Jessica heaved a happy, relaxed sigh. In spite of her lengthy encounter with the infuriating lieutenant Jarvis the evening before, she was currently in a very good mood, and there was no doubt in her mind that it had everything to do with the man walking next to her, arm-in-arm. The subject of their conversation was hardly a cheery one, but she couldn't hide her Cheshire cat grin. Michael's company was a rare and thrilling treat. They didn't see nearly enough of each other, and when they were together, Jessica thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it—not the impromptu life-threatening adventures he kept dragging her into, of course, but the fond attention the intriguing man paid her. It wasn't as if she was not a free woman—there was no shame in enjoying Michael's flatteries from time to time.
A gentle breeze mussed Jessica's hair and she smiled up at the bright sun. Michael had been right—London was beautiful on a sunny day. If they were destined to spend their days together for the duration of Michael's unorthodox exile, they might as well use this opportunity to make up for the past few months in which they hadn't seen each other.
The constant flow of cars on the Westminster bridge muffled Michael's words. "Hmm, what?" Jessica asked, turning her head towards the Irishman, who had come to a stop and now turned with her to look over the railing at the shimmering River Thames.
"Penny for your thoughts," Michael chuckled.
"I was just thinking about poor Charlotte Thornton," Jessica replied, swiftly manoeuvring past the blissful thoughts concerning Michael and focusing on their earlier discussion. "It's just so unfortunate that she was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. I mean, it's obvious she's innocent."
"And you're going to prove it, aren't you, my girl?" Michael said merrily. His hand made an effortless journey to the small of her back and stayed there as if it was the one and only right place for it.
"Well, of course I want to," Jessica admitted, in spite of the grave topic, taking in the splendid sight of the Thames and the Palace of Westminster beyond. The sun was glistening off the river and the roofs of the regal building, and Jessica was distracted from Michael for a little while. "But I'm not sure what I could do," she added wearily. "I mean, the lieutenant made it perfectly clear that he does not want my help."
"Oh, come on, Jessica," Michael retorted, and it seemed to Jessica that he, too, was somewhat distracted. "I've seen you deal with far worse."
Jessica's face broke into a small smile, and she turned to look up at the man next to her only to realize that his eyes were fixed upon something behind her. Jessica was about to turn and see what had caught his keen attention when she was abruptly stopped by Michael's hands on her upper arms, gently but resolutely keeping her in place. "Michael, what is it?" she asked in a tone of startled secretiveness, leaning forward furtively.
Michael's eyes followed a movement attentively, and he started slowly pulling her closer to himself. "Jess, do you remember the other night at the hotel?" he said in a low voice. "I'm afraid you're going to have to be my cover again."
As he talked his eyes kept travelling along with their target and all of a sudden he pulled Jessica against him—so close that their faces were mere inches apart and Jessica could feel his breath on her face. She gasped and pressed her hands against his chest in urgent protest. She was more surprised than anything else. She'd have had no objection to Michael's closeness if he had given her due warning or explanation, which, she reminded herself quickly, he would do, too, just as soon as she could find it in herself to frown at him.
Michael wasn't looking at her. From the way he scanned the street, Jessica supposed he had noticed a car that more than likely was carrying their assassin. So she'd literally been used as a human shield against the gunman! That was going too far for Jessica, and she meant to tell the man so, too, only for the umpteenth time during this trip she was cut off.
A young couple in colourful loose-fitting clothes happened to be passing by them, and the young man patted Michael jovially on the back. "Oh, kiss her already, old chap!" he told him, and the girl clinging to his hand whooped, "Love is in the air!" As the couple continued their walk down the bridge, Jessica stared with her eyes wide at Michael's equally dumbfounded face until, simultaneously, the two of them burst into laughter.
Michael's hold on her arms quickly loosened and the recent tension left Jessica's body. She wasn't exactly sure of when Michael's hand made its way to the side of her face, but when the laughter eventually died down, she became aware of his thumb tenderly caressing her cheek. His touch sent an inadvertent ecstatic shiver down her spine, and she found herself gazing expectantly into Michael's blue eyes. Jessica's lips curved into a faint smile as she wondered if he would take the young man's advice, and she surprised herself by not minding the idea one bit. Instead she was hoping he would lengthen this moment of sweet anticipation and let her enjoy this new and quite possibly fleeting intimacy between them.
