Coming out into the open again, they passed half a dozen tar-paper shacks thrown up in the last week. But a building with a lock and boarded-up windows caught Jake’s attention. Apparently Livy noticed it as well. She pulled out a couple of long wires.
Jake reached out to stop her. “What do you think you’re doing?”
Her gaze met his. “Don’t you want to see what’s inside?”
Jake eyed the wires in her hand, doubting she could get inside even if she wanted to. “We can’t just break in.”
“Even if something illegal’s going on in there?” She turned to the lock.
“Livy—”
To his surprise, the lock popped open a few seconds later, and Livy slipped inside the building. He gritted his teeth and followed her, intent on dragging her outside and raking her over the coals.
He took one look inside the empty building, grabbed Livy by the arm, and pulled her outside. He snapped the lock into place and stuck his nose within inches of hers. “I oughta haul you in for breaking and entering.”
“But what if it had been a sweatshop? You have to admit it looked suspicious. Windows boarded up, locked up tight as a drum.”
“Doesn’t matter. You can’t go around breaking in to buildings just because they look suspicious.”
She huffed away, and he followed, shaking his head.
They checked out several more buildings, small shops making candles and such, but none of them looked like they were trying to hide their enterprises. Everything seemed on the up-and-up.
“Come on, let’s call it a night,” Jake said. “We’re not likely to find anything else.”
Livy turned down the nearest alley.
“Where you going?”
She glanced at him. “Back to the orphanage.”
“That way?”
“It’s the shortest route I know of.”
“But not the safest. We’ll go the long way if you don’t mind.” Jake snagged her wrist and pulled her along with him. “How do you know your way around shantytown?”
“When I moved here, I spent a couple of hours every day exploring Chestnut. There’s not much of the town I don’t know. Except that it’s growing so fast. There’s a whole new section of shacks close to the coal mines that I haven’t explored yet.”
Jake scowled. He knew the place. She was determined to get herself killed. “Livy, you know better than to wander around a place like that. It’s dangerous.”
“No more dangerous than wandering around with you.” She smiled, a cheeky grin that showed she wasn’t afraid of anything. “Besides, I can take care of myself.”
Jake shook his head. How had she survived all those years in Chicago? Who knew when a drunk would stagger out of an alley intent on knifing someone for a few dollars? His heart lurched.
He stopped and turned her to face him. “Livy, maybe you can, but promise me you won’t keep wandering around town after dark.” He rubbed his hands up and down her arms and pulled her close so there would be no mistaking his intent. “I don’t want to find you in an alley or floating in the creek some morning. Promise me?”
Clear blue eyes stared at him, letting him look into her soul. Fear clutched his stomach. He might not understand her, and he wasn’t sure he could trust her, but he couldn’t lose her, not when he’d just found her.
She tucked her head down, her hood covering her face. “No one’s ever cared where I was or what I did, except for Katie and Mrs. Brooks.”
Jake tipped her head up, the pale moonlight revealing a sheen of tears glistening in her eyes. He slid his hand to the nape of her neck and drew her toward him, wanting to taste the sweet nectar of her lips once again. She melted against him. Her hood fell back as Jake wrapped his arms around her.
He slanted his lips over hers and savored the taste of her, drawing her closer until he thought his chest would burst with wanting. He lifted his head and stared into her heavy-lidded eyes.
A loud clatter sounded from the other end of the alley. Jake reacted instantly, pushing Livy behind a stack of crates. Three men dressed in miners garb held on to each other and staggered down the alley, passing within a few feet of where Jake squatted with Livy pressed in the corner behind him.
The men passed on by, and Jake relaxed but waited. As soon as the alley cleared, he stood and pulled Livy to her feet. “You all right?”