Page 81 of Dark Tidings on the Thames
Did he hear her coming? Had Beth seen her and given her away? Kara didn’t know, but Royston started to turn to face her, and she drove the lockpick into his shoulder instead.
Cursing, he turned and backhanded her, striking her across the face and sending her reeling.
“Damn you,” Royston shouted. He yanked the pick from his flesh and flung it away.
As Kara straightened, Royston wrapped his hands around her neck. “Interfering bitch,” he snarled. “It didn’t have to come to this. Not for you. You are not right for the dance! There is no soaring justice to be had in this. No integrity to be restored by your death.”
Pain exploded, unexpectedly sharp. Kara gasped for air. She tried to push him away, her fear rising faster than she would have thought.
“Still, you must die,” Royston ground out, pressing harder.
She struck him, aiming for the inside of his elbow, to try to loosen his grip, but he merely tightened his fingers. Her vision started to blur. He seemed immovable. She tried to pry his hands away. She couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t swallow. Terror bloomed.
“I am not weak.”
Kara barely heard the soft words over the ringing in her ears. Her legs were giving way. Through a haze, she saw a small hand grab Royston’s shoulder.
With a growl, he tried to shrug Beth off, but the girl held on.
He squeezed Kara’s neck tighter. She was falling.
“I am not inferior,” Beth said, her voice rising in volume. “Your faults, your problems, your sins—they are due to your own weaknesses and no one else’s.”
Something warm sprayed across Kara’s chest. The stricture aroundher neck abruptly eased. She dropped to her knees, gasping for air.
Looking up, she saw Royston wore a look of surprise. His hand was clasped to his neck. Blood streamed between his fingers.
“I am strong,” Beth said clearly. “I try to be kind.” She yanked on Royston’s shoulder again, and this time he turned, looking down at her in disbelief. He reached for her with his other hand, but she stepped back, evading him easily.
“Rob said I’m too small and inexperienced to try to stab you in the heart. He said to aim for the vessels in your neck. I am a good listener.” She raised her hand, and Kara saw the knife glinting faintly in the dark.
Beth slashed at the other side of Royston’s throat and he fell backward, staring up at the sky while his life’s blood poured out of him.
Beth moved to stare down at him. “I am a fighter,” she said clearly.
Chapter Twenty
Applause drifted throughthe workroom of the Waif’s Wardrobe. The place had been transformed. Emptied of most of its tables, boxes, crates, and piles of clothing in various stages of readiness, it was now filled with bright flowers, soft lights, ladies in fine gowns, and crisply clad waiters passing champagne and finger foods.
“Everyone here at the Wardrobe would like to thank you all for your generosity,” Beth said from atop a hastily erected dais. “We are beyond excited to announce that we have reached our fundraising goal.”
More applause rang through the room. Kara clinked her glass with Inspector Wooten’s as he approached.
“Thanks to your generosity, we are now fully funded and able to open our new branch in Yarmouth,” Beth continued. “It will be named Glynn’s Wardrobe, in honor of our friend, Miss Glynn Foulger, who gave her life to protect our volunteers and our values.”
Wooten glanced around at the crowded room. “I see the publicity surrounding the murder did not adversely affect your turnout today.”
“Goodness, no. In fact, I would say the opposite is true.” Kara gave a nod toward the dais. “Beth has become something of a celebrity. People are eager to donate or volunteer if they can meet her and hear her story.”
“She seems to have handled it well, and put it all to good use.”
“They have given her Royston’s position. She is the manager here now. And she is doing a good job of it.”
Wooten glanced askance at Kara. “You know, there is considerable debate—and betting—at Scotland Yard as to whetheryouwere actually the one to dispatch Royston that night. Some of the men think Miss Williams is too quiet to have done the deed.”
“And what of you, sir?” Kara asked archly. “How did you bet?”
“Scarcely anyone is more aware of, and proud of, your abilities, Your Grace, but I detect a thread of steel in that little girl’s spine.”
