From Hell (9 page)

I ran my hand over the
surface of the wood, feeling its thickness against my fingertips.
It only confirmed my thoughts. The door was solid, meant to resist
a determined effort to get inside. My eyes glanced back to the
windows. They were probably equally as reinforced on the inside as
they were outside. I nodded to Scarlett. Folks in these parts only
put that kind of effort into home defense if there was something to
protect.
Or
they
had something to hide. It looked like Wally had been honest with us
after all.

Scarlett and I had already
discussed the plan of attack, once more deciding not to use lethal
force unless we needed to. As much as both of us wanted to kill
Jacky boy, especially after seeing his latest
masterpiece
, we both knew the powers
that be on both sides of the fence were far better suited to punish
the bastard. Our goal was to take him alive and let the bosses
fight over who got to show him the error of his ways.

I raised a finger, then
two, then three, and put my boot to work against the frame of the
house, just to the right of the door. Unlike the thick wood of the
door, the wall hadn’t been reinforced or even taken care of. It
gave way with a
crack
, knocking the securing bolt from the wall with a clatter.
The door swung open without resistance as Scarlett stormed inside.
I followed right behind.

Panicked voices rose up, echoing all
around us. While I’d expected there to be several people inside
given what Wally had told us, it sounded more like we’d stumbled
across a commune. Ratty blankets littered the floor of the first
room, each squirming as the people beneath battled to get to their
feet. Ragged men clambered to their feet, their eyes glowing in the
gloom. Silver shimmers cut the air as a handful of them came at us
while the others scrambled to get their bearings.

Scarlett leveled the first of them. A
quick one-two put him away, his blade clanging off the wooden floor
into silence as it disappeared in the tangle of blankets. She
started in on a second as I came face to face with
another.

His breath made the trash outside
smell delectable. Rotten teeth gnashed together as he thrust a
foot-long, narrow blade toward my throat. But for all the
ferociousness of his stench, he’d clearly never used a knife
before. I blocked his clumsy attack aside with ease and sunk my
fist into his solar plexus. He gasped and seemed to deflate,
curling up in front of me like a dying spider. A knee to the face
quieted his gurgled attempts at drawing air. He hit the floor
alongside Scarlett’s second victim, her third slumping down on top
of him a moment later.

I backhanded another of the men and
kicked him into the others gathering at his back. While there were
quite a few stepping up to engage us, there were even more who
clearly had no interest in doing so. Wild-haired men and women
skirted the room to slip out the door at our backs. They clutched
their meager belongings and filed out in wide-eyed terror. I caught
a glimpse of Al scurrying amidst the group. I nearly choked when I
saw him. A cold, knot formed in my guts as I watched him flee the
room.

Scarlett blasted another of the more
courageous men, lifting his feet a good six inches off the ground
after her fist crashed into his jaw. He fell back and crumpled to a
stop in the crook of the wall several feet away. The display slowed
the rest of them and gave me a moment to take stock of the worrying
thoughts that were filling my skull. I didn’t like what I
saw.

Several of the other men looked
familiar, as well, and it only took me a second to realize why.
Just like Al, they were part of the group that attacked us outside
of the bar. These were Committeemen, the ones working for Charles
Braun and his German goon, Hans. They hovered menacingly, but none
seemed in a hurry to advance. We might not have tossed them a
beating the last time we’d run across them, but they saw what we
did to their pals.

“
Where’s Jack?” I asked,
taking advantage of the lull.

“
Right here!” a man’s
voice called out, and then a loud
crack
swallowed all the noise in the
room. It was followed by the mule kick of something slamming into
my left shoulder. My eyes spotted the muzzle flash from the
adjoining room just as I was spun away by the impact, a searing
heat welling up. It radiated across my chest and down my arm while
I scrambled from the line of fire.

“
Frank!”

“
I’m okay,” I told
Scarlett, her voice piercing the
screeing
hum that screamed inside my
ears.

It was only a partial lie. Though my
body would heal the wound easily enough, the bullet mundane and
non-magical, it hurt as if someone had buried a burning brand in
the meat of my shoulder and was wiggling it about. Realizing it was
likely Jack himself who’d shot me only made me want to kill him
even more.

The other assailants dispersed at the
sound of gunfire, bolting passed us through the door. Their
stomping feet sounded like thunder rumbling over a herd of bulls.
Through it all, I heard the scrape of steel against leather as
Scarlett pulled her blades free. She stepped to the side of the
doorway where the shot had come from and was staring at me with
narrow eyes. The shrill song of whistles split the morning air
outside. On high alert thanks to the Ripper’s antics, the police
would be there soon. We were running out of time and needed to
finish this.

“
Come on out, Jacky. I’ve
something for you.” My fingers closed about the Webley’s grip as I
pulled it loose from my pocket. I cranked the hammer back. The
bobbies on their way, subtlety could go fuck itself.

“
You won’t catch me,” Jack
called out from the other room. A sharp
crack
followed his boast, and then
another. Through the haze of my wound, I recognized the sound as
wood splintering.

“
Shit! He’s going out the
back.”

Scarlett started forward
but the roar of a pistol forced her back against the wall. The shot
whined through the room and struck the far wall. A heavy
thump
sounded in the
back room right after. Another blind shot ripped through the
doorway and was followed by a muted crunch and the slap of boots on
stone.

I ducked low and bolted through the
doorway, gun leading the way. On the other side of the room, a
window stood open the city. The light of dawn glimmered outside and
I spied a flutter of movement on the street. The vague wash of
mystical energy pinged my senses as I raced to the window. The
brown-coated target of the Ripper’s back was less than thirty feet
away, and I recognized him as the guy from the bar. I raised my
gun.

