Belle - Lesley Pearse [32]
‘If he was I never heard tell of it,’ Garth said, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. ‘But they say he’s a flash geezer, good clothes, handmade shoes, gold watch.’
‘I’ll ask the girls what they know about him,’ Noah responded.
‘Just make sure they don’t start blabbing all around about him,’ Garth said warningly, making a gesture of a knife slitting his throat as he walked out and left Noah with Jimmy.
‘Do you think he’s killed Belle already?’ Jimmy asked, his voice shaky with emotion.
Noah’s heart went out to the young lad. Anyone could see he had been gently brought up, and being made to live and work in a rough place like the Ram’s Head was hardly ideal for a sensitive boy still grieving for his mother. But sadder still in Noah’s view was that he sensed from the way the lad spoke about Belle that she was the best thing that had happened to him since his mother’s death. Now she too had been snatched away from him.
Considering what he’d been told about Kent, and that Belle was the one person who could get him hanged, Noah couldn’t help but think he had probably already killed her. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell Jimmy that.
‘What do I know?’ Noah shrugged. ‘I’m not a detective. But it strikes me that if he took her with the intention of killing her, he’d have done it straight off and dumped her body. I’m going down to Bow Street now, to ask if they’ve found a body, but if they haven’t, then we can be hopeful she’s still alive. They do say that the longer a kidnapper keeps his victim, the less likely he is to kill them.’
‘But it ain’t long yet, not even twenty-four hours,’ Jimmy said. ‘And if he has killed her he ain’t likely to leave her body on a street corner in Seven Dials so the police can find her easily, is he?’
Noah gulped and thought fast. ‘No, of course not, but the police keep in touch with the ones from other areas, and we must hope every hour that passes without them finding a body means she’s just that bit safer. But I’ve got to go now. I want you to try and talk to your uncle. Get him to think about everything he’s heard about the Falcon, places he drinks, who his friends are, anything might be useful. Perhaps you could write it all down for me?’
‘I’ll do all I can,’ Jimmy said, fixing his tawny eyes on Noah. ‘You’ll let me know what’s happening, won’t you? I won’t be able to sleep until I know Belle is safe.’
‘You’re sweet on her,’ Noah said teasingly, hoping to lighten the mood.
‘I am,’ Jimmy said with blinding sincerity. ‘She’s the nicest, prettiest girl I’ve ever known. I won’t rest until she’s safe again.’
Chapter Seven
Belle shrieked at the top of her voice, only to be silenced instantly by Kent pressing on her vocal chords with his thumbs and shoving his face so close that his moustache touched her nose.
‘Be silent,’ he snarled at her. ‘Or I’ll kill you here and now.’
‘But why do you want me?’ she whimpered when he’d loosened his grip on her. ‘I haven’t done anything to you.’
‘You know who I am, that’s enough,’ he said. With that he forced her face down on to the carriage seat, holding her there while his companion tied her ankles together. Then he jerked her up to a sitting position and tied her wrists together in front of her.
Nothing in Belle’s life had come close to being as terrifying as hurtling through London, the prisoner of these two men. She could hear her heart pounding, she was bathed in cold sweat, and her stomach was churning alarmingly as if she might be sick. Even the way she felt when she saw what the man was doing to Millie wasn’t as bad as this. Yet a small voice inside her told her she mustn’t do or say anything to make the men get angry with her. She’d seen what Kent could do when he was really angry.
As the carriage rattled through the crowded streets she could hear other cabs and carts, along with street vendors calling people to buy their wares. Yet although the familiar sounds encouraged her to hope for rescue, in her heart