All Heck Broken Loose by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen – Raymond

I found Jack about a block from the library. In truth, he found me, as I was still picking my way through the crowd when I heard his voice. “Raymond. Finally. Where the bloody…”

The rest was lost to a scream, and then a laugh. “Oh my goodness. Did you see the ghost in the window?”

“How do they make them look so realistic?”

“They get me every time.”

Above these voices, I heard Lord Geoffrey. “I’m claiming that one.” His voice sounded reasonably close, but the crowd blocked him from sight.

Suddenly, Sir Arthur appeared, levitating above the thick. “Oh no you don’t. You got the last one.”

Lord Geoffrey vaulted out of the crowd and zipped over the heads of the people nearby, calling, “Only because I spotted him first. It’s still my turn.”

Off they went, bickering the whole way. I didn’t interfere. I’d have to warn them, sooner or later. But whereas Jack’s cleverness and general tendency toward good could make up for the moral ambiguity of his methods, the same could not be said about Lord Geoffrey or Sir Arthur. Not the cleverness, and not the tendency to decency.

On the contrary, more often than not, they’d been a hindrance rather than a help in my past endeavors. I had no time to waste on their nonsense now.

Not with Tennessee’s life on the line.

I zipped through the crowd, inadvertently brushing a few unsuspecting people. Ignoring the gasps and shudders I left in my wake, I found Jack.

He was pushing through the crowd too, looking unusually grumpy.

“There you are,” I said.

“There I am?” he demanded. “There I am? I’ve been here the entire time, keeping Tennessee safe. Which, if I recall, was your job.”

“I know. I –”

“And were you at East House? Oh no. I know, because I checked.”

“I was on my way –”

“Meanwhile, there’s a bloody killer watching her every move –”

“Wait, what?”

“And I’m stuck here with Geoffrey and Arthur. Like herding cats, only they’re dumber and meaner than cats.”

“Will you shut up!” I snapped. It wasn’t that I was unsympathetic to his grievances, but they really didn’t compare to the news I had to share – or, apparently, whatever he was bypassing to complain.

He did shut up, but he scowled at me in a way that told me I had maybe fifteen seconds to refocus him. Maybe.

So, it was time for a rapid-fire info dump. “I was kidnapped by one of Amelia’s goons. They’ve got weapons that can kill us – and a rope that we can’t get through.”

“What? Weapons? Rope? What are you talking about?”

I sighed. Less than five seconds before interruption. I decided to finish my spiel before answering questions. “Amelia wants to kill Tennessee, to get even with Cristobal. She and the centurion –”

“I’m going to stop you right there, old chap. I haven’t the foggiest what you’re talking about. The words are coming out, but they might as well be Greek. Or, Latin. Who is the centurion? Why does she need to get even with Cristobal? What do you mean, ropes we can’t get through? Start over.

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