The first half of the drive occurred without incident.

Kit kept his guard up, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel and occasionally glancing at the wrapped gun that he had placed between himself and Emily. His heart thumped against his chest. Emily sat beside him with her hands clenched into tight fists in her lap, her knuckles turning white, and she stared out of the windshield. She held her breath at every motorcar that drove by, and Kit wondered if she was keeping an eye out for her father.

The silence weighed heavy as they drove through the city, the sky a pale blue colour with few clouds to block the bright sunlight. It was a day that Kit would have spent walking the streets of the city in search of some trouble to get himself into. This time, he was doing all he could to stay out of trouble.

He had never felt so tense before. Stealing from a shop or taking a car was easy compared to their current situation. Every muscle in his body was clenched tightly, his mind waiting for the inevitable moment they were caught. His body wouldn't unclench until they were safely out of London and free to drive to the seaside without the threat of arrest hanging over their heads.

Kit listened to the quick beating of his heart and the purr of the engine. He longed to be able to put his foot down and see just how much power the motorcar had, but he restrained himself. They needed to be as inconspicuous as possible so they didn't draw any attention to themselves or the car.

Emily looked down at the folded cloth, unclenching her fists for a moment.

"What did Rob give you?"

"It's not important. With any luck, we shouldn't have to use it, not if Rob did a good enough job with the plates."

"Do you think we can make it out without being stopped?"

Kit flexed his fingers against the steering wheel, rolling his head a little. "I don't know, and I don't want to think about it until we're in the clear. Right now, we focus on getting out of the city."

"Right." Emily nodded, clenching her fists again.

"We'll be fine. Rob has never steered me wrong before, and I know a few more places we can go if need be."

"You have a lot of friends."

"Not friends, per se. Colleagues. A handful of them managed to avoid being arrested when Phelps ratted us out. They probably went underground, but that might work in our favour."

Emily nodded her head and went back to staring out the window without another word. Kit could have slapped himself. He knew she was nervous about having to make such a daring escape, but remembering that he'd spent five months in Newgate wouldn't have helped. The last thing they needed was a reminder of the price they would have to pay if they were caught. Their focus needed to be on escaping.

Kit held his breath as though worried the police or Mr Masters might hear him and arrest them. He kept his eyes on the road, the speed of the car steady, and his mind as calm as he could under the circumstances. After years of escaping the police, he had developed a calm head for tough situations, but that was always on his own. This time, he had someone else to think about.

His own safety was only half of it. Emily had placed her trust in him and he was determined to follow it through, no matter the cost. He wasn't going to let her go back to her father, not when she had waited so long for someone to rescue her from him. If it came down to it, he would do whatever he could to protect her.

The streets were crawling with uniformed officers. Kit drove past them, stopping people on the street, forcing men to remove caps and scrutinising any young girl who might have been Emily. One of them looked up as he drove past, nudging his partner in the side and gesturing to the Rolls Royce.

"Stay calm, but we've been seen," he said, his voice low even though he knew the officers couldn't hear him.

"What do we do?"

"Just keep going for now. We need to act as naturally as possible because if they think we are keeping an eye out for them, they'll be all the more wary of us."

Emily took a small, shaky breath. She uncurled her fists and laid her hands flat against her thighs. "How are you so calm?"

"Trust me, I'm not. I feel like I'm going to vomit. We play the roles Rob gave us. That's all we can do."

Kit tried to sound confident, but he wasn't sure he managed it. The fear and nerves were eating him from the inside out. This was a new type of fear, the sort of fear that sat in the pit of his stomach and refused to move. It was the fear that turned a simple dark corner into one full of nightmares and terror. It was a fear that made his head spin and beads of sweat to trickle down his back and neck. That fear was inescapable.

Emily's breathing grew shallow, but Kit did his best to focus on driving the car past the officers. His head span, his stomach clenched, and he glanced at the still wrapped gun and prayed he wouldn't have to touch it.

A loud, sharp, ear-piercing whistle cut through the usual day-to-day traffic and purring of motorcar engines. One of the officers stepped out into the road, holding his hand up in front of the Rolls Royce to bring him to a stop. Kit glanced at Emily, whose hands were clenched so tightly her knuckles had gone white and her entire body shook.

"Pull over," the officer called.

Kit flexed his fingers against the steering wheel, trying to ignore his beating heart or the sound of blood roaring in his ear. He took a breath and pulled the motorcar off the road, pulling it to a stop but keeping the engine running just in case he needed to make a quick getaway. His stomach churned.

"We'll be alright," he said, more to himself than to Emily, who sat trembling beside him.

~~~

First Published - February 6th, 2024