C Harris - Where Shadows Dance

“You’d best hope for your own sake that he is not.” His finger on the trigger, one hand still fisted in the man’s coat, Sebastian hauled him toward the open doorway. “You first.”

Yanking him up short, Sebastian paused in the entrance to give his eyes time to adjust to the gloom. A vast cavernous space with a brick floor, the storeroom was filled with piles of crates and barrels and one small wriggling boy lying just to the right of the entrance.

It was Tom, his hands and feet bound, his mouth pried apart by a gag, his eyes open and alert. Sebastian felt a rush of relief, followed by a renewed upsurge of rage.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Sebastian told the hireling, dragging him over to the wide-eyed tiger. “You’re going to kneel right here”—he shoved the man to his knees—“and you’re going to hold yourself very, very still. Do anything stupid and you’re dead. Understand?”

The man nodded, his jaw set hard.

Hunkering down beside Tom, Sebastian transferred the gun to his left hand. Keeping the barrel trained on the man, he eased the knife from his boot. Quickly but carefully, he sawed through the ropes binding the lad’s wrists. He was setting to work on the bindings at the boy’s ankles when Tom yanked the gag from his mouth and yelled, ʺLook out!ʺ

S ebastian saw the man lunge up, the gleam of a knife blade in his hand.

Pivoting, Sebastian fired the remaining barrel of his pistol into the man’s chest.

Within the confines of the warehouse, the report was deafening, the air filling with the stench of burnt powder. The man flopped backward, twitched once, then lay still.

“Gor,” said Tom on an exhalation of breath.

Sebastian went to rest his fingers against the man’s neck.

“Is he dead?” whispered Tom, struggling to sit up.

Rather than answer, Sebastian went to help the boy to his feet. Then he held him by the shoulders a moment longer than was strictly necessary, his gaze on the lad’s pale, freckled face. “Are you all right?”

“Aye, gov’nor. They just roughed me up a bit. It was you they was lookin’ to kill.”

“They knew my name?” Sebastian caught the tiger’s cap up off the brick floor and handed it to him.

“Aye. Who ye reckon set them on ye?” asked Tom, using the cap to whack the dust off his coat and breeches as he followed Sebastian out into the shadow-filled street.

“I’m not sure. But after we talk to the local magistrate, I think Mr. Jasper Cox has some explaining to do.”

It was some hours later when he came upon Jasper Cox in the Cockpit Royal on Birdcage Walk, on the south side of St. James’s Park.

The air in the small, theaterlike building was thick with the smell of dust and sweaty men and blood. Pushing through the outer ring of rougher men standing tightly packed around the curving walls, Sebastian found Cox sitting in the first tier of benches.

“Personally, I favor the black-gray,” said Sebastian, squeezing in between Cox and a man in a drab coat who obligingly shifted over to make room for him. “How about you?”

Cox nodded to the bird being taken out of its bag by a whipthin, sharp-nosed cocker. “My money’s on the red pyle. Look at that size and girth.”

Sebastian watched the setters move toward the stage in the center of the pit. Above them blazed a huge chandelier, its myriad flames adding to the heat of the close-packed room. “There’s no doubt his spurs are long and sharp,” said Sebastian.

Cox turned his head to give Sebastian a long, considering look. “I hear you think Alexander Ross’s death was a murder.”

“It was murder,” said Sebastian, his gaze still on the stage below. “I assume by now that you’ve also heard of the death of one of your agents, an American by the name of Ezekiel Kincaid.”

“I have. But I’ll be damned if I see what the devil one has to do with the other.”

“They both died on the same night. Did you know?”

“No, I did not. Yet what is that to the point?”

“You don’t find it ... suggestive?”

“Of what? Men die in London all the time.”

“True.” Sebastian watched the two birds ogle each other. “How well did you know Mr. Kincaid?”

Cox frowned. “Not well. He may have been in my employ, but I’d met him only a few times.”

“I understand he had just arrived from America.”

“That’s right.”

“In fact, his ship docked the very morning he died.”

“Had it? I’m afraid I don’t recall. It may seem significant to you, but my company deals with many such transactions on a daily basis. My personal involvement is minimal.”

“That’s unfortunate, because I was hoping you could enlighten me on something. You see, as I understand it, the Baltimore Mary dropped anchor and unloaded her cargo in near record time. She was supposed to undergo some repairs and negotiate a new cargo for the return journey. Instead, she weighed anchor and set sail just days later, leaving Mr. Kincaid behind.”

“Yes, well; he was dead, wasn’t he?”

“True. But the Baltimore Mary didn’t know that. Or at least, I get the impression they didn’t, since they seem to have made every effort to find him and nearly missed the tide waiting for him.”

Jasper Cox narrowed his eyes against the haze as the birds circled each other in the ring below. “I really don’t see what any of this has to do with me.”

On the stage before them, the black-gray cock rushed in, feathers flying as the birds struck and slashed. The red pyle reeled back, bleeding.

Sebastian said, “Don’t you? The thing is, you see, the only link I can find between Ezekiel Kincaid and Alexander Ross is you.”

“You’re assuming there is a link.”

“Oh, there’s a link, all right.”

“I’ll be damned if I see it.”

The red pyle was down, dazed. Sebastian said, “Can you think of anyone who might have wanted to see Ross dead?”

Cox kept his gaze on the stage. His bird was finished. After a moment, he said, “Actually ...” Then he shook his head. “No, it’s absurd to even think of it.”

“Think of what?”

Cox cast a quick glance around, then leaned in closer and dropped his voice. “I heard a rumor—don’t ask me who from, because I won’t tell you. But there are whispers that Yasmina Ramadani—the wife of the Turkish Ambassador—has made several conquests amongst the members of the diplomatic community, and that Ross was one of her paramours.”

Sebastian studied the man’s fleshy, sweaty face. It was the most preposterous suggestion he’d heard yet. “Are you seriously suggesting that Alexander Ross was conducting an illicit affair with the wife of the Turkish Ambassador?” Such an activity would have gone beyond mere folly and indiscretion to careen straight into the realm of the suicidal.

Cox shrugged. “She is a very beautiful woman.”

“You’ve seen her?”

“Oh, yes. She appears often in the park. She’s not as retiring as you might suppose, given her position. I understand she’s Greek. A Christian, in fact; from Corinth.”

“And it didn’t trouble you that your sister’s fiancé was rumored to be involved with another man’s wife?”

“Of course it troubled me. But I only just heard it, and before I had the opportunity to confront Ross with the accusation, he died. What was the point then in pursuing the matter further? Sabrina is cut up enough about his death as it is, poor girl. Leave her with her image of a noble beloved brought too early to his grave. Why tarnish the sweetness of her memories?”

“Why indeed?” said Sebastian dryly. “Although I fail to see how the Turkish Ambassador’s wife could possibly have anything to do with Mr. Ezekiel Kincaid.”