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“Sophia,” he thundered, “if that is you, I’ to beat you senseless”
“Gentry is waiting with ain “Don’t try to cross that wall!”
“I wasn’t planning to,” he retorted, struggling to contain his fury as he realized that she had disobeyed his request to stay safe “Stay there”
It seeh the prison Rossthe screams and epithets that filled the air as he passed floor after floor Finally he went out through the entrance and headed around the building in a full-tilt run He saw a small crowd of onlookers, horse and foot patrols, and Sayer and Gee, all waiting at a respectful distance from his wife and her captive
“Sir Ross,” Sayer said anxiously, “she got to him before any of us saw him—she told us to stay back here or—”
“Keep everyone ahile I deal with this,” Ross snapped
Obediently the runners steered the crowd back several more yards as Ross strode to his wife Sophia’s face relaxed when she saw him, and she yielded the pistol to him without a murmur
“Where did you get this?” he asked mildly, his voicestrained with the effort to keep fro
“I took it froetically “It wasn’t his fault, Ross I’aol-keeper tell Mr Sayer that Gentry had escaped… and then they left, and I was looking through the carriage , and I happened to see my brother on the rooftop—”
“Later,” Ross interrupted, yearning to apply his hand to her posterior until she howled Instead he focused on solving the problem at hand
He glanced at Gentry, who observed them with a sneer “So this is how you take care of ood hands, isn’t she? Traipsing around Newgate at night with a pistol!”
“John,” Sophia protested “He didn’t—”
Ross silenced her by placing a firm hand on the back of her neck “You are fortunate that she stopped you,” he informed Gentry coldly
“Oh, I’m a lucky bastard indeed,” Gentry muttered
Ross stared at hiravethat he probably was He had conceived of a plan that ht save his brother-in-law’s neck and even benefit Bow Street, but it was an obvious gamble There was an explosive mixture of elements in Gentry’s character—the brave thief-taker, the sinister underworld lord, the hero, the devil Curiously, Gentry see to be But if placed in the right hands, and er than his own…
No one has ever given hie, Sophia had said If he had just one chance at a different life… think of the kind of man he could become
Ross was going to give him that chance, for Sophia’s sake If he did not try to help her brother, it would be a per to make you an offer,” he told Gentry “I advise you to consider it carefully”
A cynical s”
“You’re aware of the evidence against you If I choose, I can make it disappear”
Gentry stared at him with sudden alert interest, as he was entirely fa “What of the witness who is ready to testify?”
“I can also e that”
“How?”
“How I handle it is none of your business” Ross did not glance at Sophia when he heard her sharply indrawn breath He sensed her astonish to compromise his principles for her brother’s sake In almost a dozen years in the judiciary, he had never done anything that could be considered corrupt Manipulation of evidence and witnesses went coainst his nature However, he sed down his scruples and continued gri from you”
“Of course,” Gentry said sardonically “That’s not hard to guess You want me to leave the country and disappear”
“No I want you to become a runner”
“What?” Gentry demanded
“Ross?” Sophia asked at the same time
Were Ross not so doggedly intent, he would have been amused by the blank looks in the identical pairs of blue eyes before him
“Don’t play with me, Cannon,” Gentry said in annoyance “Tell me what you want, and I’ll—”
“You call yourself a thief-taker,” Ross said “Let’s see if you are h to do it by the rules Without brutality or lies or false evidence”
Gentry see a public servant “How in God’s name did you come up with such an insane idea?”
“I thought of soan says… a runner and the criminal he catches are two sides of the same coin”
“And you think Morgan is going to trust me?”
“Not at first You’ll have to earn his trust day by day”
“I’ll be damned if I scrape and bow to a bunch of Robin Redbreasts,” Gentry sneered, using the nickname inspired by the runners’ dress uniforms
“You’ll hang if you don’t,” Ross told hiainst you, and I will use it at the first sign that you are not perforan’s satisfaction”
“How do you knoon’t bolt?”
“Because if you do, I will personally track you down and kill you Your sister’s life, not to mention my oould be far more pleasant without you in it”
The atmosphere was alive with hostility Ross could see that Gentry al him mull over his options
The youngto use me,” he muttered “I’ll be some kind of damned feather in your cap, and you’ll use any public favor I’ve got left to further your own plans for Bow Street The newspapers will hail you for converting Nick Gentry into a Bow Street runner You’ll ainst allthat I’m despised by every man, woman, and child from Dead Man’s yard to Gin Lane, you’ll send me to catch thieves and murderers in the places where I’ive me won’t be worth a damn”
Ross considered the accusation thoughtfully “Yes,” he said, “that sums it up fairly well”
“Jaysus” Gentry let out a h “Go swive yourself, Cannon!”
One of Ross’s black brows arched “Shall I take that as a yes?”
Gentry responded with a curt nod “I’man would have snuffed me quickly”
“Now that we’ve coreement, I’ll take you back to your cell,” Ross said pleasantly “You’ll be released toements to make”