Dangerous Times on Dressmakers' Alley by Rosie Clarke

Author:Rosie Clarke [Clarke, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-05T00:00:00+00:00

Cyril’s brow furrowed. Much of his property empire, as he’d come to think of it, was lost to him now. The money he’d embezzled from his employer, Lord Henry, had gone into his other little schemes; the girls had to be housed and his men had to be paid or they would simply walk away and find another boss to work for.

There were many men like Cyril who made money through the sufferings of others; extortion, gambling, fencing stolen goods and women were profitable. Cyril had dreamed of becoming one of the richest and most feared gangsters in the East End of London, but because of his brother’s stupidity in employing a spy – that girl! – his dreams had temporarily hit a brick wall. Bert couldn’t have known the girl was a spy, but it was still his fault for not being more careful. Cyril had been almost ready to finance his own gambling club but the deal had gone sour now that he was being hunted.

He still had some money stashed away. Cyril had become quite rich from all his rotten dealings, but his job as a property agent had gone, and all the money he’d creamed off the top of rents due to his employer were lost. His lordship had caught on somehow, probably that clever dick son of his – he’d always sensed the cocky so-and-so didn’t trust him, and nor did her high-and-mighty ladyship and now he’d been caught with sticky fingers for embezzlement. They were probably crowing over it right now. God how Cyril hated people like that! He’d been lucky to get a position of trust, but he’d envied his employer and wanted more.

Cyril thought of his former life with bitterness. He’d thought Lord Henry too careless and comfortable to bother about the odd discrepancy, but that son of his was clever. Between them, they’d cut the ground from beneath his feet. After running from the police, he’d tried to collect some rent from one of his victims, but the man had laughed in his face and threatened to call the police. Other men would move in on Cyril’s territory while he was hiding out, even though he still had his own bully boys. Word soon spread in the underworld. The small shops, cafés and market traders he’d forced to pay protection money would be taken over by another trickster while he had to hide out from the police. Even men he’d thought his friends and done favours for would spurn him until the heat was off, so he had no choice but to lie low.

It was a setback, but Cyril didn’t believe it was the end. If he lay low for a while, the police would forget him and go after someone else. There were bigger fish than him in the underworld of crime that permeated the huge sprawling city of London. For the moment, Cyril was on the list of most wanted criminals, Lord Henry would make certain of that. And

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.