Rafferty took the time to change into his masked identity. He secured some burglar

tools for use on the skylight. He drove his borrowed car to a spot a few blocks away

from the place so he could make a run for it if he was caught.

He checked to make sure he had plenty of bullets for the Webley. He didn’t want to

kill anybody, but he wasn’t going to let them take him without a fight. Brown would

love exposing him after some of the things he had done as a policeman trying to take

him down.

Rafferty climbed back up to the roof of the building at the end of the street. He

watched the street for a few minutes before crossing the gaps to the club’s roof. He

wasn’t sure but more men seemed to be watching the street.

More movement meant more security. As long as no one was guarding the boss’s

office, he should be okay. He went to the skylight and rapped on it. If anyone heard

him, they might step under the skylight so he could see them but they couldn’t see

him.

No one shined a light at the noise he had made. Now to start carrying out his plan.

He had added a bag to his arsenal. Inside were all the burglar tools he thought he

might need. He had learned some things from some of the people he had chased over

the years.

He dug a suction cup attached to a cutter out of the bag. He stuck the cup on and ran

the cutter in a circle around it. He yanked the glass out when he thought he had scored

enough with the cutter to slice through the material.

Rafferty checked the skylight for wires for an alarm. When he was sure there were

none, he reached in and unhooked the lockbar. He pulled the skylight out of the way.

He tied a rope to the exhaust pipe from the kitchen and dropped down to the floor

below. He looked around. Everything remained quiet.

He walked over to the office and listened at the door. He didn’t hear anything. He

pulled out his ring of keys and tried each one in the lock. Finally the lock turned and

the door swung open.

He stepped inside and closed the door. He locked it back to give himself some time

in case Brown returned unexpectedly. He looked around the room and asked himself

where he would put a safe.

Rafferty decided that one wall looked more suspicious than the others. It had a book

shelf full of books and a picture hanging in the middle of it. The picture was of some

dour grump named Reese.

He checked the shelf and noted that it refused to move. He tried to take Reese out of

his spot. The painting refused to move too. He stepped back and tried to think where

a switch would be in the shelf.

He started with feeling the front of the shelf. He worked his way from top to bottom.

He pulled a chair over to make sure there wasn’t a hook in the top of the thing. He

started checking the books next. He pulled them out and stacked them out of the way.

He found two books that were locked together. When he pulled them, they tilted and

the painting swung on a hinge to reveal a safe door.

Rafferty inspected the safe. A dial with a key combination. He could probably fool

the dial into opening up, but without the key, he was stuck unless he used something

else to pull the lock out.

He pulled out a doctor’s stethoscope from his bag. He put the earpieces in his ears

and the listening part on the safe next to the dial. He started turning the dial, listening

for the tumblers to click.

He examined the key hole. He didn’t have any keys to fit that. He did have a bottle

of acid he could pour into the lock. Brown would know what happened as soon as he

saw the destroyed lock.

Cold feet never helped anyone.

Rafferty shone a light into the keyhole. He used a magnifying glass and thought the

acid should be an okay way to cut the lock open.

Then all he had to do was make sure the dial worked on the tumblers and he could

open the door.

He worked the dial again until he heard three clicks through the scope. He didn’t try

to turn the handle. He knew that without a key, the handle would remain locked.

He took the glass bottle of acid from his bag and uncorked it. He poured some of it

into the lock and waited as it smoked against the metal. It wasn’t enough to cut

through the door, but he hoped it would cut the pins on the lock.

The handle sagged down and the safe door swung open. He pulled it out of the way

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

and inspected the contents.

He found some banded piles of money, some weapons, a scrapbook with all of the

Yard’s attempts depicted within. He winced at the coverage the last case had

produced. At the bottom of everything was a book full of names and numbers.

Rafferty took the book to the desk and started leafing through it. He didn’t recognize

the code, but knew he had the heart of Brown’s organization in his hands. If he turned

it over to Fletcher, what would happen?

He imagined a lot of arrests behind the scenes, some quiet resignations, maybe even

a bullet to the temple in some cases would result. It might be enough to wipe out a

section of London’s criminal operations with a simple delivery.

He might be able to blackmail some of those people if he could figure out who they

were. He would never have to chase criminals again. He would be the king of them.

Rafferty smiled under his mask. He might be breaking the law a little, but he would

never be the king of crooks. It just wasn’t something he wanted.

