Roguish Women- Tommy Shelby

Dusty Black Coat

       "Which states have warrants out for you?" The drive had been silent until Tommy asked the question that didn't seem all too relevant given the circumstances.

Kate couldn't see him very well. There was only some light coming in from dirty windows on the doors of the trailer. "Massachusetts and Illinois." She answered.

"Boston and Chicago." He surmised.

She only mumbled a yes in response. Tucking her hands in her lap, she tried to sit up straight enough to see anything out the filmy windows. But there wasn't much to see except sunlight.

When the truck stopped, dread settled in Kate's stomach. The whole thing seemed wrong. This hunch was confirmed when the doors opened and she saw they were parked in a field.

"You British sure have funny looking jailhouses." She quipped if only to ease her own worries.

"C'mon." One of the officers gestured with a gun.

Tommy stepped out first before offering a hand to help Kate down. She took it but felt his fingers tighten around hers. That's because he noticed the grave dug before she did.

She saw it when she walked a couple of steps out into the barren field. Her chest tightened when she put two and two together. But she wasn't going to drop to her knees and beg to be spared. No, Kathleen Lynch didn't beg. Not when she was still armed.

Once her pistol was pulled from the holster on her thigh, all three men pointed their guns at her.

"I have men looking for me. Men who are more powerful than you." She did her best to keep her voice even to portray fearlessness. But her hand was trembling slightly. "If you kill me or you send me back to America, they won't be very happy. They like doing things themselves, don't like it when others do it for them. If they find out, they'll be coming for you next."

"Put the gun down, grave's not for you. S'for him." The curly-haired man standing by the pre-dug grave said.

"You think I'm going to let you kill him?" She scoffed. "After everything, he's done to protect me?" There was no telling whether it was the dust from the empty field making her eyes water, or she really was going to cry.

"Put the gun down and no harm will come to you."

Kate didn't listen. Instead, she looked to Tommy who appeared to be miles away. The faraway look in his blue eyes was startling. It was just another indication that he wasn't in control anymore and this was not in his plan. He was seeing death again. An old acquaintance who he'd avoided for so long.

"Put it down, Kate." He finally spoke. "S'alright."

"No." She tightened her grip on the pistol. "No, you said that if I listened to you everything would be okay. You said that it would work out. I'm not listening...I'm not."

"Kate." He asserted in a firmer voice.

She swallowed and felt a tear slip down her cheek. "What am I meant to do then?"

Tommy approached her and pulled the gun from her tight grip, emptying the bullets to the dirt below. There were only two loaded.

Her lower lip quivered. "So, I'm supposed to just let you die? Even though you kept me alive? Kept me safe? I'm supposed to live with that guilt for the rest of my life? Live with the debts I owe you?"

"You don't owe me anything." He replied. "I owe you so much more. But I can't give it to you."

"For fuck's sake, Tommy." She blinked rapidly to keep from crying. "You don't know what they'll do to me. They'll turn me over to the Americans. I won't have a fucking chance if they charge me and-"