Page 21 of An Extraordinary Lord

“Nothing much.” He dropped the coin onto the table. “An old soldier himself recruiting men down at the east wharves.”

“Where?”

“The Ship’s Bell.”

She knew that tavern. It made this place look like a Mayfair garden club in comparison.

“He pays the men to meet at a specific place and time—ten o’clock at Paternoster, midnight at All Hallows.”

Times and places where two of the recent riots had started. Her heartbeat spiked. They’d found their connection to the riots’ leaders.

“Once the signal’s given, the men move forward through the city wherever they want to go and stop at an agreed upon time.” He gave a toothless grin of admiration. “Destruction by appointment.”

Yet none of it made sense. “Why would he pay men to riot? What is he gaining by it?”

Danker shrugged a crooked shoulder that had taken the brunt of too many lost fights. “Don’t know.”

“What are they told to attack?” Some kind of pattern or target might give her a clue about why. And who.

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” He formed the coins into small stacks in front of him, preparing for the next round of cards. “That’s all I can tell you.” He leaned back in his chair and fixed a deadly stare on her. “I trust this means my favor’s been repaid.”

“Only if it proves valuable, Danker. I would hate to think you’ve sent me on a wild goose chase.” She enjoyed one last gasping swallow of whiskey before she stood, then smiled coldly at him. “Or what it would mean about the way I’d collect from you then.”

With that threat still lingering in the smoke-filled air between them, Merritt escorted her from the tavern.

Six

Merritt stopped Veronica at the top of the river steps with a touch to her arm. Below in the watery shadows, the waterman waited with his wherry to return them upriver.

They had a name now for one of the men connected to the riots, had a location where he’d been recruiting rioters. But details about that conversation with Danker pricked at him. He wanted to be able to trust her, yet there was too much she was keeping hidden.

He leaned down to bring his mouth close to her ear. “Danker said you’d repaid a favor. What favor?”

“There’s more currency in the rookeries than blunt, especially among those who don’t have ready access to pounds and pence. We also have a barter system of sorts.” She paused to fuss with her cloak as if to bundle up against the cold for the boat ride. “If I do a favor for someone, I can call for one in return.” She tugged at her kid gloves. “I did a favor for Danker last year. His horse was stolen from its stable, and I found it and returned it. Tonight, he paid me back.”

“Not that favor,” Merritt clarified. “The one Fernsby did for you.”

She stiffened. “It was nothing important.”

“Why don’t I believe you?”

She arched a brow at him over her shoulder. “Because you possess an overdeveloped sense of suspicion and mistrust?”

“Or because you’re hiding the truth. What favor?” He had no intention of continuing toward the wherry until she provided answers. “Newgate is nice at night, don’t you think?”

His threat was clear. So was the aggravation in her voice as she grudgingly admitted, “Fernsby helped me during my trial, so now I’m obligated to help him.”

“A thief-taker helped a criminal in court?” And pigs flew. “I’ve witnessed more trials than I can count, and I’ve never once seen a thief-taker work to prove someone innocent.”

She mumbled into the shadows, “Who said he was trying to prove me innocent?”

She tugged her arm free, flipped up her hood, and started down the steps before he could stop her again.

Oh no.That little minx was going nowhere until he had answers.

He darted down in front of her and blocked her path on the stairs. “What do you mean by that?”

Now level with his, her eyes gleamed in the darkness from beneath her hood. He could practically see the thoughts spinning through that sharp mind of hers as she tried to come up with an explanation he would believe. He didn’t doubt for one moment that the little minx wouldn’t lie to him to keep her—