Esta eyed him before finally taking it. His ink-stained fingers were firm, but his weren’t the rough hands of a fighter, and that fact put her somewhat at ease.
He smiled then, a boyish grin that seemed out of place in the barroom. “They’re all still talking about you. The way you stole the top from Dolph’s cane. Everyone’s surprised Viola didn’t try to skewer you after that stunt you pulled with her knife. No one is allowed to touch her knives—not unless it’s the sharp end first, if you know what I mean.”
“Delightful,” Esta said, feeling suddenly uneasy with so much attention.
The boy peered at her. “I’m not gonna ask you how you managed it. That’s your business. For now, at least. But I’ll warn you, if Dolph decides you aren’t worth the trouble, there won’t be anything that anybody can do for you.”
“Understood,” she said, wondering where Jianyu had gone. She was still on edge after confronting Murphy and then being bested by Jianyu, and she didn’t like the idea that he could use her little visit to Khafre Hall against her at any time. “I only want to earn my place here. If there’s anything else I can do, any way to be helpful to Dolph—”
“I’ll let you know,” Nibs said, cutting off the conversation with a gentle smile.
Taking his cue, she changed the subject. “What’s happening here?” she said with a jerk of her head.
“It’s the weekly gathering,” Nibs told her. “People with debts due come to pay them, or to ask for more time. Others come requesting favors.”
“Looks lucrative,” she mused.
“Oh, Dolph doesn’t charge,” Nibs said. When she looked at him, surprised, he clarified: “He trades in secrets.” The boy shrugged. “Which I guess is lucrative in its own right.”
“I bet.” She glanced at him. “What secret does he know about you?”
Nibs didn’t even blink. “Who says it isn’t the other way around?”
She laughed, amused by his unexpected bravado.
The doors to the bar banged open then, a loud clattering burst that had everyone inside looking toward the three figures silhouetted by the light of the afternoon. The boy let out a soft whistle.
“Dolph Saunders!” the middle figure bellowed. “I want the girl.”
The barroom went eerily silent as the three men lumbered into the barroom of the Strega. Esta recognized the one on the left as Werner, and at the sight of him, she shifted uneasily, turning away from the center of the room and tipping her head down, to hide her profile.
“Who is that?” she whispered.
The boy’s face didn’t betray any emotion. “That would be Edward Corey, the owner of the Haymarket. He seems to know who you are. . . .”
Esta’s stomach twisted.
Dolph Saunders took his time looking over one last contract, signing his name, and blowing on the ink to dry it. He didn’t bother to look up when he finally did answer; he simply picked up the next bunch of papers. “What are you doing here, Corey?” he said, irritation coloring his words. “This isn’t your side of town.”
“You heard me, Saunders. I’m here for the girl. I know Bridget sent her to you.”
The entire room seemed to hold its breath as Dolph considered Corey’s statement. “I’m not sure what girl you’re referring to. Unlike you, I don’t run that sort of business.”
“Are you telling me the girl isn’t here?” Corey said, taking a few more menacing steps forward. “Or are you telling me that you’re protecting her?”
Dolph did look up then. “Anyone here know the girl he’s looking for?” he said flatly.
Esta started to move slowly, getting ready to pull time around her and make her escape, but Nibsy’s hand snaked out and held her in place. She was stuck. She couldn’t do anything without drawing attention to herself, and she couldn’t slip through time without giving away what she could actually do to Nibs.
“Give it a moment,” Nibs whispered, barely moving his mouth.
A loud scraping noise tore through the silence of the barroom as Dolph Saunders stood, his chair tumbling behind him. “I think you were mistaken, Corey. ?There’s no girl here for you.”
“Don’t play with me, Saunders. Charlie Murphy wants the girl, and if he doesn’t get her, he’s going to come after me. I’m not about to let that happen. I’ll send him straight to your doorstep. ?You know he’s got friends you can only imagine. They’d pull your license, close this shithole down, and destroy everything you’ve built for yourself—your entire life—at the snap of my fingers.”
“Now, there you’ve made a mistake,” Dolph said softly.
“No mistake. If they find out what you are, they’ll take everything you have.”
“That would only matter if there was anything I cared about losing,” Dolph told him. “But you . . . You have quite a lot to lose, don’t you, Corey? ?You like to play the big man with the boys over at Tammany, don’t you?” Dolph shook his head. “I know you’re also trying to get yourself in with the Order. You’re playing too many sides at once, and if any of them find out what you are . . .”
Corey sputtered for a second. “You don’t know—”
“I know everything about you, Corey,” Dolph said, his voice like sandpaper. “I know about the little rendezvous you had with the woman on Broome Street, though I’m guessing her husband doesn’t. I know what you had for lunch and what you’re thinking about having for dinner. I know who your family is—what your family is—so I know you might be weak enough to pass, but I wonder what your friends in the Order would think if they knew the truth?” Dolph paused for a moment, letting the words hang in the air.
“Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not. We’re all friends here. We’re all in this together . . . unless you turn on us first. But if you don’t want everyone else in this city to know as well, you’ll get the hell out of my saloon and take yourself back uptown where you belong. ?You’ll deal with Murphy and get him to forget there was ever any girl to find.”
Esta began to relax a little as she saw Corey hesitating. His narrow face was becoming an alarming shade of red. “You . . . You . . .” But his words foundered.
“Yes. That’s right. Now you’re understanding.” He glanced at Werner. “I think it’s best if you don’t show your face here again, don’t you?”
Werner nodded weakly, his expression grim as Dolph picked up his chair and sat at the table again, dismissing them all without another word.
Dolph didn’t look up again, but four of his larger boys stepped forward, their thick arms crossed over broad chests and a gleam in their eyes that anyone could see was them itching for a good brawl. Corey seemed to get the message, and with a jerk of his head, he left, followed by Werner and the other man.
Esta let out a relieved breath, and the room started cautiously to come back to life.
“Let’s go,” Nibs whispered to Esta, never letting go of her wrist.
“Go where?”
“Somewhere else,” he said. He handed the purse off and tugged her along. “Anywhere else. Trust me. He’s going to be in a rotten mood after all that.”
They slipped out into the brisk afternoon air. It would be light for a while, but already the Bowery was coming to life for the evening.