She recognized the fond look in his eyes as well as the mischievous glint in them. It was the way he'd looked at her that night back on the island, before they'd become friends, the night they'd clearly felt attracted to one another without their friendship posing an obstacle. Jessica thought she could hear Michael humming softly, but just then a strong wind blew against the side of their heads and, instinctively, Jessica raised her hand to adjust her hair. With that the spell was broken. Michael chuckled and lowered his hand from her cheek.
"Well now, my girl," he said when Jessica took a small step farther from him. "Shall we carry on? As they say in the musical, "there's no place like London". And I still have lots to show you." Jessica gave an eager nod, and Michael took his place by her side again, linking arms with her.
As they continued their walk down the bridge, Jessica ran her hand through her hair again, trying to clear her head. She glanced sideways at a smiling Michael and wondered if he was aware of the fluttering feeling he'd caused in her stomach. And then she realized he was, indeed, humming! Recognizing the song, Jessica grinned from ear to ear.
"You know, Michael, I've never heard you sing," she mentioned in a casual tone.
Michael was silent for a moment and cast her a surprised look. Upon seeing the excited anticipation on her face, however, he smirked. "And in this traffic you probably won't," he replied cheekily.
Intrigued and exhilarated by the Irishman's playful charm, Jessica quickly decided to play along and use one of her most disarming tricks on him—one that she rarely resorted to. Raising her eyebrows slightly, she looked at Michael, wide-eyed, and gently bit her lower lip.
After a momentary well-meant staring contest, Michael gave a short sigh of defeat and leaning slightly closer to Jessica, started in a mellow and warm voice, "Pretty women, fascinating, sipping coffee, dancing… Pretty women are a wonder."
"And you know, my girl," Michael said as he held open the door of the Opera House for Jessica to enter, "we really should have a-"
He was cut off by a silencing gesture from the American, whose eyes darted around the foyer, trying to catch the source of the sound she'd just heard. True enough, there was someone else in the room, as Jessica determined, and pointed towards two figures standing by the wall at the far end of the foyer. Michael followed her gaze and also recognized the players of Joanna Barker and Anthony Hope.
"…that Leon gets the lead now," Thomas was saying. "That's some ruddy good luck for him, ain't it? Remember when Larry didn't even wanna cast him in the first place?" Jessica gave Michael a curious wide-eyed look. "Him having all those debts to pay."
"Well, if you ask me," Beatrice added, "there's no doubt in my mind he's the one that took that bundle out of Larry's safe. And just before the premiere, too! Put us all in a tight spot there."
Michael and Jessica exchanged a surprised look—Emma hadn't told them about any robbery. A thought passed through Jessica's mind that maybe the incident was somehow connected to the murder.
"You're telling me!" Thomas was quick to respond. "You should've seen Oliver that night. He was absolutely livid when the old man was going around accusing everyone."
So that would explain why Oliver had been so quiet the evening they'd all gone out to the pub, Jessica realized. That thought had been nagging her. In her mind she agreed totally with Beatrice's next words.
"Can you blame him? That sweet old man couldn't be a thief if you threatened to burn all of Shakespeare off this earth."
Realizing that the voices were starting to sound closer than before, Jessica and Michael started across the foyer in unison, making enough of a racket as not to be suspected of eavesdropping. They passed the young pair of actors and greeted them casually.
"Well, now we know that Leon Nettle had some trouble with money," Jessica confided in Michael the moment they left the foyer. "The lead role has to pay more than the understudy, don't you think so?"
"And wouldn't that be a lovely little motive for murder?" Michael agreed.
As soon as they entered the hall, Jessica got the feeling that something was not quite right. She had expected to walk in on a rehearsal meant for training the new Sweeney Todd and not a heated controversy between the villain and the director.
Oliver was waving the judge's top hat in Henryson's direction and bellowing, "Thou froward, scurvy worm! But blind a deliberate fool would miss thine vile fawning over the lady. I am sick when I do look on thee, whoreson as loathsome as a toad!"
The pair standing in the aisle watched him rant on for about a minute, dumbfounded by the actor's ire. Soon enough a small middle-aged woman approached them with haste, and Jessica recognized her as the lead costume designer.
"Julie, what is going on? I thought there was going to be a rehearsal," Jessica asked a rather worried-looking Julie Wells.
"There was, but haven't you heard?" She looked from one clueless face to the other and declared, "Emma's gone missing."