Runaway (A New Adventure Begins - Star Elite 4)

“I’ll refund her if I must, but I ain’t refunding them seein’ as they are still ‘ere.” The old woman threw the remaining residents a dour look before she shuffled off to fetch the requisite money. They parted silently to let her through, but Jasper doubted they would be fobbed off now either.

While she was gone, Jasper gathered up the last of Molly’s belongings and hastily shoved them into the bag. He left the bedraggled blankets, not least because he wasn’t sure they were sturdy enough to withstand the journey to the safe house. Minutes later, with the replenished coin purse in his pocket, Jasper followed Niall out of the lodgings. Together they sucked in a huge breath of fresh air, then Niall sneezed.

“God, I think I came close to death in there,” he grunted.

Jasper snorted and shook his head. He glanced up and down the street. Immediately, his gaze fell on a solitary man half-way down the street, his shoulders propped negligently against the wall of one of the terraced houses. Their gazes met. There was something in the man’s steady stare that made the small hairs on the back of Jasper’s neck stand

on end. Jasper didn’t recognise the man but had a strong suspicion that he knew exactly who Jasper and Niall were.

Quietly, Jasper nudged his colleague. When Niall looked at him, Jasper nodded at the man.

“Want to pay a visit?” Niall asked as he studied the stranger.

Jasper nodded. Together, they started to walk toward him. They got no more than half way before the man suddenly began to walk away. He looked over his shoulder at them once but didn’t stop to talk.

“He seems uncommunicative,” Niall mused. “Do you think he is someone we should worry about?”

“I think he has been following us,” Jasper replied. “We have to be careful going back. I don’t want to lead the bastard to the safe house door.”

“Split.”

“All right but watch your back. If you aren’t back in half an hour, I’ll send someone out to find you,” Jasper murmured before he spun on his heel and headed in the opposite direction.

Once he was alone and back on the main street, Jasper ducked into a bakery and purchased a pie to munch to ease the aching in his stomach. His hunger didn’t bother him nearly as much as the emptiness of Molly’s coin purse, though. Before he left the shop, Jasper wedged himself into the corner of the bakery, turned his back to the room and swiftly removed the pouch. Digging into his own pocket, he added several more coins to Molly’s pouch before he turned to face the shop door. It was then that his gaze landed on the same man he had just followed with Niall. Their gazes met once more.

Jasper wanted nothing more than to be able to go out there and demand to know what the man wanted with him, but knew instinctively that he had something to do with either Molly, Oscar or Rigley Row. Lifting a hand, Jasper grinned cockily at the oaf and waggled his fingers. Winking at the shop owner, who laughed at his antics, Jasper then turned to the back of the shop.

“See you, Leo,” he called over his shoulder. “I’ll be back tomorrow for some more.”

“Mind how you go,” Leo called after him, but Jasper had already disappeared and had vaulted over the back wall of the bakery.

Within seconds he had disappeared.

An hour later, Niall let him into the kitchen.

“I was about to send someone out to fetch you,” he grumbled.

Jasper rolled his eyes and dropped the items he carried onto the table. “Where is she?”

“Molly? In the parlour with Harry,” Niall replied.

He opened his mouth to say something else only to find himself all alone in the room. Rather than be annoyed at how swiftly his colleague had abandoned him, Niall grinned and ambled over to the table to see what Jasper had brought.

Jasper threw open the door to the parlour and lifted his brows at the sight of Molly and Harry standing close together beside the fireplace, their merry laugher ringing out around the empty room.

“Am I interrupting?” Jasper asked with a pointed glare. It took effort to quell the jealousy that surged through him, but he still couldn’t prevent the abrupt way he shoved the door closed behind him with more force than necessary.

“I was just telling Miss Egerton about a few of your less dignified exploits,” Harry teased.

Molly smiled when Harry threw her a wry look. Her cheeks blushed, but more with pleasure from learning that Jasper was back than because of anything to do with Harry’s storytelling.

“Ignore him. He likes to tell on everybody. Let me tell you all about his embarrassing moments over dinner,” Jasper replied, forcing himself to relax a little.

“I shall look forward to it,” Molly murmured.

Jasper stared at her. When she smiled, Molly’s entire face changed. Her eyes sparkled with an impish air of mischief that immediately drew forth the dimples that bracketed her mouth. Despite his discontent at finding her huddled together with one of his friends, Jasper couldn’t help a returning smile from breaking out on his face. His gaze slid over her. Now that she was dry, her hair had brightened by several shades. Several stray strands teased her delicate face. While still thin, she looked considerably happier than she had before, even though the borrowed dress she wore was several sizes too big, and so long she had to lift it whenever she wanted to walk anywhere. It gave her a childlike air of innocence that made Jasper feel guilty about the persistent need to kiss her.

“I have your things,” he murmured gently, his gaze lingering on her lips.