Chapter twenty-nine: Jig of life


Its 9:00, one more hour before the restaurant closes. Two hours ago, Finn had delivered a message from Polly, informing her that inspector Campbell was hunting for Thomas, hell bent on arresting him. Polly said Thomas had headed off for parts unknown and would most likely be safe from Campbell's vendetta.

Kate enters the restaurant, bone-weary and sits down on the final step. She had walked about for two hours, trying to see if she could find where he'd gone, but to no avail. No one knew. Kate sighs and rubs her eyes. She hated feeling useless. She'd wanted a simple life with a husband who loved her ardently. They'd live in a simple, little house and with their lovely children. However, Thomas wasn't that kind of man and she doubted that they'd have a simple life together. All too suddenly, Kate realized that she'd fallen in love with a man who was walking in her father's footsteps.

A hand on her shoulder causes her to look up. To her shock, Thomas is standing there before her. "Oh God!" she jumps up and hugs him tightly. "You're alright! But what are you doing here?"

"I'm going to have to lie low for a while."

"I got your message from Polly but, how come Campbell's after you?"

"I lost my bargaining power." She frowns slightly. "This copper…it's just me and him now."

"None of that really makes sense to me and I'm sure you'll explain it in time. But for now, please, get out of here."

"Eager to get me away from you? Seeing someone else I don't know about?"

She glowers at him. "Eager to make sure you stay safe."

"Alright." he leans forward and kisses her on the corner of the mouth. "When I get back…I'm going to tell you some things."

"I've heard that the police are already here looking for you. You really shouldn't be here, it's too risky."

He smiles. "You know why I'm here."

"Yes, and that's how all the great men get caught. Coming to see their girl."

On cue, the restaurant door opens and Finn runs in. "Police are in the lane Tommy!"

"See what I mean? Thank you Finn. Alright," Kate grabs his hand and runs him out of the dining room and up to the second floor. "Follow me."

"You really think that they aren't going to search your room?" he questions as he runs up the stairs.

"Trust me," she smiles. "they won't."

Kate pushes the door to her room open. He grins as he looks around the tidy room. "So, this is where you hide yourself."

"Stop it." she pushes her bedroom door open. She hears him open his mouth and cuts him off. "Not a word." He laughs. "I can already hear those lewd thoughts just waiting to be voiced."

"Is that so?" Thomas states as Kate flips the rug back in front of her bookcase. She straightens him up, to see him blatantly looking at her backside. He smirks innocently at her. "What?"

"Step back." Kate pulls a book down from the shelf, 'the Importance of being Ernest,' he notes. The bookcase suddenly swings forward to reveal a hidden panic room behind the bookcase. "Right, you can hide in here."

Thomas shakes his head as he steps inside the room. "I declare, you become a more and more curious woman with each passing day. When did you build this?"

"When I decided to keep 1,000,000 pounds in cash in here. I hired someone from London to come down and build it, so, no one in Birmingham knows about it." His eyes light up as she shoves him inside the closet. "Besides, with my brother and father looking for me, I needed a place to hide in case they turned up! There's air inside, so, you'll be fine long enough for them to search the restaurant. And," she smacks his hand. "I know every penny in there, so no filling your pockets!" Thomas has the audacity to look offended. "I know you, Thomas Shelby!"

"Same." He leans forward and kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you too. Now, if you hear us coming upstairs, pull it shut." He nods and steps back into the small room. Kate quickly checks her appearance in the mirror; she looks weary, which is good. The glowing light in her eyes wasn't so good.

She then hurries back down the stairs, to see inspector Campbell, glowering at Christopher. "Ah! Inspector Campbell!" his head whips around and he glowers at her. "I would say I'm happy to see you, but I'd be lying."

"Miss Kovach, I was unaware that you were here."

"For the time being, I own this restaurant and live here." She clears her throat. "Judging by all the officers you have intimidating my customers and staff, I'm going to wager you're not here to eat."

"They want to search the kitchen." Christopher stated with a glower. "And I refuse to allow people in my kitchen!"

"Calm down." Kate blinks innocently and holds the inspector's gaze. "I assure you, Christopher keeps a very tidy kitchen."

"I'm looking for Thomas Shelby." He barks out.

"Well, you won't find him in the kitchen!" she states. "Believe me, you will never find him."

"Our sources state that he went back down here," he steps towards her, his voice low and threatening. "to see you."

Kate nods. "Yes, Thomas did come here to see me."

Everyone behind her reacts to that, hardly daring to believe that she was about to say where he was. "So, I shall ask that question again. Where is Thomas Shelby?"

"You're really not going to like my answer. He's in London, visiting my father. I know, unconventional, but he really should get to know his future father-in-law better." Campbell's eyes flashed in anger, knowing that Thomas is now under her father's protection. "He should be back here tomorrow if you need to talk with him."