He closed the safe, and the picture. He needed to get the book to Fletcher. Then he

could take a step back and see how Brown reacted to being burgled by a masked man.

He put his tools in his bag. The book went in his coat pocket. He closed the office up

and walked toward the rope. All he had to do was climb up the rope and make his

escape over the roof tops.

Rafferty ran into his first problem here. As he came out of the office, one of the club

men appeared at the other end of the hall. He looked at the rope first, then the opened

door with a masked man standing on the threshold.

The alarm went up.

Rafferty retreated into the office and shut the door. He looked around. He needed to

get out of the office before they arrived in force and tried to take him.

He slid a chair under the door knob to keep Brown’s people out. He went to the

windows. If he could get out one of them, he could try to walk the ledge to another

room and get around security.

He tried the windows and found that they were nailed shut. He shook his head as he

pulled out his Webley. He had the solution for that.

He smashed out the glass and cleared the frame with the pistol. He looked outside.

Brown’s men on the street were looking up at him. They seemed surprised to see him

leaving. He climbed out on the ledge and started around the building. He had to hurry.

Once they figured out what he had done, the security would be at the other windows

shooting at him.

He needed to be off the ledge and running away before that happened.

Rafferty reached a drainpipe on the side of the club. He pulled on it. It refused to

come loose. He put away the Webley and started climbing. If he got to the roof, he

could cross to the fire escape on the building on the end, and use that to get to the

street.

He pulled himself over the rampart. He noted that no one had thought to climb the

rope and cut him off. He ran over and looked down into the hall. Men milled around

the office door. Someone was trying to kick the barrier down. He pulled the rope up

as quietly as he could. He unhooked it from the exhaust pipe and rolled it up between

hand and elbow as he walked to the edge of the club roof. He jumped over to the

adjacent building.

Rafferty put the rope away as he made his way to the end of the block. He doubted

he had gotten away scot free, but he had the accounting book. Brown might chase

him, or he might decide to let someone else have the territory while he retired on the

money he had hidden away.

Rafferty laughed softly. Brown was more likely to tear up the town looking for him

than retire. He was the king. No one could insult the king like he had. There had to

be blood and vengeance for that.

He reached the fire escape and used that to get down to the street. None of Brown’s

men had made it that far down the street. He imagined a fair amount of violence if

they reached the end of the block in time enough to see him heading for his auto.

Rafferty walked away from the block. He kept looking over his shoulder. He didn’t

want to get caught before he could hand the book to Fletcher.

He turned at the corner and headed toward his car. People on the street looked at him,

but they wouldn’t recognize him on the other side of the mask. It did publicize

Fletcher’s masked man concept.

If someone took a report, a man in Great War uniform and face mask would be all the

description they would get. And once he was at his car, he could pull off the mask and

change coats to get rid of the disguise until he needed it again.

It wasn’t perfect but it would do for what he needed.

Rafferty smiled when he saw his car. Once behind the wheel, the chances of his

escaping would dramatically increase.

He heard the squeal of tires behind him. He looked over his shoulder. He groaned at

the sight of cars coming around the corner at high speed.

Someone had seen him after all.

He decided that he should run if he wanted to reach his automobile. He pulled out his

pistol as he sprinted toward where his car was parked.

Bullets flew around him as he ran down the street. One knocked his cap off. He

caught it on the fly as he dodged behind the cover of a parked car.

Rafferty jammed the cap on his head. He took aim with the Webley. He fired out the

six bullets at the lead car. He aimed low so the bullets wouldn’t go into the passenger

compartment and kill someone.

He was rewarded with a tire blowing out. The lead car spun out, blocking the road.

He retreated, dumping the empty shells from the cylinder and placing them in his

pocket. He reloaded as he ran down the line of cars.

He ducked as more bullets filled the air. Glass dropped on his collar. Maybe he

should shoot one of them so they would stay back.

He spotted his car a few yards away. He could make it if he could give Brown’s

gunmen something to worry about.

Rafferty turned and took careful aim. He didn’t want to kill anybody. He could wound

them.

He fired the Webley as fast as he could. Men scattered from the bullets headed their

way. One went down, blood on his pants.

Rafferty dashed to his car and jumped behind the wheel. He dropped the pistol on the

car seat beside him as he cranked the engine. He drove away from the scene.

Time to talk to Fletcher.