to kill her.

  “I’ll assume you didn’t sweet talk your way out of that encounter.”

  Maeko shivered, all too aware of how close she’d come to dying, and gritted her teeth against a flare of pain. “No. The bludger’s dead. Chaff and Diggs had to kill him to get him off me.”

  Em nodded, her expression grim. “My only solid lead to the man who actually killed the commissioner.” Then her eyes lit and she smiled. “Then again, if someone wants you dead, I imagine they’ll send someone else after you soon enough.”

  Another shiver almost pulled a groan from her. She swallowed it back. “Brilliant,” Maeko grumbled.

  “Here, what do you make of this?” Em picked up some newspapers from the seat next to her and handed them across.

  The cover of one was all about unnamed suspects arrested for the murder of Thaddeus Folesworth. The cover of the next one made her feel sick.

  Joel Jacard, business partner to Lucian Folesworth, founder of Clockwork Enterprises, was released from custody today upon the discovery of evidence clearing his name in the murder case of Anna and Elizabeth Folesworth. Mr. Jacard explained that his perceived abduction of Mr. Folesworth was a panicked attempt to protect his longtime friend and business partner from the people coming after him. Mr. Folesworth, still coping with the death of his wife and daughter as well as the recent tragic loss of his brother, was present at the release. The two men embraced one another in a heartwarming display of forgiveness and understanding.

  She looked up at Em. “Is this real?”

  “Odd, isn’t it. His brother dies and now he’s publicly embracing the man who murdered his family. Of course, there is always the possibility that Mr. Jacard didn’t kill them.”

  Her jaw dropped. All the good feelings were gone now. “How can you say that? You were there in the warehouse. You saw what Joel was like.”

  Em started to speak when the coach jerked to a stop. They moved as one to the window and drew back the curtains.

  A couple of younger men were on the corner ahead of them with stacks of newspapers. They held copies out to passers and bellowed into the crowd. “Get your Pirate Journal! The Literati aim to make slaves of the working man! Read all about it here! Find out who really killed Commissioner Henderson and why!”

  Traffic had stopped because four Literati officers were in the street brandishing their clubs and trying to outshout the Pirate newsboys, ordering them to cease distributing their lies or be taken into custody. The men not only ignored the shouting, but raised their own voices further still and were joined by three burly blokes who came to stand between them and the officers.

  Maeko cracked the door and leaned out for a better view.

  One officer swapped his club out for his gun. A fourth bloke joined the men standing between the Lits and the Pirate newsboys. The officer fired his gun into the air. Several horses startled and most of the passing pedestrians cried out, spreading away from the conflict like water rippling away from a dropped stone.

  “We’ve a right to be here,” one of the Pirates shouted.

  “Not anymore you don’t,” an officer snarled back.

  One of the big blokes in the middle swung his meaty fist out, catching the officer in the jaw. That was the signal for everything to fall apart. The officer with the gun out fired on the bloke. The man’s hands went to his chest and he fell back into one of the men with the papers who also fell, the stack of papers scattering across the pavement. The other man passing out papers threw his handful aside and tackled the officer with the gun. The rest of the men and another officer dove into the fray. Some of the crowd crept near, fascinated by violence, while others fled the area.

  Maeko stepped out of the coach. Em grabbed after her, fingers coming close enough to brush her arm as she darted over and snatched up a paper from the ground. With that in hand, she dashed back to the coach, wincing when another gunshot fired and woman in front of the clockmaker’s shop screamed, red blooming bright across the pale ivory of her bodice. Maeko’s eyes met hers for a moment, then the woman sank to her knees and wavered there a few seconds before crumpling to the ground.

  Maeko froze, a painful knot forming in her throat, until the massive steam powered clock above the shop exhaled, jarring her back to herself. She ducked into the coach, her back and neck on fire with pain from the brief flurry of activity. When the door was shut and Em sat back in her seat scowling at her, Maeko peeked out the window again.

  The last shot had finished what the first started. Two of the big men were dragging their wounded comrade away. Both of the men who’d been distributing papers were on the ground in cuffs with a Lit officer standing over them. Two officers had gone to the aide of the wounded woman who lay unmoving before the shop. The last officer gathered the strewn papers in a pile and lit them on fire there on the pavement.

  A clacking sound dre
w Maeko’s gaze up to the headline boards on either side of the big steam clock. When the letters on one side finished flipping it read, LITERATI, FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE.

  Indeed. She snapped the curtains closed, feeling naught but disgust for the lot of them. Perhaps this was what fed Em’s bitterness. Watching innocents hurt and killed in a fight they wanted no part of. Was there a right side?

  Em watched her with a bitter gaze while she flipped through the short paper. “You need to be more careful.”

  Maeko shrugged off her anger, wincing at yet another flash of pain in her back. “You wanted to look at it too.”

  Em turned away to stare through a fine line of light streaming between the curtains. “What does it say?”

  “It claims the Lits are trying to enslave the working class. Also says that powerful Literati officials hired someone to kill the commissioner. They’re calling for the people to fight back.” Maeko set it down on the seat. “Nothing unexpected.”

  “Brilliant. Encourage the unarmed common folk to incite the wrath of the people with the big guns. Typical Pirate rubbish.”

  The coach finally started moving again. Maeko resisted the nagging urge to look out and see if the woman by the shop was alive. She would imagine they had saved her. It was easier that way.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Em’s grey eyes shone in the light from the window when she turned back to Maeko. “Back to the business at hand. Why would Mr. Folesworth welcome Joel back after all that’s happened if the man killed his family?”

  “It makes perfect sense, unfortunately.” Several things clicked together in Maeko’s head then and unhappy certainty made her cold. “Back when I first told Lucian about you, when he was still in hiding, he thought it odd that his brother had hired a woman detective to find him. He said Thaddeus didn’t have much respect for professional women. Maybe he hired a woman because he expected you to fail. Maybe Thaddeus and Joel have been working together to get Lucian out of the way this whole time.”