Page 39 of Equalizer
They shoved and jostled their way through the mayhem, and Owen felt certain that at one point, Pearl deployed a hat pin to clear laggards out of the way.
Once they made it out of the doors and back to the street, Owen breathed in relief before he spotted the two bodyguards still on their tail. He and the others took off running toward where they were to meet Winston. The big men gave chase.
Pearl hitched up her skirts, keeping pace with them as they ran. They didn’t have far to go, but the block was nearly deserted at this hour except for the entrance to the social hall as party guests arrived and left.
Owen hadn’t expected the toughs to pursue them and wondered what their orders were.Nothing good. They had to recognize us, which means someone was worried we’d show up.
The henchmen were closing the gap, and Owen worried that their luck had run out. The sharp clatter of hooves right ahead of them raised his spirits as their carriage shot out of an alley ahead of them with Winston snapping the reins.
He ran the team straight at their pursuers, and a twitch of his hand and magic sent their guns flying.
“Get in!” The carriage barely stopped rolling as they piled inside, and Winston headed for their pursuers, forcing the toughs to scramble not to be run over.
“That was…interesting,” Pearl said as the carriage headed away at a fast clip. Owen’s ghosts kept watch behind them while Calvin looked out the windows, but no one seemed to be following.
“We’ve got trouble.” Calvin peered out the window on his side. “Two men on horseback, closing fast.”
Their carriage sped up, letting them know that Winston saw the threat.
A shot rang out, rocking the carriage as it tore into the top right corner.
“Get down!” Owen dropped from the seat to the floor.
“To hell with that!” Before either man could react, Pearl opened the door, hooking one arm around the curtains to keep from falling out, and opened fire with her free hand.
“Are you insane?” Calvin dove to grab her ankles so she didn’t get thrown clear.
Owen opened the door on the other side, using it as cover to fire past the hinges. At this hour, the streets were nearly deserted, but gunshots were bound to attract attention.
Their pursuers fell back and veered off, perhaps not expecting a fight. Once they were sure they were no longer being chased, Pearl and Owen crawled back inside.
“You two are absolutely insane.” Calvin directed a glare at Owen, who guessed it was for taking such a crazy risk.
“Worked, didn’t it?” Pearl had a triumphant note in her tone. Owen bet it was the most fun either of them had all evening.
“After all that, did we get anything useful?” Owen hadn’t always heard Pearl’s conversations in detail.
“Replacing amputated limbs isn’t normal cocktail party conversation,” Pearl remarked. “But I managed to work it in, asking if they had heard of such things and if they were true. They all seemed to have heard the gossip but didn’t know more—or claimed not to.”
“We know for sure now that at least two of the doctor’s ‘projects’ lived through the procedure,” Calvin pointed out. “But who were they working for? And how did they know to recognize us?”
“How about the miracle doctor doing the surgery? What did you hear about him?” Calvin asked Pearl. “I’d think he’d be the toast of the town.”
Pearl pursed her lips as she thought. “That got interesting. Everyone mentioned Gordon and his stage show, but when I asked about someone using the ideas in real life, they clammed up. The hemming and hawing told me they knew more, but no one wanted to get into the details. And given the two henchmen and the riders, clearly someone did.”
Owen swore under his breath. “I was afraid of that.”
Pearl shot him a crafty grin. “Don’t worry—I didn’t walk away empty-handed. One of the men knew someone who had ‘foot surgery,’ and it didn’t sound like bunions. He seemed impressed, although he said the recovery time was longer than usual.”
“If you’re getting a whole new foot from a cadaver, I would imagine so,” Calvin muttered.
“I couldn’t get more details on the process out of him, but someone else chimed in about hoping they could put one of his men’s hands right after an accident,” Pearl said. “The general buzz was very excited about new treatments and remarkable science but all very hush-hush. I did hear one name—Dr. Jeremiah Humphries.”
“Oh?” Calvin and Owen exchanged a glance.
“He’s the professor who has an academic presentation on transplantation coming up,” Owen said. “Maybe he’s involved with more than theory.”
“That older man with the crooked nose said Humphries was a miracle worker, but the man he was standing with elbowed him, and he shut up. From the look on his face, I got the feelinghe said more than he intended. Trying to flatter a lady gets them every time.” She grinned.
