Chapter Thirty-seven

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Daphne allowed the barmaid to escort her to the back of the tavern. The woman fussed over her like a momma bird with her baby. She clasped her arm through Daphne’s. The stench of sweat and ale wafted off her like perfume. A steady stream of apologies tumbled from her rouged lips as she ushered Daphne into a tiny room at the back of the establishment.

“I don’t know wot came over me,” she said in her overly loud voice. “I ain’t never been so clumsy. Jimmy’s sure ta take those tankards out o’ me pay.”

Daphne was barely listening. She was worried about leaving Rafe alone to wait for the letters. Something was going on. She’d seen the look in Rafe’s eyes. He was suspicious. And so was she. Leaving the letters in the alley hadn’t been part of the original plan. She racked her brain. Had either of the Russians said anything on the True Love last night that she hadn’t remembered? Anything that could be interpreted as them having cottoned on? No. There was nothing. Or damn it. Had she missed it because her head had been fuzzy?

The barmaid quickly produced a towel of questionable cleanliness and tossed it to Daphne, who used it to blot the remaining ale from her cap and forehead and dry her shirt as best she could. She needed to get out of there as quickly as possible and back to the table.

“Obliged,” she said, tipping her cap and moving around the barmaid.

“Wot’s yer hurry, guv?” the barmaid said, plunking her hands on her hips.

Oh, not this again. Before Daphne could answer, a knock sounded on the door at the far end of the small room. The barmaid turned to open it.

A huge man stepped into the room. He handed the barmaid a wad of bills and she pointed at Daphne. “There she is, mate.” She smiled, revealing cracked uneven teeth.

She? Before Daphne had a chance to run, the huge man lunged toward her. She turned to flee and was crushed under his enormous weight. She coughed, the breath knocked from her lungs. The giant swung her over his shoulder as if she were a dishcloth. Then the barmaid shoved a filthy rag into her mouth. Her arms pinned, Daphne struggled to breathe, as he moved toward the door he’d come through.

“Ain’t nothing personal, guv, ya hear,” the barmaid said. “I told these blokes ye was a lady and apparently that bit o’ information was worth some money to ’em. I gots young ones ta feed, ye know, and I ain’t never seen a boy as pretty as ye were pretending ta be.” She laughed again and the sound screeched in Daphne’s ears.

The door slammed behind them and Daphne and the giant were in the alley. It was dark and dank. The moon was hidden behind clouds tonight and its light was sparse. The alley smelled of urine and something Daphne desperately hoped she’d never define. The giant pulled her off his shoulder and she fell to the filthy ground in a heap. She only had a moment to look around. By the light of a swinging lantern, she made out a rickety cart sitting on the opposite side around the bend in the alleyway. Then the scene went dark as a scratchy burlap sack was yanked over her head. She tugged the rag from her throat but her scream was muffled by the giant’s hand over her mouth.

“Don’t scream or I’ll stick my knife straight in your heart,” her captor warned. He had a Russian accent, too. The man made quick work of tying her hands and feet while Daphne struggled in vain to get away from him. She desperately tried to remember what Rafe had told her about her wrists. He’d never completed that particular lesson. “Don’t fight me. I can just as easily kill you as take you with me,” the giant warned. Daphne went slack.

Once he finished tying her, the brawny man lifted her in a bear hug. Her ribs ached as if they would crack. Her feet dangled off the ground. She tried to kick but he shook her hard, making her teeth crack and her jaw hit her breastbone. She steeled herself for another fight but instead the man moved with her. Her entire body shook as he tossed her into something made of wood. It had to be the cart she’d seen. She rolled onto a bed of sticky, smelly hay as the cart took off down the alleyway.