𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙮, John Shelby

- 25

- CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE -

- IN WHICH SHE'S AMBUSHED

. . .

SHE HAD ADMITTEDLY enjoyed her short-lived holiday in London, but there was no feeling that matched the enthusiasm she had to return home at the end of it. Rory wasn't perhaps as versatile in the same way the Shelby brothers were, and whilst she had been utterly fascinated by the life in the city, she was so much more comfortable and used to the way things worked in Small Heath.

But maybe she shouldn't have settled back in after arriving home, and maybe she shouldn't have chosen to go out alone in the evening. But even so, would she be classed as a Peaky Blinder if she didn't ignore her intuition once in a while?

In reality Rory should have gone home with John. But instead she had returned to the Betting Den to finish filing a couple of papers for Polly, then waited for Tommy to collect his things so that he could drive her home in order to keep either of them from soaking through before they actually got in the dry again.

But something had gone wrong. Something, someone, somewhere. One minute they were walking down the rather dark lane, the heavy rain acting as company for them. The next, they were being held at gunpoint in the middle of the garage with a number of men surrounding them.

Unlike Tommy who was in the process of knocking a gun out of line from his head, Rory seemed almost alone.

Almost.

She couldn't see them, in fact she could only see one man currently. But in her shadow there was a clear outline of a gun pointing at her back, and if there was a gun then there had to be a person. There wasn't anything she could subtly do though; if she turned around, they would most likely shoot and if she remained still then Tommy would be stuck fighting these men without help.

However Thomas wasn't exactly feeble and certainly had it under control as another man rushed out of the shadows to watch him punch his coworker. Then he was being shoved between the two and his attempt to fight them off became just as useful as Rory's help.

But an opportunity soon rose up as the man holding the gun to her back suddenly lurched past her to assist the men in the fight with the Shelby. And with that space free, she wasted little time in finding the knife she had tucked into her shoe. Then she found herself rushing forwards and kicking the knee of one of the men so that he fell onto them.

It was stupid of her to believe that from there she was going to be able to damage him any further. Because apparently one hard shove from the side as Sabini appeared with his own number of weapons, sent Rory stumbling and staggering until her shoes lost grip on the wet floor and she slipped over.

If she was fully awake there would be, no doubt, a long scolding taking place in her mind for letting herself fall. However that was not the case, because whilst blood seeped out onto the concrete, Rory couldn't help but allow her mind to go blank and her eyes to flutter shut.

Whistles pervaded her mind. Then it was the feeling of damp clothing stuck to her skin. And finally it was the dim white reflecting off her eyelids.

Her eyes blinked open, wincing at the fire exploding across the lane. For a minute she couldn't feel the pounding headache, all she worried about was the policemen arriving on the scene and the very bloody, very injured Tommy who laid opposite her.

Rory scrambled to her feet as she noticed the metal clinking of a walking stick pounding against the ground just approaching the garage. Then the cluster of police officers in the doorway who didn't heed the girl that raced into the shadows before they could spot her.

"I suppose we should see if the bastard's still alive." Inspector Campbell muttered.

Rory wasn't even sure anymore if it was the hit to the head that was causing her to hallucinate or whether the ghastly man really was hovering above Tommy, but either way, she realistically knew he was going to be taken to hospital and there was little she was going to be able to help with in the process of moving him to a vehicle.

So she edged along the wall until she was behind the officers, then sprinted out of the garage. She ignored the dizziness and dazed feeling that overcome her mind as she ran over the cobblestone street, and didn't for one second stop until she was returning to the front door of John's home and unlocking it.

"Bloody hell, Ror, where've you been?" John asked the moment she burst into the corridor, the man stood by the coat rack as if he was just about to go out into the rain himself. "I was about to come and find you." He added when he noticed her eye the cap and jacket.

"Sorry," Rory pulled her drenched coat off, attempting to hide the red stain on the shoulder as she hung it on the rack. "There was more paperwork than I expected."

John didn't look the slightest bit convinced by her story. And he certainly couldn't help but allow his eyebrows to drop into a straight line as he caught sight of the trail of dried crimson on her neck, or how pale her skin had grown. "Gave yourself a paper-cut, did you?" He took a couple more steps towards her and planted a firm hand on her shoulder, then gently twisted her around. "Jesus..."

Rory winced as his index finger brushed over the cut on her temple, "I might've slipped over on the way home..." She felt terrible for lying to him, but there was no telling what he would do if he found out Tommy and her had been attacked by Sabini and his men.

"Might've," The corners of John's lips lifted up in amusement, but dropped back down. "Let's clean you up a bit," He led her through to the bathroom, then left her to climb up onto the counter whilst he soaked a cloth and waited for her to pull off her bloodstained cardigan. "There's blood all down you, Ror, how bad could you have fallen?"

Rory lifted her shoulders in an up and down movement, "I have no idea." Then she wrapped her fingers around the counter, gripping so hard onto the surface she was sure it was going to break as he cleaned away the blood on the side of her face.

"Christ, if you wanted to do something, you've done it well."

✧

A.n

Sorry for the lack of updates, I'm quite literally in the middle
of my exams. But since they're nearly done, expect
more updates in a couple of weeks!