Miss Scarlet and The Band of Thieves
Part 1
The small black wood beamed tavern was dark and full of noisy workmen standing around or sat at tables lit by oil lamps, with women in various states of undress wandering around the amongst them. Miss Eliza Scarlet walked cautiously through the crowd trying to remain inconspicuous, which given she was in full dress of a dark navy blue skirt, and her red and blue checked jacket, meant she actually stuck out in the crowd like a sore thumb.
Eliza was fully aware of the glances of various men as she made her way across the room, but she ignored them all and instead kept her eyes on the man she was following and the group of men he was with. She was hoping after all the time she'd been tailing him that he still wasn't aware of her, because the last thing she needed was him to realize she was there watching them. She looked around the Tavern hoping to find herself a quiet corner in the dark where she could observe him from a distance without being spotted.
The man had just sat down at a round table with three other men he was with, still seemingly unaware of her. She didn't know who the men were that he was with, but she'd seen him meet them a few nights before. She was curious as to how they knew him. They didn't seem like the type of men he would ordinarily associate himself with, yet they seemed to know him, welcome him even, into their group.
He wasn't as impeccably dressed as she was used to seeing him. He was just in plain black trousers and a greying shirt with the collar undone and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, his dark hair ruffled into a state. He'd removed his black jacket and placed it on the back of his chair. None of the other men at the table seemed to take any care in their appearance either, as the suits they wore looked loose and dirty.
She noticed a mirror at the back of the room behind the bar, it was perfectly angled that she could stand with her back to the table of men, but still be able to watch them via the mirror. She made her way to the end of the bar and took up her place to watch them.
She leaned against the wooden bar, and rested her chin on her hand as she stared at the mirror. One of the men took out some playing cards out of his jacket pocket, and handed them to the tall dark haired man she was following. He shuffled them like an expert and dished them out accordingly, she was suitably impressed, since she'd been trying to shuffle cards like that and hadn't been particularly successful.
A woman walked up to their table carrying a tray and placed a round of beers in front of each of the four men and none of them took their time to start drinking. She watched them as they played their game, then started another hand, whilst also seemingly deep in conversation.
The tavern had a loud din of noise, and every so often the men around her gave a loud cheer, presumably when one of the women in their undergarments who were dancing around them did something pleasing. Eliza wasn't exactly paying any attention though. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the mirror and the actions of just one man.
She noticed a rather tall underdressed woman in her undergarments with dark messy curled hair, and a face full of make up approach the table. She slid up towards the man Eliza was watching and she held her breath as to what his reaction would be. Certainly, she had no interest in watching whatever he might get up to with a woman like that. Only after a few moments of her advances, he waved her away, seemingly uninterested in whatever action she was offering him, much to Eliza's relief.
It was no bother to the woman though, she just moved on to the young man sitting next to him at the table, who clearly was interested, as he gave her backside a playful slap then put an arm around her waist and pulled her down to sit on his lap. She made some sort of a comment that Eliza couldn't hear, before she quickly started paying attention to kissing his neck, and rubbing her hands over his shirt.
Eliza gave a heavy frustrated sigh, sitting here just watching these men from a distance was telling her nothing, but she knew there was no way she could get any closer without giving herself away. She was momentarily distracted from the men at the table, by a sudden commotion of two men who were sitting at a dark corner table to her right, as one threw a glass and it smashed against the wall behind before they starting to pull a few punches at each other.
Almost instantly a burly looking man walked behind her and jumped in-between the fighting men, quickly calming the situation with a threat of throwing them outside. Eliza went to turn back to her position of looking in the mirror, but was surprised by one of the men from the table she'd been watching sliding up next to her.
"You look a bit posh to be in here," he told her.
Eliza took in his messy black hair, dirty face, and unwashed clothes. He stank of stale beer, but she held back a grimace, as he attempted to put an unwashed hand on her back.
"I'm waiting for someone," she told him, trying to shrug his hand away. She hoped this might mean he would back off, whilst trying not to blow her cover, but this was clearly optimistic.
"Of course you are love," he smiled, as he moved a little closer.
"I can assure you, you might like to move your hand away from me!" She warned him.
"I think you'd like where my hand goes," he told her suggestively. His hand moved further down her back and not for the first time did Eliza wonder how a prostitute managed with a slimly sleaze like this.
"I'm not that kind of women," she narrowed her eye, giving her best cold stare.
"You're a whore like all the rest." He growled as he moved behind her, whilst attempting to move his hand further round her body, and Eliza clenched her teeth and wondered at what point she could give him a good hard elbow to the stomach without making a scene.
"Hey… that whore is mine." Eliza heard a familiar voice and Scottish accent and gave a silent curse. Her plan to carefully follow him was totally blown, and when this was over she was certain he was really going to lose his temper with her.
"She's a bit upmarket for you William," the sleaze said, finally moving his hands off her and backing away from her.
Eliza turned around and leaned against the wooden bar as she faced the ever so slightly disapproving and intense look of Detective Inspector William, the Duke, Wellington.
"What can I say, she's good at what she does." It sounded forced, but she eyed him with a confident half smile. She was good, just maybe not at what he was suggesting.
