Burned

19

          "Fucking all the way out here to give him some bits of paper," Alfie grumbled under his breath. He'd been complaining about the 'nerve of Tommy fucking Shelby' the entire drive to Birmingham.

"I'm sure he has some reason for it." But Louise wasn't too sure when they pulled into a mostly abandoned warehouse.

Tommy stood alone, a sharp look of distrust on his face.

Louise stepped out with Alfie, trailing behind him. The sound of her heels and Alfie's cane echoed through the warehouse. It gave her a sinking feeling of dread and uncertainty. She had three pieces of paper tucked away in her coat. She didn't know what was on them, Alfie had written something out, folded the paper and handed it to her without telling her.

"I asked you to come alone and unarmed," Tommy spoke curtly once they stopped in front of him. "You didn't need to involve her in this."

"Well, she's me secretary, innit she? She keeps the books, Tommy." Alfie replied casually. "As for the cane, that's just me sciatica."

"He's unarmed," Louise confirmed. "I made sure of that." Indeed she had, tucking her hands into Alfie's pockets and removing the revolver he had stashed away. He protested but she made him leave it with the driver.

Tommy dropped the cigarette in his hand, stubbing it out with his expensive shoe. There was once a time when he trusted the woman who had no stake in the game. He'd paid her for protection and he was sure she was grateful. But she had spent too much time with the Jewish gangster. Enough time to lose credibility. "What have you got for me, Alfie?"

Louise reached into her coat pocket and passed the papers along to Alfie. Tommy spotted the sapphire ring now adorning her left hand. An icy feeling traveled down his spine but he remained quiet.

"Right, so here are the names of all the men in England whom I would approach, right, if I had a Faberge egg for sale."

Louise raised an eyebrow at the name of such an expensive luxury. She could remember her mother talking about the eggs ages ago. Her father playfully remarked that he would indulge her one day with such a gem of a piece. But her mother simply laughed and told him she would much rather a racehorse that would be far less expensive. So he bought her a gorgeous, dapple grey Arabian that very week.

Now her fiancee was acting like he'd seen one first hand. Knowing Alfie, he probably had.

"And then," Alfie continued on, handing Tommy the second paper. "here is all the men on that list, you know, who would buy the egg even if they knew that the item was stolen."

Louise closed her eyes for a moment. Things were starting to line up. Alfie had helped Tommy with the Russians' jewelry but it was far more involved than he had told her. Lying by omission.

"Here's a list of the men who would buy a Faberge because of their wives' obsession." Alfie finished. "'Bout done here then?" As if to answer his question, Tommy handed him a thick envelope of the promised cash. "Thank you, Mr. Shelby, lovely doing business with you." He turned to Louise and handed her the money to keep safe. "All set then, love."

Louise stared at him, a mixture of disappointment and anger bubbling up to her throat. "You have a lot of explaining to do. I thought-"

Tommy stopped her from going off. He turned around, pulling out a gun and pointing it at the man. "You left a name off the list, Alfie."

"Did I?"

"I've already spoke to my people in the jewelry quarter, experienced dealers."