The Secret in East End [Agents of the Crown #1]

Chapter 8

Within minutes, the twilight brought little illumination to the dockside which Fabian raced to on his Arabian. Vaulting off Sheikh's back without even waiting for him to slow down, he hit the ground running, immediately heading for Lionel. "What do you have?" he asked, before he even got to his friend. Lionel's eyes flashed with amusement, before waving a hand at the various warehouses that dotted the port. "This is a small dock, that connects to the Newcastle port by a small river."

"How did you find this place?"

"It's used by the fishermen in this area. The warehouses are for the very few businesses that have the use of this dock." his friend explained. Fabian frowned, his keen eye taking in the area. Despite being dark, it was illuminated with scattered lamps. The warehouses appeared rundown, although all was locked, along with a derelict looking guard half asleep halfway up the very short pathway. Fabian could count about eight or ten warehouses altogether, which was small if considered with the larger docks they were used to. "Why did you ask me to come here? Your note said you had information."

"A couple of days ago, a cart was seen coming in in the early evening. The baker in the nearby village said the driver was a huge, burly looking brute who came in to buy her leftover bread crusts with a few shillings. The boys were dirty, quiet and bound together. All tiny, small sized."

"That fits our description." Fabian responded, his mind running a mind a minute. His blood raced inside him. Elle was here, somewhere, wasn't she? He didn't know why would he know, nor why was he so anxious to find her. All he knew was that he didn't want that joyful spark he's seen in the scant few days he spent with her, to be snuffed out. His palms went clammy at the thought of anything happening to her. Why it became so, Fabian wasn't keen on pursuing the reason. After all, he had been raised as a proper gentleman, to protect and honor a lady above all else, was he not? Surely that was reason enough. "Where did the cart go?" he asked.

Without a word, Lionel pointed at one warehouse which looked shabbier then the rest. Against the shimmering moonlight, what could've been magical looked ominous instead. Fabian's brows furrowed again. "Did you notify anyone?"

His friend shook his head. "I thought we could go ahead and investigate first. No sense in us calling in back up if it turns out to be a false lead." Lionel replied, eyes still focused on the warehouse.

Within minutes, the two men were crouched below an open window, frowning as they heard no sound drifting to them. Did they get it wrong after all? Signalling at Lionel to be quiet, Fabian took the risk to peek into the window. Despite the dark shadows that hid most of the area, the warehouse appeared to be a used one. Boxes piled high, with scattered empty spaces. A light flickered from behind one of it. Someone's around?

Waving at his partner, the two crouched, getting grass stains on their knees as they drifted towards a door left ajar to dissipate the summer heat. Crossing his fingers they wouldn't creak, both men let out a sigh of relief when the slight push Lionel gave did not announce their presence, quickly stealing in. Careful to keep hidden behind large boxes, his pale green eyes rounded the corner, frowning when he saw the cards on the table. Was this just a simple case of inattentive guards?

"Yer thin' 'e woulda getit by now?"

"They be young ones. Leave 'em some time. Yer turn." the blockier one built like a wall nudged his partner, whose attention got riveted to the cards by then.

Turning back, Lionel exchanged a perplexed look with Fabian. Who would get what? Taking his turn, the young Duke peered across the boxes. Noting the sleeping but twitching figures of sleeping boys not too far away almost confirmed that this was the bunch he and Lionel had been hunting. But where was Elle? He would recognize her golden mop of head anywhere, and she definitely was not tied up with the rest of the boys.