"You took your time to notice me." She teased him with an innocent smile while attempting to play along with whatever game he was going with.
William moved closer and wrapped an arm around her pulled her close to his side. He leaned in and for once Eliza wasn't entirely sure what he was doing. She stiffened, as it seemed like he was going to kiss her, but he turned his head bushing his lips and his beard lightly against her cheek before whispering into her ear.
"Stay very close to me and say nothing." It was a low growled warning, and she could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with her presence there. He moved back and pulled her along with him towards the table he'd been sat at.
She looked at the barely dressed young woman sat on the young man's lap, currently kissing and sucking on his neck like some sort of vampire she'd read of in a horror story. William took up his place at the table and somewhat reluctantly pulled Eliza to sit down on his lap like the whore she was apparently supposed to be. She purposely tried keeping her back to whatever action was happening to the left of them.
Whilst she and William were close, she'd never sat this physically close to him, or any man for that matter, and he kept a hand firmly rested on the small curve of her back. Eliza wasn't feeling entirely comfortable in this position but she couldn't let it show to William or the men around the table, so she put her arm around his neck and rested her hand over his shoulder. The oldest looking man opposite them was eyeing her with caution. Was the man looking at her the head of the family called Banyan that she'd overheard mentioned at the station, she wondered?
"Who's this?" He asked sternly.
"No one," William told him, "just a friend." William gave a half smile and pulled her towards him, brushing over her lips with his own. She wasn't exactly in a position to object, and if she wanted in on this case then she was just going to have go along with whatever William was doing.
As she pulled back fractionally, she narrowed her eyes on him, silently warning him to watch what he was doing. Even in this slightly intimate position she was not above slapping him if things got out of hand. William gave her a satisfied smile. He'd warned her, told her not to follow him and to stay out of his business and she'd ignored him as per usual. What exactly did she expect him to do?
"Are we playing cards or what?" William asked, returning his attention away from Eliza and back to the men at the table.
The older man shuffled and dished out 5 cards each, and William tried his best to concentrate on his poker face, rather then the close proximity of Eliza Scarlet sitting on his lap. Eliza watched with interest, she knew how this card game worked, but she'd only played against her father, having never before been let in the boys club.
With an arm around Eliza it was going to be difficult to play, so William turned his head and whispered in her ear.
"Play the card."
William tapped a card with his thumb to indicate the one he wanted her to play and for once Eliza did as he asked. She pulled out the card and placed it on the table.
Things were certainly heating up with the man and the woman sitting next to them, and he quickly threw down his cards on the table, more interested in returning his concentration to the woman. Eliza noted the man's roaming hands over her body, as neither of them seemed concerned about having an audience around them.
The sleaze who had tried to hit on her at the bar sat to their right, and kept moving his eyes between his cards and Eliza, making her feel rather uneasy. He was perhaps, quite rightly, questioning their story of her being William's whore, since she was showing none of the interest in him that the woman next to her was.
She was politely and quietly sitting purposely very still on William lap. For a moment she wondered, if she was supposed to be in the character of a whore, should she at least pretend to be more interested in William? She moved her hand from her lap to let her fingers gently play with the top unopened button on his shirt, but after a few moments, she felt William's hand and he moved her hand away and placed it back on her lap.
"So everyone know what will happen tomorrow night?" The older man opposite them said after a moment.
William nodded, without looking up from his cards. The words of the older man seemed to temporarily distract the guy to their left from kissing the woman on his lap, and he seemed to figure he'd better pay attention.
"We meet on Cole Street, 9pm sharp." Sleaze to their right said.
"Everyone understand their job?" The older man asked.
Once again, William kept quiet and just nodded his agreement. His eyes fixed on his cards, and tapped another card for Eliza to play. Eliza wasn't sure if his silence was for his benefit or hers, but she had many questions. Like, what on earth was happening at 9pm on a Friday night? And why on earth would William be involved?
"All set boss," the man on the left said, followed with a groan, clearly meant for whatever the woman was doing to him as her hands drifted downwards while she found his ear lobe with her mouth.
The older man suddenly slammed his hand on the table, making everyone jump, including a few of the men at other tables, as they turned around in their seats to see what the commotion was.
"Can you two go get a room or head out to the ally!" he shouted angrily.
William felt Eliza tense and the hand on his shoulder grip a little tighter, so he rubbed his hand along her back to try and settle her. She wasn't sure if that was supposed to relax her, but it was certainly most distracting!
The woman gave a smile and motioned her head to the young man for them to leave. He hesitated only a for a second as she stood up, before he jumped out of his chair, took her by the hand and walked off quickly together towards the backdoor of the Tavern. Eliza watched and presumed they were heading towards the darkened back ally outside, and gave a shudder.
The older man was staring straight at her as she looked back at the table and caught his eyes for a moment. She might have felt uncomfortable under his gaze, but she didn't show it. Instead, she leaned into William, and moved her hand from his shoulder to play with the short tuff of hair on the back of his neck.
"William, you trust this one?" The older man asked seriously, nodding to Eliza, and looking her over untrustingly.
