Moran had been stretched back in his chair. Now, slowly, he straightened.
‘You’re trying to tell me you killed Gabe Porthus? You?’
‘Yes.’
‘So that’s why the bugger disappeared.’ Moran ran his hand across his jaw. His whiskers rasping against his fingers. ‘No loss to society, I have to say. But…’ He met her gaze again, his eyes narrow. ‘Do you really expect me to believe someone your size – some posh kid like you – killed someone like Gabe? I’m not sure I buy it. The guy was a tosser, but he could fight.’
‘I can fight, too,’ Allie said. It wasn’t a boast.
Her two minutes must have been up by now but neither of them cared. The news about Gabe had clearly thrown him.
Whatever he’d expected from her when she walked up, it hadn’t been this.
‘What’d he do to you?’ he gestured at her bandage.
‘Stabbed.’
He didn’t look surprised.
‘There was something wrong with that guy,’ he muttered mostly to himself. ‘Something fundamentally wrong.’
Allie couldn’t argue with that.
‘How did you kill him?’ His gaze was piercing.
Allie swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. She hadn’t said it aloud to anyone yet.
‘I pushed him off the roof.’
His eyebrows shot up.
But all he said was, ‘Creative.’
The big man from the kitchen bustled towards them, a plate in his towel-draped hand.
‘’Ere you go, mate.’ He set the plate piled high with pie and mash in front of Moran and glanced at Allie. ‘What can I get you, luv?’
She didn’t want to ask for anything, but nerves had dried her throat. ‘Could I just get a glass of water for now, please?’
‘’Course you can, luv.’
They both waited as he walked away. When he was out of earshot, Moran took a bite of his potatoes, watching her speculatively as he chewed.
‘So what are you asking for, tough girl? And what do you have to offer?’
‘Please call me Allie,’ she said. ‘I’d like to offer you your freedom.’
He choked. Sputtering, he grabbed his mug and took a swallow of tea.
He wiped his mouth with his napkin, studying her with bemusement.
‘My freedom? Last time I checked I was already free.’
The big man was coming back with a glass of water in his hand. Allie didn’t respond until he’d set it down and gone again. Then she leaned towards Moran.
‘I believe Nathaniel has control over you through your finances. I know you had a hard time after you came back from the war. I know you’ve struggled and got into trouble. I know you want to do what’s best for your little girl. And I suspect you think the best thing you could do is take Nathaniel’s money and give it to her. I think you think this job is your only option after everything you’ve been through. That Nathaniel is the only person who will hire you.’
Moran’s fork hung suspended in the air, halfway between his plate and his mouth. He’d stopped eating. Stopped everything. She couldn’t see him breathe.
She continued with increasing confidence. ‘I want you to know that you’re wrong. There are other people who would hire you, pay you very well, and do whatever they could to help you. My people would do that. They can and they will. They won’t make you compromise on your principles, or give up on mankind, or whatever it is you have to do to get up every single day and go work for Nathaniel St John. Who wants to ruin the world.’
His expression was too complicated to read but she was sure she had him.
She was wrong.
‘How the hell do you know so much about me?’ His expression was pure, cold resentment.
‘Wait… I don’t…’ Allie stuttered. It was hard to talk when he was looking at her with loathing. ‘We’re good at what we do,’ she said, after a second. ‘We did our research.’
‘You people. You’re as bad as him, you know that?’ His voice was low and threatening. ‘You’ve got money so you think you’ve got the right to do whatever you want. Say whatever you want. You may just be a kid but what the hell are they teaching you at that school? That it’s just fine to go through someone’s bins? Where do you get off invading my privacy? Where do you get off trying to buy me?’
She kept trying to speak but he slammed his hand on the table.
‘I think you need to leave. You’re not safe with me right now.’
29
‘Wait.’ Allie held up her hands, panic rising in her chest. ‘We just had to know who you were before we came to you. It wasn’t like that. What if you were a murderer or… something?’
‘From the sounds of it, you’re the murderer, kitten,’ he growled. ‘And if you’ve looked at my records you know I’ve killed a fair few people myself.’
Every muscle in his body was tense. She kept looking at his hands, which rested flat on the table. They looked strong – dangerous.
From the corner of her eye, Allie saw Raj had set his newspaper down and was watching them closely. Until that moment she’d almost forgotten he and the others were there.