Free Grace of the Goddess (The Death Dealer Book 3) by Katie Roman Page B

only to the murder of his wife and her lover. He’s too stupid to be a hired assassin, but he may make the perfect scapegoat.” Jack shrugged. 
    “Poor sod.”
    “He’ll meet a traitor’s end for it, I’m sure. Lord Gregory wants people to think the murderer was caught. I think he believes that giving them this man will make them forget the poor harvest and rising prices.”
    Ridley rose from her seat and grabbed another piece of cheese. “Thank you for the information.”
    “Be safe, Ridley.”
    She gave him a warm smile before departing. Jack finished his meal in silence. A few of his guard mates asked him to gamble with them, but he declined, feigning tiredness.
    The air outside the King’s Beard was cold, too cold for this time of year. His breath hung like a little white cloud before him. Jack buttoned his long jacket and moved on toward home. The city, like the tavern, was too quiet. The people were anxious about the duke’s murder and about a hungry winter, and he couldn’t blame them. There had been a few whispers at the guard house about arrests for treason. Duke Nicholas of Actis had even been arrested and sent to the Nareroc Islands for it. There were suspicions and rumors that King Frederick planned to make some sort of offensive over the islands in the spring, and everyone knew that an armed conflict would be disastrous for the country.
    “Someone help!” a woman screamed from the alley to Jack’s right.
    He looked and could make out two figures scuffling in the dark. He removed his baton from his belt and ran for the alley, ready for a fight.
    A large man had a woman of middling height by the hair. Jack could smell the whiskey on him as soon as he moved into the alley. He came up fast and gave the man a solid smack on the back of the head. The man went down, pulling the woman with him.
    She whimpered and tried to push his inert body away as they lay on the frozen ground. Jack heaved the man off the woman and helped her to her feet.
    “Any damage, miss?” he asked, brushing her off.
    In the dark he saw the glint of her teeth. “I’m fine, but you may want to see a healer about the bump on your head.” She disarmed Jack in a heartbeat and swung at his head, moving like lightning. The world flashed white and the woman forced a tangy tasting liquid into his mouth, forcing him to swallow it. Jack sputtered and the liquid spilled down his chin. The world swirled around him as he fell into a heap on the ground.
    ~*~*~
    Someone splashed cold water over Jack and he sat up, gasping for air. His head pounded. Someone had dragged him into a little room with a dirt floor, though with the considerable amount of water thrown at him, it was now a mud floor. When he tried to move he found his ankle tied to a table. In the corner opposite him there was a table that held a clay tankard and a wooden bowl. The window over the table was shuttered, but a few rays of sunlight managed to find their way through the cracks. Otherwise the only light came from a torch in the wall. The woman who clubbed and drugged him stood over him holding a bucket. She was in her late twenties, with a freckled face and strawberry blonde hair. Her clothes were ill-fitting, hanging off her like sacks. He recognized her now.
    “Fair Mary,” he grumbled, rubbing his head. “Did Marcus have you bring me in?” He was furious with himself for letting Mary get the drop on him in the alley. If he had to guess, the man “attacking” her was probably her husband, Sly Stephen. They were a notorious pair throughout the city, known for drawing people into their traps.
    “I don't bow to that man anymore, Master Anders.” She set the bucket on the table. “A man offered me gold to get you. It was enough gold that Stephen and I can quit the Thieves' Guild. Maybe even make an honest start somewhere.” She frowned and threw a blanket at Jack. “Nothing personal, you know, though you did give Stephen a nasty bump.”
    Jack wrapped the blanket