Elizabeth rolled onto her back as Tommy looked down to her as she gasped for breath. He had spent the entire evening with her, pleasuring her anyway he could. She had been insatiable all night, particularly so since he had told her about the Grand Duchess. It was almost as though she wanted to show Tommy that he had no reason to look elsewhere. Of course, Tommy would never let his eye wander and his wife had nothing to fear.
She knew that. She knew exactly how Tommy would never betray her, but she felt something inside of her. She wanted the Grand Duchess to know that Tommy was hers. He was hers and she would never let him go. She knew that the Grand Duchess wasn't there to know about their antics, but it made Elizabeth feel better and that was enough for now.
Looking at his wife, Tommy ran a hand down her stomach as she let both her hands wrap around his arm, holding it as she gasped for breath. Tommy smirked before letting his head come to lay down on the pillow.
"Yer got a point to prove, eh, Liz?" Tommy wondered from her. "I'm assumin' that's why we spent the entire night doin' what we did."
"Hmm," she mumbled. "I am not entirely sure how I feel. I know that I have nothing to prove, but sometimes…well…sometimes I would rather just reinforce that point."
Tommy chuckled at hearing her as she moved a hand down to grab his, entwining their fingers together. Closing her eyes, she let out a small breath before she felt Tommy move his other hand to her cheek, brushing her hair from her face before letting his fingers rest on her cheekbone.
"Yer stunnin', Liz, yer know that, eh?" Tommy wondered and she opened her eyes to look to him, her lips curving upwards as she heard him.
"And you are not bad yourself," Elizabeth responded. "However, while you did tell me about the Grand Duchess, you didn't tell me about how business went with Alfie."
Tommy chuckled and nodded his head. "Went well," he muttered. "They 'ave a Fabergé egg down in their vault. Alfie managed to value it at a tidy little price in exchange for their weapons."
"But you have no intention of giving them the weapons?" Elizabeth asked from him.
"I intend to rob 'em for everythin' they're worth," Tommy said. "And I ain't goin' to see Father Hughes get away with everythin' that he 'as done. I went behind 'is back and told the Soviets about the plans with the weapons. They ain't goin' to rob 'em, blow 'em up…whatever it is he wanted them to do."
Elizabeth bit her lip. "Tommy, you are playing a dangerous game. You know that, don't you?"
"Aye," Tommy nodded his head to her. "That is why I want yer and Charlotte to get away for a while. I want yer away from Birmingham where no one can find yer because this is comin' to the end now."
"You stealing from the Georgians is one thing, but betraying Father Hughes is another. You are backstabbing two sets of people, Tommy. I don't know…I just…I know that I promised to stand by you for everything and I will. I will always stand by you, but I don't know how much more you can do."
Tommy ran his hand along her cheek, trying to soothe his wife's fears. "I know that this is dangerous, eh?" Tommy said to her. "I know that, Liz, but I can't stop now, alright? I 'ave to do this. I 'ave to do it."
"So what do we do?" Elizabeth wondered from him. "Running away and hiding cannot be the option. Tommy, if something happens to you then I want to be with you…I need to be with you."
"No," Tommy responded with a shake of his head. "What yer need is to be with our daughter. If somethin' 'appens to me then yer need to be with 'er. She is important now. She is all that we 'ave."
Elizabeth let out a small breath as Tommy moved to peck her on the cheek. She knew that there was no point in arguing with him, despite the fact that it would give her great pleasure to tell him exactly what she thought of his plan. Their marriage had been terse and turbulent recently. Both of them had argued and both of them had said things they regretted.
"I need this to be it, Tommy," Elizabeth whispered to her husband. "I need this to be finished and I need you to promise me that there will be nothing else."
Tommy flopped onto his back, looking to the ceiling. "Yer know I can't make promises like that," he whispered to her. "But what I can promise yer is that I'll keep yer and Charlotte safe from anythin' and everythin'."
A shaky breath escaped Elizabeth as she nodded her head once, suspecting that would have to do.
…
"I think that I should take Finn with me," Elizabeth said to Tommy as she packed her trunk.
"Why?" Tommy asked her back.
Finn was still in his room next door, no doubt sleeping as Elizabeth finished what she was doing. She moved her hands over her hips as she looked down to the contents of the trunk. Tommy was stood with Charlotte in his arms, holding her tightly and gazing down at her dotingly. She had her hands wrapped around his neck and Tommy doubted he would ever feel like he did when he held Charlotte.
"Because he…well…I've grown fond of him," Elizabeth said with a shrug. "He is a good boy, Tommy, and he is still young. He is different to Arthur and John."
"Aye," Tommy said, knowing that he had always done his best to keep Finn away from the terse business. He always did whatever he could to keep him safe. He wanted more for Finn. He wanted him to be something else; something better than Tommy. "Take 'im," Tommy said.
"And how long are you sending us away for?" Elizabeth wondered, closing the trunk and then moving over to Tommy.
Moving a hand to his wife's, Tommy held it tightly in his grip as he felt Elizabeth move her free hand to his arm.
"As long as it takes," Tommy said. "I'll 'ave one of our lads drive yer to the hotel I've booked yer into a nice place in Coventry, alright?"
"And you are sure that there is no other way?" she asked in a whisper.
