motioned that he’d heard and handed some coins to the nearest wench. He doubted all the benches in this place together amounted to the money he gave her.
Using the table, Newt swayed to his feet.
He spoke so quietly to the men at the table Henry almost missed it. “Word is you’re looking for some information.”
The men tensed. The bigger one went for a knife at his belt.
With that puckered scar dissecting his face, the bigger man looked to be a nasty sort. Henry slapped his hand on the long dagger at his waist and shook his head.
Sneering, the man kept his hand where it was. “Word is wrong.”
“A pity.” Newt pushed away from the table. “Because I have some to sell.”
“Get away with you, you drunken sot.” Not quite as broad, the man with his back to Henry shoved Newt away. “You have nothing I want to hear.”
“Huh.” Newt blinked at him. “Guess I must not have seen a caravan come in from Cairo this morning.”
Henry dragged him into the street. “What, in God’s name, are you doing?”
Newt winked at him. “A little bait and trap, my friend, a little bait and trap.”
He straightened his tunic.
The street the tavern occupied was narrow and dark, twisting this way and that between the larger trading squares. It stank of stale beer and piss. Henry wanted out of here and back to the boat.
Newt set a brisk pace away from the tavern and turned into a darker, noisome alley.
“Hey!” a man shouted after them.
“Keep walking,” Newt whispered.
“It’s the men from the tavern.”
“Of course, it is.” Newt grinned. “Now keep walking and we’ll pick the place of meeting.”
They quickened their steps.
Behind them footsteps came faster.
Newt ducked into a darkened archway, and pulled Henry in after him.
They drew their knives.
Running footsteps grew louder, and then their pursuers passed their hiding place.
Newt slipped out first, grabbed the man closest to him and shoved his knife against the man’s pulse. “Looking for someone?”
The scarred man from the tavern lunged, but Henry pressed the tip of his sword to his chest. “Do nothing stupid and your friend will be fine.”
“What do you want?” Newt’s man’s gaze flicked between the dagger and Henry.
“Heard you were looking for someone.” Newt pressed the tip into his skin.
Blood snaked down the man’s neck.
“Heard that someone was a girl.”
“I do not know what you are speaking of.” Sweat glistened on his forehead.
“Really?” Newt said. His smile raised Henry’s hackles. “That’s not what I heard at all. Is it?”
Drawing the tip of his sword over Scar Man’s tunic, Henry shook his head. The fabric melted beneath the blade, leaving a thin red line on his chest.
Scar Man paled. “Jesu, Aldo, tell them.”
“Fine.” Aldo licked his lips. “But only if you vow to let us go.”
“Nah.” Newt pressed the dagger deeper into Aldo’s flesh. “I cannot do that until I hear what you have to say. If I find it useful, I might let you go.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, my big friend has a nasty temper. It’s going to take something special to appeal to his better nature.”
Henry slashed another line, dissecting his first cut and making a cross.
“Aldo!” Scar Man screamed. “He will cut me to ribbons. I am bleeding.”
“Harry.” Newt clicked his tongue. “Must you always be so impetuous?”
“There’s a rumor,” Scar Man yelled. “Good money to be made from getting the Genovese out of Cairo.”
“By out your friend means dead, does he not, Aldo?” Newt went a trifle deeper with his blade tip.
Sweat running in his eyes, Aldo blinked. “Aye.”
“Did you make one of these Genovese dead?”
“Nay.” Scar Man sobbed. “We did not touch them. By the time we got there, it was too late.”
“Tell me about Alif Al-Rasheed.”
“We didn’t do it.” The man’s chest labored, blood pouring down it. “We swear to God we did not do it. Rumor says some berserker bastard got to him first.”
“He is dead?”
“We do not know. This is only what we heard.”
Henry cut the sod again, just because he was the sort of whoreson seeking to make coin from killing an innocent girl. His girl on the wall.
The man screamed and dropped to his knees. “I will tell you what you want. Anything. Just don’t cut me again.”
Anger surged through him. The master had been a good man, and Alya had loved her father dearly. “And now you are after the daughter?”
“Everyone is.” Snot streamed from his nose as he bawled like a baby. “The price on her head is double.”
Chapter 6
Leaving the two men in the alley, Henry and Newt hurried back to the boat. These would not be the only two looking to make some gold from Alya’s blood.
Alert and watchful, two sentries stood guard at the gangplank. Around them the docks heaved with activity. Busier than when they had arrived earlier. A couple of passers glanced at the two sentries before hurrying on.
Arms crossed, watching the activity around them, Bahir stood on the deck.
“We have news.” Henry stepped onto the boat. “And none of it is good.”
Bahir raised his brow.
“There is a price on Alya’s head, and the hunters have found their way to Alexandria. We encountered two, but I am willing to wager there are more of them.”
Nodding, Bahir said, “It was as we suspected. What other news?”
Henry hesitated. He could merely pass the news of Alif’s possible death on to Bahir and have the man tell Alya.
