“A what?”
“Safes. I’ve got a way with mechanics, and no lock stands a chance against me.” He grinned and wiggled his fingers at me. “I used to say, ‘If there’s a special lock that needs picking, I’m the special picker to unlock it.’ They called me Sure Hands Danny, and since I was still a kid—tiny and thin—I was perfect for jimmying my way into banks and hotels and houses.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Used to. I don’t do that low-life stuff anymore. It ain’t... well, it’s not who I wanted to be. Something I realized pretty quick after a few weeks in Eastern State Penitentiary.”
I shivered. He started to walk faster, and I scampered to keep up.
“So six years ago,” he continued, “a few thugs picked me up out of a bar and brought me to their boss’s slick black carriage. A few turns around the block, and I learned exactly what this Philadelphia boss wanted. He needed an out-of-town kid to do a job for him. Someone the local coppers didn’t know. Someone with the surest hands and a lotta grit. This boss said he needed me in Philadelphia, and that I was the only person to do it. I was flattered. Clay Wilcox wanted me to do a job.”
“Clay Wilcox?” I gripped Daniel’s sleeve. “Clarence’s father?”
“Yep.”
I drew back my hand and pressed it to my lips. “Keep going. Please.”
“Well, Clay Senior paid for my fare, so I hopped on the first train to Philadelphia and did some snoopin’ about. I wasn’t so cocky as to trust my new employer completely. But all I could discover was that he was some bigwig called a Gas Trustee. The local low-lifes referred to him and the other Trustees as the Gas Ring.
“Clay and his ring controlled just about everyone in the city, and they were riggin’ the vote for upcoming city council elections. From what I gathered in saloons and on street corners, no one liked the Gas Ring’s power. But the gas company controlled five thousand jobs, which meant the Ring controlled five thousand votes. And once Clay Senior and his fellow Trustees landed those council seats, they’d control almost every job in the city.
“Well, none of that business mattered to me. I If those rich men wanted votes, so be it. They were paying me a small fortune to do this special job for them.”
“And what was the job?”
Daniel scratched his jaw. “I broke into this same Nobel Company factory we’re going to now. I went down to the storage warehouse, loaded up my sack, and then on my way out, bang! Two guards jumped me. They’d been waiting the whole time.
“We fought and I knocked one over—hard.” He pointed to his temple. “He hit a big rock, and well...”
I cringed and tried to keep my stomach from spinning.
Daniel looked out over the river and rubbed the nape of his neck. “I realized the guard was dead. Worst moment of my life, Empress. I was stunned and... and numb.”
He took a deep breath. “I’d seen people die, but never by my hands. I didn’t realize how much... how much weight murder carries. On your soul. And the blood—oh God, the blood...”
He hung his head. “The other guard brought me back to my senses. He was going crazy and babblin’ about the plan. He kept telling me I had ruined everything, that I was gonna pay for it when Clay found out. That was when I realized they were supposed to blow it up.”
“Blow it up?”
“Yeah. Big explosion, and I was supposed to go up with it. Then my charred body would make an easy explanation for the whole nasty situation. Soon as I figured out the plan, I skedaddled, and even though I didn’t die, I was still a good scapegoat for the whole thing. Do you remember it? You’d have been young when it happened.”
“Yes. I remember the explosion—not you, though. I-I never knew about you.” I swallowed and tugged at my bare ear. Of course I remembered it. I would never forget. “My father had a dy***ite shipment of his blown up that night. He was a middleman for Pennsylvania Railroad. He ran Fitt Railroad Supply. Well, the railroad needed a lot of dy***ite, and Father had lined it up for them. He spent half of his company’s money to buy it all. But then, poof.”
I mimicked an explosion with my fingers. “Without the dy***ite, the railroad moved on to Father’s competitors. Then no one else would hire him. Worst of all, Father was campaigning. He’d just started gathering support. He was running as a Democrat for the city council.”
“The Trustees are all Republicans.”
And that was when it all made sudden, perfect sense. Tears burned behind my eyes, and my voice shook when I spoke. “Now I understand.”
“What happened?” Daniel’s tone was gentle. He slowed to a stop, and I halted beside him.
“He died. My father died.” I hugged my arms to my chest. “The stress and the grief. He went crazy with it, Daniel. Always talking about sabotage and his enemies. We all thought he’d lost his mind, but...”
I turned my gaze on Daniel.