"No other way," Tommy said to her, moving to kiss her chastely. "This is it, Liz."
…
Tommy had driven into Birmingham once he had bid goodbye to his wife and daughter. He had sent them on their way with Finn in tow. He had given his younger brother a gun in case of an emergency while he had kept two men behind to make sure nothing happened to Elizabeth and Charlotte.
"So yer sent 'er off?" Pol asked as she sat in the office, cigarette between her lips as she blew out a puff of smoke and shot Tommy an arched brow. "Can't imagine she liked that very much."
Tommy shrugged, peering through some paperwork. The office was empty as the night fell over Birmingham. Arthur and John were debating something in the corner while Pol spoke with Tommy. Michael had gone off somewhere while Ada had resumed her work looking over the accounts.
"Doesn't matter if she were happy," Tommy said. "She 'ad to go. Yer know as well as I that there was no other option."
"No," Pol said. "That's because I don't even know what is 'appenin' anymore, Tommy. One minute yer workin' with the Georgians and the next yer plottin' against 'em."
Tommy said nothing, looking up and across to Pol. She glanced back to him and he shrugged, sitting back and raking a hand through his hair. He took a moment to let out a low breath.
"I'm doin' what I 'ave to do to stop everyone," Tommy said. "I've been used, Pol. I don't like bein' used."
"But at what cost?" she wondered of him. "Yer know as well as I do that goin' behind people's backs is dangerous, Tommy. Yer know it and yer 'ave done nothin' to stop it."
"What am I supposed to do?" Tommy demanded. "There's nothin' else that I can do, Pol. The Georgians won't get away with this and neither will Father Hughes."
"But my son will not be a pawn in his game," Pol responded.
"Neither will-"
"-Tommy!" Ada called out to him. "It's your wife."
Tommy's brow furrowed as he saw Ada stood in the doorway of the office, her hands on her hips as she looked over to him. Tommy stood up and moved towards the office. He hadn't even heard the phone ring. Stepping into the small room, he walked towards the desk as Ada spoke.
"Tommy, she's shaken," Ada said. "Something has happened but she wouldn't say what."
Picking the phone up, Tommy pressed it to his ear. "Liz?"
"Tommy," he heard his wife's voice speak, her tone shaky. She was crying, he could hear that much. She had a high pitched tone to her voice, the noise hysterical. "It's Charlotte….Tommy…"
Tommy instantly grew more alert, one hand curling around the desk as he bent forwards slightly. "What about Charlotte?"
"I…we were in the hotel…and they broke in…two men…they broke in and they took her. Tommy, someone took her…Charlotte…"
Tommy felt his head become light and his mouth dry. His hand gripped the desk tighter as his blood ran cold. Gulping loudly, Tommy shook his head with haste at his wife's words. This couldn't be happening. He had sent his men as guard. He had sent Finn off with a gun.
"Charlotte…" Tommy breathed his daughter's name.
"Someone has her!" Liz screamed down the phone and Tommy knew exactly what was going on in her mind because he was thinking the same thing. "Tommy, someone took her!"
"I know," Tommy said, realising that he had to sort this. He had to find his daughter. "Liz, I'll get 'er back. I'll get 'er back and I'll 'ave 'er."
"Our daughter," Elizabeth said and Tommy knew that she was about to break and all that he wanted was for his wife to be by his side so that he could hold her. "Tommy, our daughter."
Gulping, Tommy nodded his head, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'm goin' to get 'er back. I want yer and Finn to come back to Birmingham. Come back tonight."
"What if they hurt her?" Elizabeth asked and Tommy could sense that her mind was whirling. "What if they hurt her…our little girl…our baby…"
Tommy felt his throat clench, but he couldn't think like that. She would be safe. She had to be safe. He had to make sure of it.
"Liz, nothin' is goin' to 'appen to 'er," Tommy spoke in a hushed tone. "Just come back, alright? Just come back to me."
Tommy didn't want to hang up the phone, but Elizabeth seemed to do it for him. The line went dead as Tommy turned on his heel to find his entire family looking at him. They were staring and he could tell that they knew what was happening. Moving towards the door, Tommy slipped past and grabbed his coat.
"Tommy, what is it?" Ada dared to ask.
"Charlotte's gone missin'," Tommy said. "Liz said someone 'ad come for 'er and taken 'er."
"Who?" Pol wondered. "Who would take 'er?"
"I don't know…" Tommy said. That was an entire lie. He knew that there were two possible culprits. "I need yer all to 'elp me find 'er."
"And where do we start?" Arthur demanded.
"I don't bloody know!" Tommy snapped, unable to keep his temper. "Look all over bloody Birmingham. I want my daughter back!"
"Tommy," Pol said, trying to calm him, but failing miserably.
"No!" he snapped. "I don't want to 'ear. I want 'er back! I want Charlotte and I want Liz 'ere with me! My daughter…"
"Tommy," Ada said in a rushed tone as she peered out into the darkness where a car sat. "There's some men outside….they're lookin' in."
Tommy didn't hesitate once as he stepped into the pouring rain and came face to face with the men Ada had spoken of. Only once he was looking at the man in the car did Tommy know who had his daughter and that thought filled him with more dread than he had ever known before.
