“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Rye muttered. “No wonder she didn’t want him back.”
Jack’s eye twitched, his fists clenching. He’d met Mrs. Gorcey and she deserved better than this unappreciative bastard. “A decent woman, sharing your life and giving you babies? That’s a goddamn gift. That is a woman you work hard to keep, not one you leave. But I can see she’s well rid of you. They all are.”
Gorcey said nothing, his expression unchanged. While Jack didn’t know the other man well, Gorcey didn’t strike him as a genius mastermind. Had he worked alone? “How much did O’Shaughnessy pay you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?” He strode closer and leaned down into Gorcey’s face. “If you weren’t working for me, you were working for someone else. Tell me who, Robert.”
“Whether you believe me or not isn’t my problem. I’m not working for anyone else.”
“Actually it’s very much your problem. If you tell me the truth, I might just put you on a train to Kansas. If you lie, however, I’m thinking a ship bound for Brisbane. That’s on the other side of the world, Robert. Either way, you’ll never return to New York.”
“I’m not working for anyone else,” he repeated, though Jack didn’t believe him.
“Well, it looks as if I’ve gotten my wish. I was looking for one more man to fight today and it seems I’ve found him.” He rolled his shoulders and advanced on Gorcey.
“You haven’t asked the most important question.”
“Such as, why don’t I just throw you in the East River and be done with it?”
“No. Like how I knew about you and that fancy lady.”
A cold sense of foreboding slithered down Jack’s spine. “How did you know about her?”
“Everyone knows. Including O’Shaughnessy.”
“And?”
“I’ll tell you, if you let me go.”
Jack’s fists clenched as his pulse pounded in his ears. No way would he let Gorcey go, but he had to know what O’Shaughnessy planned, especially if it involved Justine. “I won’t let you go, but I may let you live if you tell me.”
“Not good enough. Let me go and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
“Robert, you seem to think this is a negotiation. I do not negotiate with men who’ve tried to kill me.”
“Then I guess she dies.”
That was all Jack needed to know. O’Shaughnessy had targeted Justine as a way to get to Jack . . . and Jack must move heaven and earth to prevent that.
“Let’s go,” Rye said. “Right now.”
Jack was already moving toward the door.
“Wait,” Cooper called. “It could be a trap. If Gorcey’s working with him, this is exactly what O’Shaughnessy wants you to do.”
Jack paused, fear sinking its claws deep into his chest. This might be a trap . . . but what if it wasn’t? What if O’Shaughnessy had kidnapped Justine? The thought turned his blood cold. “I don’t care. If she’s not there already, then she’s in danger. I have to put the fear of God in him; otherwise, she’ll always be at risk.”
“Agreed,” Rye said. “We should take a hundred men.”
“No, that’s what he wants. A big confrontation in the streets where we all get arrested and chaos descends upon the city. I lived through that once and I don’t relish doing it again. This has to be civilized.”
Rye shook his head. “O’Shaughnessy ain’t civilized.”
“He’ll come around. Cooper, stay with Gorcey. Tie him up. Rye, let’s go.”
Justine hurried up the steps of police headquarters, the note tucked in her handbag. She could almost feel the paper in there, burning with importance, as she hurried to Ellison’s office. She hadn’t spoken to the detective since the shirtwaist factory. In reality, the visit wasn’t that far in the past, but she felt like a different person now, someone a bit sadder and harder.
Thirty minutes ago, she had been leaving the legal aid society when a boy handed her a note.
$10,000 FOR MULLIGAN’S LIFE. YOU HAVE UNTIL SUNDOWN.
Trevor O’Shaughnessy had signed it, along with directions to Broome Street Hall.
Justine had no idea who he was or if he’d really kidnapped Jack but she meant to get to the bottom of it. Ellison’s desk was empty, so she searched the building until she found the detective in a meeting with some other men. She didn’t care if interrupting was rude; Jack’s life might be at stake.
Knocking on the doorjamb, she waved Ellison over. He didn’t appear happy at the intrusion, his frown deepening. “I need to speak with you.