“
Don’t hurt me,” a small,
terrified voice screamed, a flash of movement appearing just to the
right of me.

I spun just as a woman toppled to her
knees beside me and wrapped her arms around my thigh. She clutched
to me with all her strength, nearly bowling me over as she pleaded,
sobbing into my leg.

“
Don’t…please,
don’t.”

My eyes snapped back to the window to
see Jack disappear around a corner to the accompaniment of
screeching whistles. It was the second time he’d slipped
away.

A growl slipped loose. “Damn it,
woman,” I said, shaking her free of my leg. “I’m not gonna hurt
you.”

She fell away, staring up at me with
puppy dog eyes. Her hands trembled as she held them between us.
That’s when I realized I’d seen the woman before, too. She was the
redheaded prostitute who’d been draped over Jack’s shoulder. My
eyes darted to the window, and then back to her. Jack must have
been planning on making her his next victim. She had no idea just
how close she’d come to being hacked to bloody little pieces by the
sick bastard.

“
You need to go home and
never come back here again,” I told her, motioning toward the open
window as the whistles closed. “That was the Ripper,
girl.”

Her eyes widened even further, hands
moving to cover her open mouth. A tear slithered down her
cheek.

“
We need to go, Frank,”
Scarlett said from the doorway. “We don’t have time for
this
.” She pointed at
the woman’s draping neckline, drawing my eyes to the soft, pale
flesh on casual display.

For once, I hadn’t even thought of
sneaking a peek…not until Scarlett mentioned it, that is. A quick
glance down the woman’s blouse would have to do, so I did just
that, memorizing the view for later. Then I nodded to my sneering
cousin and climbed through the window, grumbling as the maneuver
tugged at my wound. Scarlett followed right after, and we ran down
the street, circling away from the closing police.

Jack had gotten away—again—but the
puzzle was starting to come together. At least now I had an idea as
to where to look for him.

Eleven

Joseph opened the door, his eyes
narrowing at seeing me. “Mister Yardlow.”

Scarlett glanced at me and mouthed the
name, giving a subtle shake of her head. I shrugged.

“
Good morning, Joseph.
Call me Thomas, please. Can I speak to your father?”

His eyes drifted from me to Scarlett,
suddenly widening. While I’d had her stash her blades so she wasn’t
walking around town like Blackbeard the pirate, I doubted the kid
would even notice if she were dragging a cannon along behind her.
He was enthralled in a heartbeat, and hadn’t even noticed the bit
of blood that stained my jacket. I couldn’t blame him for being so
smitten, but I could, however, take advantage of it.

“
My associate here,” I
gestured toward my cousin, “Scarlett, would love to speak to your
father.” With a shooing motion, I ushered Scarlett inside, right
past the awestruck boy who barely managed to get his feet working
well enough to step out of the way. “If you don’t mind, Joseph,
fetch your father, please.”

He nodded dumbly and stood there
staring at Scarlett until I nudged him down the hall.

“
We’re in a bit of a
hurry, boy.”

Finally he managed to pry his eyes off
her and darted down the hall, nearly running into the
wall.

Scarlett sighed once he was gone. “Did
you have to tease the boy like that?”

I raised my hands. “Don’t blame me.
God made you beautiful, I just made you useful.”

She growled low in her throat but
swallowed it back, Joseph bounding down the hall.

“
My father will see you.”
He smiled, his gaze locked on Scarlett like he’d forgotten I was
even there. “This way, please, ma’am.” Joseph latched onto her arm
and led her off to George’s study. “He’ll join us in a
moment.”

Scarlett cast a sideways glance at me,
and I could help but smile as I strolled after the cute couple. At
the study, Joseph helped her inside and into a seat, hovering just
behind her. He was doing his best to be a gentleman, but I could
see his eyes wandering over and over toward her chest and the loose
collar that threatened to reveal them.

“
No, don’t worry, I’ll
find my own seat, Joseph.” I chuckled and dropped into the chair
beside my cousin. The boy didn’t even notice I’d spoken, but
Scarlett glared at me.

A few moments later, George came into
the room. “Thank you, Joseph. We’ll be fine.”

The boy held his ground as
though he might defy George, casting one last desperate glance at
Scarlett before his father chased him from the room. He shut the
door with a sullen
thump
.

“
I apologize for my son,”
George said as he sat across from us, his gaze drifting to Scarlett
as if just noticing her, unconsciously sizing her assets up. There
was an awkward pause before he went on, forcing his eyes from her
chest and over to me. “Would either of you care for a
drink?”

“
No thanks.” I’d always
imagined God added magnets to the recipe when He made Scarlett
because everyone’s eyes were drawn to her tits and ass. George was
no different. He kept looking at me but it was like he couldn’t
help but cast wayward glances at my cousin.

To her credit, she just smiled and
ignored it.

“
This is Scarlett,” I told
George, giving him the opportunity to look at her without feeling
guilty. “She works for me.”

Scarlett rolled her eyes my direction
and gnawed at her lip as if getting ready to say
something.

I ignored her and went on. “We have
reason to believe Jack the Ripper is one of your people, George,
one of the Vigilance Committee.”

George stared at Scarlett a moment,
and then snapped his head to look at me as if what I’d said finally
registered. “One of us?” He slumped into his seat as though
deflated. “I can’t believe—” His hand drifted to the desk
drawer.

I nodded. “Take a drink if you need
one to process all this, but I’m serious.”

He pulled his bottle from the drawer
and offered it to us. We both waved it off, so George popped the
seal and drank straight from the bottle. After several lengthy
swallows, he set the brandy down and let out a slow, deep breath.
The liquor wafted across the room. Scarlett wrinkled her nose at
the scent.