The Pirate's Lady (Spies of London #1)

Traitor 2

Traitor 2

I'm feeling a bit down, so this one has NO happiness.

Sorry about that.

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Sweat. Cheap whisky. Whores.

It was the stench that permeated the alley walls, as the lone man scurried along the darkened and dirty pathway.

Dirty Pete was his name, and to the uppity members of the ton, he was part of the lowest rung on the ladder. A hired marksman. A thug.

A thug who was in deep waters. With no boat in sight.

He had been so confident in his abilities, and had not wasted any time in sealing the deal with that fancy gentleman that had approached him the day before about a mark.

He had been at one of the seedier bars that saw hide nor hair of any kind of gentry, so when the man had approached him and he had noticed the pristine clothes the man wore, he had smelled easy money. It was a known fact in the criminal class that the gentry were easy targets to obtain money. They had plenty of it, and lacked the brains to regulate how much they spent.

But this man had been cleverer than Pete had anticipated. And now he was on the run, because though he didn't realize at the time, he had sold his soul to the devil.

And the devil wanted his payment.

Rounding a corner, he plastered his body to the wall, cautious of the slightest sound. How could he have bungled the whole thing up so much?

Killing the woman should have been so easy. But he hadn't thought about any kind of picnic and that there would be such a crowd. And the long distance shooting he would have to do to get the wench.

Everything had turned against him that morning, and seeing those three men chase after him, he had bolted like a hare, the horse that the gentleman had provided helping him outrun them, but he now had bigger problems.

He would try to catch the first ship out of London at dawn. He just had to get to his lodgings to collect whatever savings he had, and he would leave with the clothes on his back, find some shelter for the remaining hours till dawn and he would be safe.

Just an alley away from his shack, however, he felt a chill go down his spine. Something had changed in the air, and it was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Suddenly, a figure stepped out of the fog, and a cold voice spoke quietly.

"Where do you think you are going, Pete?"

It was enough for him to start begging for his life. He fell to his knees and groveled before the terrifying spectacle before him, but when the man took out a pistol, he knew he was going to die that night.

But by God, he'd go down fighting.

Quickly he took his own pistol out of his inner coat pocket.

But before he could aim at his assailant, saw the blood gush out of his own heart and stain his ripped coat red.

Falling to the ground, his last thought was, God help the woman he's after.

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As he watched Dirty Pete take his last breaths, he thought, that is why you never send someone else to do your job. Especially an inept person.

It had sounded so simple. Pete had killed enough people successfully to give him the job to kill the new countess. But the incompetent fool had spoiled everything! All his carefully laid out plans were now ruined!

But he would not panic. Hadn't he done the right thing already? Killed ol' Dirty Pete before he could ruin anyone else's plans. Yes, he had done the right thing.

Leaving the body behind, he walked for a few minutes before he reached the shack where he had tethered his horse. No one knew about it, and even the thieves did not venture so far astray of the city.

Mounting the stallion, he began the trip to his town lodgings, his mind plotting the course ahead. The girl had to go. She was the weak link, and no doubt the Earl would take her death as a hard blow. The way the sod had been behaving for the past weeks confirmed his suspicions that it was a love match to be certain.

But now he would have to go to Shropshire himself. How tedious.

Perhaps he could poison the chit? Servants were so easily bought. A few coins in the right pockets and you had them willing to do your bidding instantly.

But that would be too easy. He must think of something complex.

That way he had so much more excitement.

In any case, the Earl and countess of Winchester would have a visit from him soon.

Oh, Goody.

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A/N

I have not forgotten about the papers she has! The characters weave their own stories for me, I don't guide their thoughts, they have minds of their own. I dunno why, it's just the way I write!

And this'll probably have a lot of chapters, so I hope you guys can bear with me! :)

This one is just a branch out, to show the traitors thinking process.

Sinister, sinister, sinister! :/

Plz Plz Plz Vote and comment! It means a lot!

Lots of love!

~shreya07