The next morning, Kit's body ached the same way it had when he first awoke in the Masters' house. He stretched his arms behind his head, groaning at the stab of pain that spread through his entire body. Bright light streamed into the backroom where Rob had directed him and Emily to just a few hours before. Through a small window on the wall across from him, Kit could make out the bright blue sky that greeted the day.

On a straw mattress in the far corner of the room, Emily slept soundly. Kit knew that that hadn't been the case all night. He had listened to her rolling around on the mattress long into the early hours of the morning. Part of him wondered if she would ask to go once she woke. Perhaps a night of restless sleep would provide her with the clarity she might not have had the night before.

Kit groaned and pulled himself up. He stood up, putting as much weight on his right leg as he could stand. All the rushing through the backstairs had left him bruised and he all but dragged his leg across the floor. Emily didn't stir. Her soft breathing filled the room and Kit had to be careful not to wake her, but with his foot dragging behind him, that was easier said than done.

In the main room of Rob's building, a small box with a kitchenette, a bed, and a beaten couch that didn't look too comfortable to sit on, Rob was already moving around. The smell of cooking eggs filled the room and made Kit's stomach rumble.

"Morning. Thought we could talk about why you're here and how you came to be with a Rolls Royce and a rich girl over some eggs," he said.

"You mean the rich girl you made sleep on a straw mattress rather than take your bed?"

"Good point. If you stay here again, I'll let her take it. Only seems fair." He shrugged, but Kit wondered how true that statement would turn out to be. Rob had never been a chivalrous person, and he loved the comforts of his bed too much. "Sit. You've been missing for almost two weeks, Jonesy. I need answers."

"Who's to say I'm giving them to you?"

"You stay with me, you tell me where you were. I thought you'd been nabbed again for what we did to Phelps."

"Not quite."

Kit shuffled over to the broken couch, having little to no choice but to sit on it despite the slightly off angel and the sour stench wafting off it. His stomach grumbled, and he tucked into the eggs with gusto, only pausing to tell Rob the story of the past week and a half. Rob nodded along with the story, half amused but half curious to hear the sordid tales from his friend.

Both of them had ended up in some strange situations before, but landing in a rich person's house and stealing his car was new to both of them. Had Kit not lived through it, he would have thought the whole thing to be nothing more than a story, a tale of fiction written for the newspapers.

Rob whistled when Kit finished, shaking his head a little. He smiled at Kit, but his eyes drifted to the closed door just a short distance away. Kit knew what he was thinking. Emily added an additional issue to an already complicated situation. Getting rid of the motorcar would be easy — not that Kit wanted to get rid of it — but keeping Emily hidden was another story. They both knew no one would believe she went with them by choice, least of all Mr Masters.

"Reckon you've got yourselves into one hell of a situation, Jonesy. Moving that motorcar ain't going to be easy. It ain't like we can drive it around much. The police are going to be searching for you since you've got Miss Masters with you."

"I know, but I couldn't leave her behind. Tell you the truth, I weren't sure she'd come with me."

"Well, she did, and that's something else we have to deal with. I ain't in the business of moving people around, hell I couldn't keep myself hidden from the police."

"Then what do we do?"

"You need to get out of the city. That ring will fetch a pretty price, you said so yourself, and you can use the money to disappear. Properly."

"I can't just leave London, leave you to do those jobs on your own. You and I both know you ain't capable of running those."

"The others will be out soon, and you ain't got much choice. Robbing shops and the occasional Ford is one thing. A Rolls Royce from a richy, and his daughter going with you is worse. They'll hang you if you're caught."

A sharp gasp cut through the room. Kit turned his head to see Emily standing in the doorway to the backroom. Her curly red hair fell about her face in a mess of tangles, her previously pristine dress wrinkled. After just a few hours, she looked less like a rich girl and more like one of them. She covered her mouth with her hand, her chest moving quickly as though she struggled to draw a breath.

Kit pushed himself off the couch and moved as fast as his bruised leg would allow him to. He knew the price he might have to pay were he caught, but he knew Emily didn't. She had spent her life sheltered, hidden from the harsh realities of the life he and Rob had led. With so many crimes already to his name, this one was sure to push the judge to a death sentence, and he knew that when he first started thinking about taking the motorcar.

It was always a risk he was willing to take.

"You shouldn't have asked me to come," Emily said. She spoke quickly, reaching out and grabbing Kit firmly by the forearms. Her sharp nails dug into his skin. "I won't have you executed because I went with you. I won't."

"They'll hang me for just stealing the motorcar. It's the price I've always known I'd pay, eventually."

"But you wouldn't have taken it if I hadn't given you the key."

Kit almost laughed. "I've wanted a Rolls Royce for as long as I can remember. I was going to take it, anyway. You ain't done nothing wrong. Besides, I asked you to come with me."

"But if they get you."

"They won't. We'll stay here a few days, wait for things to cool off, then get the hell out of the city. They won't find us after that."

Emily's eyes met his. They shone with tears and her nails still dug into Kit's skin. He tried to ignore it. The dark bruise on her cheek looked worse in the morning light, and it had taken on the shape of a handprint. Just the sight of it caused that rage to build.

"We'll be alright."

She nodded and silence fell over the three of them, but the silence was full of unanswered and unasked questions.

~~~

First Published - February 4th, 2024