Infiltration // T.S

sixteen

Within the hour almost every man on the Shelby payroll had been called in and put to work; some men were being sent to London to scope out where Lillian could possibly be held, others were scouring the streets of Birmingham for William Brown and the other Silver Fang members loitering the streets, whilst the Shelby family and Pearl hauled up in the betting den trying to decipher their next move.

"We should just go in there full force, we're not scared of no cockney - we'll beat the bastard to hell and back" John stated, sitting on the table in the centre of the room with his feet resting on a chair, toothpick dangling between his teeth.

Pearl shook her head from where she stood beside the stairs, scribbling on a piece of paper, "No, that'll never work. He'll see you coming from a mile away. Besides you'd be outnumbered ten to one at least"

For the last forty-five minutes everyone was throwing in any idea they could think of and each and every time Pearl shot them down. Always finding a kink in their plan, a hitch that could go wrong, or an unexpected aspect which could bring every single one of them to their knees. No, this had to be just right and so far she was coming up blank.

"So we'll sneak in? Element of surprise" Arthur suggested.

"No chance. The place Lili's hidden will be a fortress and from what I've heard you've all spent very little time in London - you'd never be able to get in or out. Even if you could, I doubt you'd be able to navigate the streets before Grenfeld found you"

"But you can?" Polly asked with a quirk of her brow.

There we are. Finally an idea Pearl liked.

"Yeah... I suppose. If I knew where she was being held"

Pearl handed the piece of paper to Tommy who was pacing in front of her, "These are all the places I can think of that Grenfeld would hold a captive. I want your men to check every single one and once they find her..."

Tommy stopped and glanced at Pearl, completely deadpan, "You're staying here. I don't care how well you think you know your way around, we'll find another man for the job"

"Fuck you, Tommy! I am the man for the job"

His expression never faltered and it only seemed to rile her up more.

"She's my sister and I'm far more experienced than any man you have in London. You forget who I am"

"Trust me... I haven't forgotten"

Pearl searched Tommy's eyes for any kind of sympathy or understanding that she could latch on to to allow her to go but she could see the pain etched faintly into his features when he thought about her leaving. Pearl groaned and dropped her face into her hands. Once again her gender was impeding her from doing something she believed she was perfectly capable of.

Man for the job my arse.

"Tommy, why don't you consider that Pearl might be the only one suitable enough for this" Polly proposed, being the only one able to say to Tommy what they were all thinking.

Pearl's head raised slightly from her hands and she looked at Polly in awe. Tommy, however, was quick to turn around with his finger pointed at his aunt.

"Don't you dare. Don't you fucking encourage her" he snapped with quick strides towards Polly.

"Y'know she's right Tom" Ada's voice piped up from where she sat at the table, "No one knows the area as well as Pearl. If anyone had a real fighting chance of getting in and out, it's her"

Pearl couldn't see his face but she noticed the rise and fall of his shoulders as he sighed. Tommy pressed his fingertips against his closed eyes and spun slightly on his heel, "How can I get it into all of your thick heads that we're not sending her"