"You bitch." Campbell snaps and grabs her by the throat, casing everyone to gasp in horror. "You're lucky…you're father would make my life miserable if I were to kill you…otherwise, you'd be dead by now."

Kate brings her knee up and kicks him hard in the balls. He groans and let's go of her. Kate steps away from him, rubbing her throat. "Touch me again…. and I guarantee that my father and Thomas Shelby will kill you." that causes him to take a step back from her. "Do you really want both of those men coming after you?"

"You assaulted not only one, but two agents of the crown today." He sneers. "You can't hide from the law for long."

"You're referring to both of your balls, I'm assuming?" a few people snort in the background, even a few of the officers look amused. "Besides, I'm not breaking the law; I told you exactly where he is. Now, either move along or order something to eat as we're closing shortly."

He shoots her another dirty look as he walks out of the restaurant. The way he moves reminds her of a rabid dog that's chained to a post. Kate knows it's only a matter of time before someone puts the animal down.

Christopher exhales. "I don't know who your father is Kate, but he must be pretty powerful for Campbell to take you at your word."

Kate smiles sadly. "Trust me; he's a man you don't want to meet. Now, shall we get back to business?"

Dinner resumes, but the customers are quick to eat their food and hurry out. Kate allows the staff to close down 30 minutes early and leave. She then goes to the kitchen and picks up a few ingredients before heading upstairs. Christopher and Abigail are generous enough to lock up after her so she can go up and visit Thomas.

She comes into her room to see Thomas seated in her living area, reading a book. He glances up at her. "How'd it go?"

"Well, Campbell called off the search." She smirks as she goes towards her small kitchen area. "I told him you were in London, visiting my father."

Thomas laughed. "And he bought it?"

"Yes. There are still a ton of police out on the street."

He nods. "When it all dies down, I'll go."

"That'll probably be…late tonight?" he nods. Kate's slightly uneasy about having him alone with her, especially since things have been getting heated between them. "You can have the couch." She says casually as she heads into the kitchen. "Do you want tea?"

He makes a slight face. "Tea? No."

Kate laughs. "No whiskey I'm afraid. I don't keep alcohol in the house."

"For obvious reasons." He mutters, earning a look from her. "Actually, tea it is then."

Kate laughs as she sits down at the kitchen table and pulls off her shoes and stockings. "Right away then." Thomas stands up and follows her into the kitchen. Kate tucks her stockings into her shoes. "Kettle's on the stove, so, just light it please."

He nods as he pulls out a match. "Playing house, are we?"

Kate merely chuckles before heading into her room to deposit her shoes. She checks herself in the mirror, she looks rattled. Oh, what she wouldn't give for some liquid courage! Thomas will immediately sense her nervousness and she has no idea how he'll react to it.

Kate comes back into the kitchen to find Thomas is sitting at the table, the book back in hand. She smiles and moves to the sink to wash her hands. She can feel his eyes on her as she pulls out a pan and adds chopped ham to the pan. She then adds some parsley, chopped onions and bell pepper to the ham. Christopher had a few leftover fried potatoes, which she'd asked him to hold onto.

"You look different at home."

"How so?" she asks as puts some already baked biscuits into the oven to warm them up.

"Off guard."

Kate tries not to react to the tone in his voice as she attempts to casually whisk her eggs. "Should I be on my guard with you?"

He shakes his head as he stands up to approach her. "Never." Her heart jumps in her chest as he wraps his arms around her waist, kissing her neck lightly. "Not with me."

"Thomas, I'm cooking."

He nods. "Right." He kisses her one more time before moving back to his spot. "You like your space in the kitchen. Noted."

She smiles, as she pours the eggs into the pan. She can feel him watching her as she scrambles them, as the eggs get close to being done; she puts soap and water into the sink. she pulls out the kitchen utensils, which he takes from her. "I'll set the table."

"Thank you." she pulls her plates down and set them by the almost ready eggs. She pulls out the biscuits and sets them on a plate before moving them to the center of the table. after putting the eggs on both of their plates, she moves to scrub the pan.

"Kate, sit down. That can wait." He assures her, as he takes the plates to their seats.

"I don't want it to soak in. you can wait 30 seconds."

Kate blows some soapsuds in his face. Thomas laughs at her as she turns back to the sink. "Will you marry me?"

Kate drops the pan in the sink and turns towards him. "What…did you just say?"

"I said," Thomas walks towards her, intent in his blue eyes. "will you marry me Kate?"

Kate stares at him before proclaiming. "No!"


Idcam: Darn right she will!

CrazyLooney Toon: We know Thomas, he always has an agenda.

Shariebery: Not likely, since she just turned him down. I haven't gone anywhere this month, outside of one grocery trip. I'm already going stir-crazy!

MeriemDjez: It was pretty funny.

Angel029: Being Thomas Shelby!