𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 ᵖᵉᵃᵏʸ ᵇˡⁱⁿᵈᵉʳˢ

𝟏𝟕

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟕

Arthur ran up the stairs of the train station, hat in hand. His heart was racing, panic filling him quickly. Arthur stopped at the top and walked toward his dad.

"Dad?" he asked, stopping in front of him. Arthur Sr sighed and placed his hands into his pockets. "Hello, son. May I ask who gave you my whereabouts?" Arthur Sr. stepped away from the women he was talking with.

"Marsden, said you left him last night with a bill for your whores."

"Well, at least we got to say goodbye, son. And bid a fair adieu to your dear brothers would ya? Oh and Maeve, it's been good to see her." He checked his time piece.

"How could you do this to us?" Arthur asked, his voice shaking slightly. "Do what, son?"

"All that stuff you said about Shelby Casino and Atlantic City," Arthur asked him, upset lacing his voice. "Well if the truth be told, i'm not too acquainted with promised land that I made thee believe." He admitted. Arthur's eyes were glossy, "you're a fucking liar. And a thief. You give me back my fucking money."

"Don't despise the thief who steals to satisfy his starvation. Thats in the holy bible son, and i've starved for so very long."

"I waited for ya, i waited." Arthur charged at his father, only to be pushed up against the wall. "Listen to me, boy. You're not in the ring now. Don't you ever put your hands on me again or i'll cut your throat," he hissed, letting go of him.

Arthur pushed his head to the side, refusing to meet his fathers eyes. He couldn't believe what had happened, Maeve was right. It was all a bad idea, a really bad idea.

Tears were welling in his eyes as Arthur Sr let go of him. He fixed his coat and took his cap from the floor, wasting no time before storming off. Arthur Shelby was not to cry in front of anyone.

-

Maeve sat at the kitchen table, holding her head. The floorboards creaked and Arthur appeared sheepishly. Polly looked up from her newspaper. "Where's ya father?"

Arthur stared down at the floor, completely frozen.

"I'm assuming he's frittering away in the five hundred you took from us and put into his thieving whore groping hands. What were you thinking? How dare you do something like that without talking to Thomas or me." She scolded.

Maeve looked between the two, "Aunt Pol give him a rest, yeah?"

"Does Tommy know?" Arthur mumbled. Polly scoffed and looked back at the paper, "no, but you're gonna tell him."

Maeve's shivers had only gotten worse. Theadosia knew about the guns. Which meant Grace knew about the guns. It was over, the police knew everything.

-

Maeve had managed to sneak out, try and find Thea and interrogate her. First she went to the Garrison. "Grace," she spoke, hand on her chest, "Theadosia, have you seen her?"

Grace pursed her lips into a line and shook her head, "no, sorry. Anything else I can help you with?"

Before she could reply, Harry came up behind them. "My brother in Digbeth said the police are coming up in numbers. Asking for Tommy Shelby by name." He whispered.