Free Revenge of the Brotherhood (Book 3 in the Tom & Laura Series) by John Booth Page A

ain’t a wrestling contest.”
    “’ow would I know? I ain’t never canoodled a girl before.”
    Alice pulled Tricky’s hands off her. “You ‘as to do it gentle like.” She kissed him on the cheek and Tricky wondered if it was all right to wipe away the saliva as it was a very wet kiss.
    “Put your ‘ands ‘ere,” she suggested, moving his hands till they cupped her bottom. “You can squeeze a bit if you wants.”
    To his surprise Tricky discovered he did want. It was pleasurable to pull her forward so her groin pressed hard against his.
    “I can tells you like it,” Alice said and giggled. She had her arms between their bodies to prevent her face being pulled into Tricky’s chest. They shared this small alcove with the local pigeons and one landed on her back giving her a push.
    Tricky’s attention wandered back to the main door of Mercury House. He maneuvered Alice so he could keep watch over her shoulder. A steady stream of people were leaving the building, splitting to right and left as they made their way home. The women he saw wore hats and Tricky wondered how he would recognize the woman he was looking for among all the others.
    “You is supposed to show me some attention,” Alice complained. A bird tried to land on top of them and she waved it away.
    Tricky moved one hand to her head and tilted it as he kissed her on the mouth, keeping a careful watch on the door across the road as he did so. Alice struggled for a few seconds and then relaxed as she found she could breathe through her nose. Both sets of lips were firmly closed as neither participant wished to do anything so disgusting as touch tongues.
    They stopped kissing and moved closer, cheek to cheek. Tricky whispered in Alice’s ear. “I can see the people coming out, but the ladies is wearin’ ’ats.”
    “Seen any pretty ones yet?”
    “Not as ’ow I’d call pretty. Not like you.”
    Alice used her hands to force his head back and kissed him again on the mouth, this time more passionately.
    “What was that for?” Tricky asked when she finally let him up for air.
    “Nothin’”
    That was the moment he spotted the women they were looking for. Despite her hat, there was no mistaking hair so blonde it was close to white, nor how attractive she was, despite the frown on her face.
    “We ‘as to go.” Tricky disentangled himself from Alice and took her hand. He dragged her from the door towards the road.
    What happened next was about as likely as being struck by lightning. A pigeon landed on Tricky’s hand and he instinctively shook it off. Alice opened her mouth to protest the violent shake and got a mouth full of pigeon wing for her trouble. The sooty feathers tasted awful.
    Alice was not the sort of girl that screamed at the slightest thing, but this was just too much. She screamed in panic. Because her mouth was blocked she screamed mentally, broadcasting a cry of panic that shook everybody within a hundred yards of her.
    Andrea Wright felt the telepathic force of the scream like a physical blow and for a split second thought that something terrible had happened to her sister. Then the shock of a third mind in her own hit her. Such a thing was impossible.
    The security men watching the street went to full alert and pulled out their pistols.
    “Back in the building!” someone shouted and those closest the doors crushed against each other trying to get back in. Andrea followed them, glancing from side to side, trying to find where the scream had come from.
    “They’ve spotted us,” Tricky said in a panic. In point of fact, they hadn’t, but when he and Alice started to run, they did. Three armed men ran towards them, blocking every way except for down an alley. Tricky and Alice turned and ran for their lives. Alice couldn’t run very fast in her shoes. She was yards behind Tricky when one of the men shouted at them.
    “Stop or I’ll shoot.”
    Alice stopped, as did Tricky. They turned to find all three men stood rigid,