Cold Comfort (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 5)

Oliver nodded. “He has to get through me first.”

“Come on. Let’s get this over and done with. Do you have the drugs?”

Oliver patted his pocket.

“Let’s get to it then. Soonest done is soonest mended.” With that, Rhys disappeared around the end of the building they were standing beside and sauntered casually down the main street toward the tavern.

When he had disappeared inside, Oliver set off in the opposite direction. He took a longer route but, moments later, followed Rhys into the building.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“How long do you think they will be?” Emmeline asked quietly when what felt like an age had passed and nothing had happened. She was cold, tired, and hungry in that order. Moreover, she was worried sick about Oliver. “How do you know something hasn’t gone wrong?”

“Because there would be a rumpus if it did,” Harry breathed. “Just keep quiet.”

Emmeline glared at him and wondered if there was something wrong with him. Apart from looking over his shoulder occasionally, the man hadn’t moved at all in the last half an hour. She, meantime, was struggling not to hop to try to get some warmth and feeling back into her numbed toes. When she studied Harry a little closer, she noticed that while he wasn’t physically moving, his eyes were constantly scanning the area. She hastened a glance over their shoulder, but nothing moved or stirred. For all intents and purposes, they were the only foolish people loitering outside on such a cold and lifeless night. In a reluctant sort of way, she almost wished she was inside the tavern with Oliver.

“Are they in there?” Oliver asked of the inn keeper who grimly nodded his head. When he looked at Oliver his eyes were worried.

“They are all in there, gambling as usual. They are going to get me closed down if they keep doing this to me. They wreck the room and upset my maids. None of my girls will go in there and serve them, and I wouldn’t send them. That Smidgley lot are a ribald lot, and a damned nuisance, but I cannot get them to stop coming here.”

“We will,” Oliver grinned. He motioned to the tray of drinks and two bottles of the inn keeper’s finest brandy waiting on a battered silver tray beside them. “Is this theirs?”

Again, the inn keeper nodded. “There are four of them in the room. They have asked for two more bottles to be delivered tonight.”

“Go and fetch them, and make sure you put all of the drinks to be delivered in there in a place where nobody else will touch them.” Oliver sighed and scratched his head. “On second thoughts, deliver all of their drinks at once.”

“Are they going to taste it? That toff can get damned nasty when he wants to, and those brutes of his are mean.” The inn keeper glanced around the tavern wildly, clearly terrified at the backlash.

“They won’t notice a damned thing. This stuff doesn’t taste much. Besides, they will be so busy gambling, any sharper taste of the brandy will be put down to the brandy itself rather than the drugs. By the time they have all taken a few sips they will be sleepy, and less inclined to fight. If they keep gambling, and supping, they will be asleep before they realise what has happened,” Oliver assured the man. “They will then be removed from here and taken to gaol before they wake up. As far as anybody is concerned, nobody in this tavern has seen them tonight. Understand?”

The inn keeper nodded.

Oliver handed the man several notes, far more than the price of the brandy. “Just make sure that the bottles are thrown away when you are done, and the contents are never drunk by anybody else. They are to be disposed of swiftly and quietly, and the bottles tucked away somewhere nobody will ever find them. Make sure you do it as soon as we have gone, understand? If anybody asks, no matter how persistent they get or what they threaten, just lie. The maids know nothing. Nobody has seen any of them. Can you do th

at?”

“Aye. Of course we can. Everybody will lie if it helps get rid of those bounders. I don’t know why the Hell they keep coming here, they know we don’t want them to keep coming.”

“It is because you don’t want them to keep coming that they keep coming,” Oliver warned. “There is nothing that toff likes more than to rile people and assert his power over them. Just make sure your maids are escorted home for the next few weeks, that’s all. This cretin and his brother are behind the kidnappings.”

This news made the innkeeper freeze and stare at him with wide, horrified eyes. His mouth fell open as he absorbed that startling bit of news. He blinked several times. “Good God,” he breathed.

“So, you are helping King and country get the kidnapper behind bars, or one of them, but nobody is to know of it. Is that understood? We are going to get Smidgley behind bars so he cannot snatch anybody else. Like I have said, just make sure you escort your maids home for the next several weeks. As soon as the other Smidgley brother has been arrested, the news of their crimes will hit the broadsheets. Then, and only then, will anybody be safe and then, and only then, can you start to tell people about your involvement in bringing them to justice. Understand?”

Oliver left the inn keeper nodding and looking considerably more relieved and turned his attention to the drinks. He removed the small vial out of his pocket and began to pour the contents equally into the four bottles of brandy. When he was finished, he carefully wrapped the vial back up in its protective leather pouch and tucked it safely back into his pocket. He then repositioned the corks and tipped the bottles up to stir the contents. When he was done, he polished the bottles off, so they looked untouched. He then stepped back and nodded at the inn keeper who, now that he realised what he was dealing with, purposefully picked up the tray and, with a careful nod at Oliver to assure him he had his full support, took the drugged drinks into the room.

Oliver stood in the shadows of the back hall and listened to the man walk into the room. As soon as the door opened a loud blast of ribald laughter spilled out of the room which was accentuated by Smidgley’s loud voice screeching at the damned man to hurry up because they were all thirsty. Oliver grinned because he didn’t doubt that Smidgley, having ordered enough drink to fell an elephant, would elaborately pour the drinks and hand them to his friends. Even the thugs on guard would get to sip some beverages, although they would drink the ale the inn keeper carried into the room on the second tray. Ale that Oliver has also drugged.

Folding his arms, Oliver settled his shoulders back against the wall. From his stance, he could see Rhys standing at the bar supping his ale. Their eyes met a time or two. Oliver nodded. Rhys’s lips twitched but it was the only outward sign of acknowledgement, and Oliver had to be looking closely to be able to see it. Minutes ticked by. The laughter within the room didn’t cease. The inn keeper returned to his bar, even though the tavern was nearly empty. While he waited, Oliver forced himself to keep his attention on the goings-on within the tavern. He refused to think about the woman who was standing outside, most probably freezing her delicate backside off by now. He wished Smidgley would hurry up; that there would be a dull thud or something of someone hitting the floor as they fell over, but there was nothing. The ribald laughter continued as the men continued to drink and gamble.

One hour passed, then another half. Rhys shook his head. Oliver shifted from one foot to another not least because he was stiff from having to stand still for so long. Even the inn keeper was starting to look concerned. Oliver eventually knew that he had to do something else to try to bring Smidgley down although he couldn’t see why the drugs hadn’t worked. When the inn keeper tried to pass him to go into the kitchen, Oliver stopped him.

“Go into the room and ask if they want any more drinks.”

“They usually send someone out for more,” the inn keeper warned.

Oliver shook his head. “We cannot wait all evening. Just use that as an excuse and see if everyone is still awake or if they are feeling sleepy.”