The Spying Cat (ONC 2023 Shortlister)

Chapter 2

Around the same time, London.

After fourteen years in London, and twelve years on the force, Detective Inspector Tobias Thackery marched to the beat of his own drum in the fluid foulness of the metropolis. Few things still surprised him, though the sight of his long-lost sister stunned him speechless.

"I'll be damned," he uttered unwittingly, then cleared his throat and checked his surroundings.

He had been summoned to the Scotland Yard holding cells in the dead of the night, after an arrested harlot had asked for him, claiming to be his sister. Tobias had all but given up hope on ever finding Rebecca, yet he couldn't bring himself to ignore this odd summons. Lo and behold, there she stood, behind bars, in rags and shackles.

"It's nice to see you, too, Toby."

Tobias unlocked the cell and stepped in with her, also removing her handcuffs. Rebecca winced and rubbed her red, raw wrists back to life.

"I've been looking for you," Tobias said.

"I know. I've been hiding."

"For ten years?"

"Give or take."

Tobias sighed, shaking his head. "I have so many questions, Rebecca, I don't even know where to begin."

"I might even answer some of them, except not here, of course."

"Of course."

Rebecca had the steel-grey Thackery eyes which had given Tobias such an edge in his work as a detective. Deadly like gunmetal, soft like a raincloud, as mysterious as the fog rising over the Thames. His mien changed at will, a trick he had learned from his only older sister, Hannah, and his first younger sister, Rebecca. Right now, he had to muddle through the mist and rely on guesswork to make his next move.

"Before I can try to take you out of here," Tobias resumed, "maybe you can tell me how you managed to get yourself caught after hiding for ten years."

The mist thickened into molten steel, and Rebecca lowered her eyes to conceal it. "I made a mistake, which may or may not be fatal if the people I'm hiding from find out I'm here."

Tobias scratched at his forehead under his bowler hat.

"Bloody hell," he muttered.

There were a couple of drunks in the adjoining cell and no constable on duty. If he were to throw his weight around a little, Tobias figured he could walk out with his sister without much fuss. Open remained only the question of whether he should trust her.

"All right, follow me," said Tobias in the end. "Celia took the children to her sister in Brighton, I have the house all to myself. We'll be safe there."

*

Sometimes, Tobias hated being right. The house felt empty when he woke up the next morning, and, sure enough, all rooms stood deserted. Rebecca had done a disappearing act on him again.

Tobias cursed his soft spot for his little sister, who was not so little anymore. He should have locked her in the guest bedroom. Despondent, Tobias shaved and dressed himself for the day, making his way to Hannah's inn before work for a spot of breakfast.

Hannah brought him food and a pot of coffee and sat with him at the table.

"What happened?" she asked straight away.

As his only older sister, and the second-oldest of eleven siblings, Hannah could always read Tobias like an open book.

He couldn't help a smirk. "You're not going to believe me if I tell you."