To Love a Thief (Steel Hawk) by Jane Beckenham Read Free Book Online Page B

fellow, Hawk. Are you back in your old game?”
    For a moment, Nathan didn’t comprehend what he hinted at, then it hit. The Raven. Harry thought him back to his old ways of stealing, lifting something from the rich but not quite giving it to the poor. He shook his head. “No. The Raven is long dead.”
    “You reckon? There’ve been a few robberies of late, all with the hallmark of your expertise.”
    A shocked breath burst from Nathan’s chest. “It’s not me. Those days are long gone. It must be a copycat.”
    “Doing a fine job of it, then. Know anyone who had the skills?”
    There’d been only one, but Nathan didn’t have a clue where his childhood friend would be now. Besides, he had more important things on his mind.
    “So what did Rose want?”
    “Wanted to know if I’d heard of any foreigners arriving of late.”
    “Foreigners? From where precisely?”
    “Zarrenburg. Though I ain’t even bloody sure where the hell that is.”
    “A tiny principality in the middle of Europe. So what was your answer?”
    Harry eyed Nathan as the older man picked up a cloth and began to dry some glasses. “A couple of blokes came in here. Couldn’t understand much; they sounded all foreign. Got me interest up, though.”
    “Did you hear anything in particular?”
    “Sure.”
    Frustration ran through Nathan. “Harry, am I going to have to wring it out of you?”
    “Nope, but a bit of the gold coin wouldn’t go amiss.”
    “And I’m presuming you’ve already been paid once.”
    “Betcha. And a nice little bauble for the missus it was too.”
    “Rose gave you a diamond!” Shock scored through Nathan, and then a sudden chuckle burst from him. “A diamond. She gave you one of them.”
    “Damned right, and it’s got me back in Alice’s good books.”
    “I’m sure.” Nathan leaned over the bar. “Just be sure not to tell your beloved that the diamond is fake.”
    “Fake!” Harry clamped his lips closed and took a quick glance over his shoulder toward his wife.
    “Well not quite. It’s called paste and is the best imitation you can buy short of buying the real thing. But if Alice believes it’s real, I suggest you leave it at that.”
    Harry rolled his eyes. “You can count on it. My life wouldn’t be worth living if she knew the truth.”
    Nathan pulled two gold sovereigns from his trousers’ pocket. He rolled them onto the counter. “So tell me exactly what you told squirt.”
    His old friend chuckled. “That sure is a good name for her.”
    “How long ago did she leave?”
    Harry scratched his bald pate. “About an hour or more.”
    Damn!
    “She’s heading for the Isle of Dogs, and you’ll need to charge to it if you’re going to catch her up. Ain’t safe for a girl around these bowels.”
    “I know.”
    “So what are you waiting for? Be off with you, Nathan. If it’s diamonds you’re after, you better find those fellows. They may ’ave been talking all foreign like, but I did catch them jabbering about some star.”
    “A star. Are you sure?”
    “’Course I am. I’m bald, old and cranky, well, Alice tells me I am, but I ain’t deaf.”
    Nathan tipped back the remainder of his whiskey, earning himself a burn that tore at his throat and took his breath away. He set his empty glass down, leaned across the bar and grabbed Harry by the shoulders as the whiskey hit his gut and came right back up and burned the backs of his eyes. “Thank you.” He smacked a kiss on the man’s bald head.
    Harry shooed him away, chuckling. “Get away with ya, don’t be kissing me.”
    “Would Alice get jealous?”
    “Aye, she might. She just might. Now go find your sweetheart.”
    “Sweet…” He didn’t bother explaining. Rosie wasn’t his sweetheart. Not really. She was too bossy. Stubborn. He could never get soft on Rose Valetta. He’d rather go to hell.
    Yeah, but you liked kissing her.
    Once. Only once.
    Suppressing those disturbing thoughts, Nathan strode out of the Cock and Hen and up