"She's impeccably discreet," he lied convincingly, despite the fact that her hand on his neck was making him most uncomfortable, and ignoring the feel of it was almost impossible.
The older man took a moment looking between them. He was not entirely convinced by the pretty woman, and he didn't completely trust William either. Finally he continued speaking.
"Fine, you'll take care of the guards?" He asked William directly.
"Of course," William said naturally. "It's all sorted,"
"There will be 6 of them," the man warned.
"That won't be a problem." William was confident. "I've got my man on it, we'll get past them."
"Little Tommy has vouched for you, don't make me regret this." The man seemed to be giving William a hard warning, and he stared him down.
Little Tommy, who was he, Eliza wondered confused and adding to her list of questions. Who was Little Tommy, and why would he be vouching for William? Why would William be taking care of guards?
"You won't. I know what I'm doing." William glared back full of confidence, daring the man to question him further. Reluctantly, the man moved his attention away from William and to the sleaze on his right.
"Fine, Lucas, you'll take care of the back door." The sleaze had a name, Eliza thought.
"Of course dad. It will be easy." Interesting, Eliza took note that the two men were father and son, before the older man continued.
"I've got Matthew and Aaron working on keeping the family occupied, and Lucas and I will grab the goods."
Both men seemed happy with the plan, and William nodded confidently. Eliza didn't exactly know what was going on as she tried to avoid looking at anyone.
"We good here? I'd like to pay my friend some attention," William finally offered, pulling Eliza a little closer to him, and throwing his remaining cards on the table.
The older man rolled his eyes and waved them away with a flick of his hand, although Eliza didn't feel like he was completely trusting of them, as he narrowed his eyes on them.
Eliza carefully stood up and let William take her hand, as he led her to the opposite side of the Tavern to the exit for the back alley, and instead towards some stairs.
"Don't say anything," he growled in her ear, as he held her hand tightly, and kept her close to him as he led her up the stairs to a balcony that overlooked the bar and past some doorways towards a room at the very end of the landing.
He opened the last door and let Eliza enter first. She waited for William to turn on an oil lamp and shut the door before she pulled her hand out of his. She took a few steps to one side of the room, finally putting a good distance between them.
She noted the grubby room was tiny with no windows and only an empty old wooden desk with an unlit oil lamp behind her and a tiny bed with a mattress but no sheets that looked rather unsanitary behind William. He kept to the opposite side of the room and looked at her with a face like thunder.
"For God sake Eliza! What the hell are you doing here?" William asked in an angry whisper. The walls seemed paper-thin to him, as he could clearly make out some suspicious sounds coming from another room and he didn't want anyone hearing them argue.
"I could ask you the same thing! How do those men know you?" she asked, in a similar whisper, matching his angry tone, whilst trying to ignore whatever noises she could hear.
"I told you to stay out of this, I warned you not to follow me! Why do you never listen?" William asked, exasperated with her.
"After all this time, why does it still surprise you that I don't?" She asked him with a shrug of her shoulders, confused by his statement. He knew her well enough.
Of course she was never going to listen to him. He happened to suspiciously have another meeting after dark that he failed to share anything with her about, and yet again left his normally pressed suit in his office. He currently looked like he'd been pulled through a hedge. She knew he was up to something, and like hell was she going to just let it go.
"Eliza you seriously should not be here." He shook his head, while he glared hard at her and rubbed the back of his neck.
"You have been dodging me for days, and look, I'm still here, so it is high time you told me what the hell is going on William?" She demanded to know.
"I can't explain right now, but you need to leave before you blow everything!"
"Blow what? William what on earth is happening tomorrow night!" Eliza was so confused, she had no idea what was going on, what William had got himself into or why.
"Eliza I can't talk about this here," William said frustrated with her.
"Do they know you're…?"
"… Of course not!" William interrupted, not wanting her to finish her sentence out loud for fear of anyone overhearing.
They both stood in the deafening silence of the room, clearly angry with each other. Suddenly William heard the sound of footsteps outside the room and his eyes grew wide. Knowing that if someone walked in, it would look completely suspicious if they saw them on opposite sides on the room, looking like they hated each other. On impulse, and with icy cold fear running up his spine, he took 3 strides to cross the room towards Eliza without any warning.
In the space of 5 seconds, he caught her completely off guard, pushed her backwards whilst he effortlessly lifted her up on to the desk behind her and pressed himself up against her. In a state of shock, and in an effort to stop herself feeling like she would fall backwards, Eliza gripped one hand against his shoulders and one hand around his neck, despite William's hand suddenly spread wide between her shoulder blades holding her upright. He leaned forward, pulled her skirt slightly to wrap one of her legs around his waist, and with her mouth open in surprise, he pressed his lips to her mouth and kissed her like his life depended.
As the door to the room swung wide opened, they were in the most compromising position Eliza Scarlet had ever found herself in.
To Be Continued…..
A/N: Phew... Well I've been working away at this story for a little while now, and I figured I would give you a taste of what's to come. Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait a little while to find out the fall out of William's impulse move, cause we're going to jump backwards a little and find out what brings Eliza and William to this this moment... I hope you've got your seat belts on for this ride, cause it's going to get a little bit bumpy... Runs away to hide...