The Poisoned Rose

Chapter Five

Rose stared up at the building, a sign covered the front - it's corners peeling and the colours fading - the window below it was covered in tape - the whole scenery screamed abandoned. Exactly what it wasn't. She followed Tommy and Arthur through the now broken door, John trailed behind her, they went up a staircase and suddenly noise could be heard all around them, it was as though they had been transported to a completely different place. Men and women all worked packing objects into boxes quickly and three men in suits watched over. As soon as they caught sight of the group they marched over and glared angrily at them, "What are you doing here?"

"We're here to destroy your business!" Rose told him as she stepped forward and stared at him.

"Why would you tell us that?"

"Because it's what we're here to do." Rose pulled her gloves off, "Now I would very much like it if you were to kindly escort me to your office." The Peaky Blinders began to rip open the boxes and smash the things in them and then push the people away.

Rose and John followed one of the men into the office where they started to look around, "What exactly are we looking for?" John asked her.

"Just search all the drawers and piles of paper, if you see anything valuable then tell me." Rose informed in. "We just need to find some information." She whispered to John before telling the man, "It sounds as though you're needed out there." As soon as he left, Rose told John to move the large cabinet out of the way so she could cut all the different wires. 

"Why do you need to do that?" John stared at the broken wires. "They already fear us, they would not dare do anything."

"Fear does not control them completely, not if they think they have even more powerful allies than us. To stop them we must destroy absolutely everything." Rose started to flip through all the different files, searching for information. It was what she had always done, it was how she had so much power over everyone. While many went out to fight without thinking, she gathered up information and used that to figure out their weaknesses and then use it against them. That was what made her dangerous. 

"Rose." John broke her thoughts as he lifted a file up, "They've worked with the Balton's."

She walked over to him and read through the letter, "They hate the Crawford's. Interesting. We could use that." Handing it back, Rose told him. "Put it back, make it seem as though we never saw it."

"Why?" John asked her, slightly confused.

"We are here destroying their business and we have asked the Balton's to work with us, how would we be able to explain that if we know they have."Rose explained. "It's for the best."

Rose got her bag out and carefully began to put some of the useful files into it, "We can read all of these later on." The two then made their way in front of the safe, "Care to take a guess what the safe code is?"

John stared at her, "Was there any numbers or dates in those files, maybe they've used that."

"Too expected, anyone could get in then." Rose squinted at the safe, "Whoever used it last had very dirty hands, you can still see the fingerprints." She then carefully pressed the dirty digits and the safe open immediately. "And they were wonder why they're not highly respected business men." She handed John the money and grinned at him, "Now they'll think we only wanted the money." 

As they made their way out of the office and into the workroom, John threw some of the money at Tommy as he shouted "Let's get out of here."

Without saying anything to the people in the room, the Peaky Blinders and Rose made their way out of the building and back onto the streets of Birmingham. "Did you get what we needed?" Tommy asked her.

"Of course." Rose passed him the bag, "We'll look through it when we return home."

"Why home and not the office?" Tommy asked her.

She chuckled. "Because that's where they would least suspect it to be." 

"Do you find it fun? Tormenting people by finding out everything about them?"

Rose shrugged, "Occasionally, it's a necessity."

"We've never done it." Michael told her.

"And look where you are, listening to me a women who does do it. I was not the one who was put into prison."

"Yeah, because your father is the most powerful man in Britain." 

"Mainly because I don't make it obvious that I did it, always be the one they least suspect."

"And why's that?"

"Then you would not get arrested."