Gypsy - Lesley Pearse [95]
But now, after two large cups of hot, sweet coffee and some bacon and eggs, she had thawed out enough to tell them how it came about, and how her captor hadn’t returned, not to bring her food or drink or even a blanket. She had told them how she kept up the shouting and banging until exhaustion overcame her, but not that she had given up hope of rescue. Now she was safe, the terror she’d felt as she sat hunched up in the dark with only the squeaking and rustlings of rats for company was fading. She could see anxiety for her etched in the men’s faces and she didn’t want to add to it.
Yet when she first heard Theo’s and Jack’s voices she had thought she was descending into madness and merely imagining what she most wanted to hear. It was only when the trapdoor began to open, light spilled into her dark prison and Theo’s head was silhouetted in the opening, that she knew it was for real.
‘You can come back to my place,’ Theo said, taking her hand and kissing the tips of her fingers. ‘Nobody knows where it is, and it’s a quiet house. You can have a hot bath and a good sleep.’
That sounded like heaven to Beth, but she caught the horrified glances Sam and Jack exchanged.
Theo saw them too, and letting go of her hand, looked hard at Sam. ‘You do realize that none of us will be safe? Fingers will be out for our blood, and Heaney won’t offer us any protection because all he cares about is his property.’
‘I can’t see why Fingers would have it in for us,’ Sam said belligerently. ‘Even a thug like him can surely understand a man rescuing his sister.’
‘It’s all about keeping face,’ Theo said patiently. ‘He won’t give a damn about the rights and wrongs of it. All he’ll see is that we thwarted him.’
‘He’s right, Sam.’ Jack sighed, running his fingers through his dark hair distractedly. ‘Fingers is a madman, and the rough way he treated Beth proves that she meant nothing to him. His whole aim was to provoke Heaney. He’ll have to do something else now and I wouldn’t put it past him to fire-bomb the saloon tonight just to show his muscle.’
‘Are you trying to say I shouldn’t work there any more?’ Sam said incredulously.
‘Not unless you’ve got a death wish.’ Theo smirked.
‘You’ve got to make yourself scarce, Sam. We all have.
Fingers, Heaney and their foot soldiers aren’t reasonable men, they are mindless, savage brutes, determined to have a turf war, and we’ll be caught in fire from both sides. The best thing you two can do is to take off to Philadelphia today. I’ve got some friends you can go to there, and I’ll bring Beth to you as soon as she’s able to travel.’
‘What about my mates from the slaughterhouse?’ Jack asked, his face pale and anxious.
Theo shrugged. ‘I think they’re safe enough. They aren’t known to Fingers or Heaney.’
‘We can’t go just like that, it’s Christmas Eve!’ Sam objected.
Theo raised an eyebrow. ‘You surely don’t think men like them believe in the season of goodwill? They’ll see tonight as the perfect time to strike when all the bars are crowded.’
Sam’s belligerent expression changed to one of fear. ‘But what about our belongings back at Houston Street?’
Theo looked at a clock on the wall; it was just after ten. ‘I doubt word will reach Fingers or Heaney before noon. You can go and pack up now, I’ll take Beth to my place first, then come round to collect her things.’
‘What makes you think Beth will be safe with you?’ Sam said suspiciously. ‘You said you’d have to leave too!’
‘So I will, for I certainly won’t be able to play cards anywhere in New York for the foreseeable future,’ Theo replied. ‘But no one knows where I live. We’ll be safe enough there until she’s recovered.’
‘Let me talk to Beth on her own,’ Sam said curtly.
Theo nodded and said he’d give him ten minutes.
As soon as the coffee-shop door had closed behind him, Sam moved closer to his sister. ‘I don