Rookery ~ Assassin's Creed Syndicate

Chapter Thirty

We stood in front of a large building right beside a child who was selling newspapers. He called out the main headline, waving one of the papers around.

"I'll take one." Jacob snatched one of the papers.

"Here you go, sir." The child spat. I slipped the child a few coins for the paper. Then, Mr Dredge and a few Templar men walked past us.

"I say we stop this goodwill towards strangers nonsense and focus on what London really needs, solid leadership whose hard work will raise everyone up to success. As go the titans of business, so goes the world." He swung his leg backwards and brought it forwards again to kick a homeless man's bowl over. It had held four coins, which were now rolling across the floor. I furrowed my eyebrows at that, thoroughly annoyed at his disgusting behaviour.

"Oi, oi!" The homeless man yelled back.

"You weak fool." The man fell backwards to the stones. "Get a job." I wanted to kill the man there and then. He had infuriated me. Jacob noticed this and rested a hand on my back while handing the newspaper back to the small child.

"The best guards money can buy."

"Won't do Mr Dredge any good. Come on."

We made our way into the bank by kidnapping a policeman so that we could sneak in behind him. With him as our decoy, we snuck by the guards positioned at the door. It would have looked like the policeman was escorting the two of us into the main section of the building. I then took the time to look around, but that was cut short when I heard a yell. Jacob and I sprinted towards a low wall and hid behind it. I crouched on the outside. As the man who had let out that yell passed, I grabbed onto his leg, pulled him to the ground and stabbed my hidden blade into his chest. Jacob dragged the body further behind the wall. Then, we tried to make our way to the courtyard.

And there he was. Mr Dredge. He was coloured with a golden outline when I used my Sense. Jacob decided on taking out a few of the other policemen around the courtyard before we went for our target. I punched his shoulder blade and then bent his arm backwards. I held his arm behind his back and Jacob and I began to walk him away from the bank.

"Keep your eyes ahead of you and walk. Do as we say and you will not get hurt, Mr Dredge." Jacob growled into Mr Dredge's ear.

"Now, wait a minute. I know that voice. Frye? Is that you?" He asked. I looked to Jacob who was shocked. "Frye!" We were now outside of the courtyard and had left by a rear exit. The archway was now behind us. "Jacob, it's me. Sergeant Frederick Abberline." I shoved him away and he turned with a smirk.

"Freddy." Jacob grumbled.

"Sergeant. Under cover." He then spotted me. "And this is..?" His eyes lingered on mine for a while, almost as if he was captivated by them.

"Carina Faraday, sir. I work alongside Jacob and Evie Frye." He smiled.

"Charmed. Anyway. I believe there is to be a robbery at the Bank of England, I'm sure of it."

"Robbery? It's a fortress."

"He has every right not to believe you. I don't either."

"The boys at the station thought I was joking. Wouldn't be so funny if it was their savings." Freddy chewed nervously on his fingernail.

"Who's behind it?"

"That's confidential."

"Oh, come on, Freddy." Jacob then moved beside Freddy and slipped his arm around his shoulder. "We can help you. Imagine the headlines: 'Thieves Caught in the Act! Abberline Right all Along.' "

"Well, I suppose I can fill you both in a little. Every fiscal quarter, a branch of the bank is robbed, never the same branch. The thieves are supplied by Cockham Merchants."

"Thanks for the info, Freddy." Jacob was already walking away. I then followed and slipped a hand onto Frederick's shoulder on the way past him.

"Thank you. I know that giving out this information could be jeopardising your career. I appreciate this help." He laughed lightly.

"You are very welcome. And I thank you for the kind words. No one has ever shown such appreciation towards me before."

"Well, I am glad that I could be the first one, Frederick. I hope to work with you more in the future." As I went on my way again, Frederick was chuckling.

Jacob had climbed onto the top of a carriage and was readying the horses for travel.

"It is late now. We should get quickly back to the train. Tomorrow, we will find more information on this case and we will also need some more supplies if we hope to be successful in our mission." I hummed in agreement. "What is the matter? You seem so very off with me since after dinner."

"Nothing. Something has simply bothered me."

"What would that be?"

"I will tell you about it when we are not so busy." I tucked my knees up to my chest as the carriage moved on by. It was cold at this late in the evening. I hugged my legs closer to myself to gain extra body heat.

"If it is something I had done, I only hope that you will tell me. I don't want to be the cause of your unhappiness." I smiled.

"No worries, Jacob. All will be explained when we are all in a better situation. Right now, we are in the middle of a mission, so I would rather this stay held off until we were finished." I then flipped slightly to my side and rested my head on Jacob's shoulder, ready to fall asleep. My eyes slipped shut for a second and I felt warmth on the top of my head. When I reached up to touch whatever was there, I felt a hat. "Your top hat?"

"It will block out more of the light so that you can sleep better." I sighed. That idiot. He may have been getting love letters from other women, but he was damned sweet to me. "Now, get some rest. I can take you onto the train once we get to the station. You need your beauty sleep."

"Don't make me punch you, Frye." I slid my hand beneath the right opening on his jacket to keep it warm. "I am an armed woman and I will not hesitate to poke you with pointy things."

"And you are terrifying, my dear. I don't doubt that you will poke me with pointy things. Now, sleep."