Den of Thieves Read Online Free PDF Page A

my hand on his arm under his. ‘You’re not getting into a cab with them on your own, Cat,’ he argued as I tried to pull away.
    â€˜I haven’t got a choice. I’ll have to see Billy if he wants to see me.’
    â€˜So it would seem. But not by yourself. I’m coming too.’
    â€˜Suit yourself, Blackie,’ said the man. ‘You can come for the ride if you like.’
    â€˜Can we have a moment?’ I asked.
    Billy’s messenger shrugged and stood off a couple of paces.
    â€˜Pedro, you’d better stay out of this,’ I urged. ‘Remember what he did to you last year – kept you chained up in a pit for days!’
    Pedro’s jaw was set. He shook his head.
    â€˜There’s no point both of us disappearing into the Rookeries. If you leave now, you can let Syd know where I’ve gone. That means if I need help – though I doubt I will – you’ll have alerted thegang. If you come with me, Billy will just use you against me – you know what he’s like. He’ll threaten to hurt you just to get at me. I couldn’t bear that.’
    Pedro unclenched his teeth.
    â€˜You know Billy and I are old sparring partners. He probably just wants his annual dose of insults from me.’
    A pause followed this suggestion and then Pedro nodded. ‘I’ll run and tell Syd. If you’re not back by dark, we’ll come in after you. Agreed?’
    â€˜I’ll be back long before then, don’t you worry.’
    â€˜Agreed?’ he repeated.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Right. And good luck.’ He squeezed my hand and darted off down Piccadilly before my guard of honour could stop him.
    â€˜The young African gentleman not accompanying you after all, miss?’ asked the messenger sardonically.
    â€˜He had another, more pressing engagement,’ I said airily as if I had not a concern in theworld. ‘As do I. I hope your master is not going to keep me long?’
    â€˜No idea, miss,’ he replied, helping me into the cab. ‘’E’s a law unto ’imself, is Mr Shepherd.’

SCENE 2 – THE CROWN JEWELS
    I was wrong about the Rookeries. I should have remembered that Billy Shepherd’s empire had grown overnight like a particularly poisonous species of toadstool. He had decided to let his fungus sprout in Bedford Square, Bloomsbury, surrounded by the elegance to which he now aspired; though his roots were still planted not far away in the stews of St Giles where he made his money and ruled his own criminal kingdom.
    The cab drew up outside a brick house at the end of the terrace on the southern side, the first floor embellished with a cage-like iron balcony. The front door was framed by an archway of alternating black and white stone, reminiscent of a badger’s snout. Billy had appropriately chosen a fox’s head for his brass knocker. I suppose that made me the first chicken in history to walk voluntarily into the den.
    A cool chequered-tile entrance hall stretchedout before me. I was glad I happened to be appropriately dressed for my surroundings and could meet the servants’ eyes without embarrassment. I folded my skirt in my fist to hide the pink sherbet stain and followed the butler upstairs, intrigued despite myself to see what Billy was doing with his newfound riches.
    Was it my imagination or did all of Billy’s household look like barmaids and cracksmen playing at dressing up? Having known a properly managed staff at Grosvenor Square, I couldn’t help but notice that the maids’ skirts were too flouncy and the stripes of the butler’s breeches too broad.
    I was brought up short when we reached the first floor landing. The neutral entrance hall had lulled me into a false impression; up here Billy had got to work, stripping out the previous tenant’s decorations and bringing in his own objets d’art. It was as if King Midas had been invited to run riot. Everything