Page 47 of The Journal of a Thousand Years
“What if you get caught? You’ll be arrested!”
“I happen to think it’s worth the risk.”
She pulled a face. “You disgust me.”
“The feeling is mutual, I assure you.”
Alex stepped back and indicated we should leave. Unless we were willing to shoot one of them, we wouldn’t get answers. I worried that Willie might be willing, but she followed us to the door, her gun tucked back into the waistband of her trousers. We would wait for Cyclops to interrogate Hope and Valentine officially, once the sketch artist’s drawing proved it was Valentine who met Mad Dog Mitchell.
Hope followed us to the door. “This is harassment. You three are no longer welcome back here.”
“I didn’t think I ever was welcome,” Willie said with mild indifference. “Alex, neither. You always made that real clear.”
“Matt will hear of this.”
“That’s true. I’m going to make sure he and India know what you and Val did. They’ll be back soon from America. Won’t that be nice? You can have a good family chat with him. Pity it’ll take place in prison.”
“You will regret your tone, Willie, when Valentine becomes rich from Mr. Ponzi’s scheme. We expect an enormous returnon his investment any day now.” With straight back and flashing eyes, she was every bit the regal lady. I could imagine the men admiring her beauty and strength of character when she was younger. She rather ruined the effect when she looked down her nose at Willie, however. “You and my sisters will come crawling to us, begging for help. I look forward to turning you all away.”
“Val won’t make you rich,” Willie said with the most sympathetic tone I’d ever heard her use when speaking to Hope. “If he dragged you into his scheme to abduct Gabe, then you shouldn’t protect him. I know he’s your son, but he doesn’t even like you.” She touched the brim of her hat. “You know where to find us if you want to confess.”
As we descended the stairs, I asked Willie if she truly believed Hope would come forward with information.
She shook her head sadly. “I don’t think Val had anything to do with it, after all. If I did, the end of my gun would still be against his mother’s head until he talked. But I reckon he was telling the truth when he said he was with three men on the night the publican saw someone matching his description speak to Mad Dog.”
“So was the publican lying?” I asked. “Is he involved somehow?”
Willie shrugged.
It was Alex who responded. “I think we need to see the artist’s sketch. It’s possible we all jumped to the wrong conclusion because we wanted to believe it was Valentine. He would have been an easy nut to crack. The fact that he didn’t crack is why I agree with Willie. I don’t think he had anything to do with it.”
We called at Scotland Yard,but the police artist hadn’t returned, and Cyclops wasn’t there. Instead of becoming frustrated with waiting, we decided to visit Mr. Jakes at Military Intelligence. It wasn’t the best plan. Indeed, we had no plan unless directly asking him if he’d abducted Gabe could be considered one.
As we drove to the War Office building at Whitehall, I tried to think how we could trick or coerce Jakes. But by the time Alex pulled the motorcar to the curb to park, I had no ideas. My mind was incapable of plotting. Indeed, it was becoming consumed with the fog of my anxiety. Gabe had been abducted hours ago. He could have been subjected to all manner of awful things by now.
“Wait,” Willie said, grasping Alex’s arm as he was about to open his door. “That’s him.”
I followed her gaze to see Mr. Jakes exiting the building, cigarette in hand. Head bent into the breeze, he strode along the street. Although the area was busy with men wearing similar suits, I managed to keep track of him as he headed for the corner.
“Let’s follow him,” Alex said. “He could lead us to Gabe.”
As we hurried after Jakes, I was very aware of how conspicuous we were. If Jakes turned around, we’d be seen.
But he did not turn around. He continued walking north toward Trafalgar Square. Nelson’s Column was visible ahead, but Jakes didn’t cross over to it. Instead, he went right, dodging the traffic, before taking The Strand. The entire area was chaotic with vehicles—both horse-drawn and motorized—jostling for position as they approached the square. Jakes threwhis cigarette stub under the wheel of a lorry without breaking his stride.
Moments later, Alex slowed his pace. “Where did he go?” His superior height meant he was in a better position to spot Jakes in the crowd. If Alex couldn’t see him then it meant we’d lost him.
Willie swore. “You were meant to keep an eye on him. Sylvia and I are too short. Now we’ll never know where?—”
Jakes stepped out of a recessed doorway and blocked our path. “Don’t reach for your weapons,” he said calmly. “There are too many witnesses.”
“Where’s Gabe?” Willie snarled.
“Why would I know where he is?”
“He was abducted.”
Mr. Jakes’s gaze slid to me. “I thought Miss Ashe was the one who was abducted.”
