Red On Her Hands | Tommy Shelby

Chapter Twelve

They exited the back door which lead onto the dark alley just as Grace stated. From there, they ran along the abandoned lanes which took them to the end of Witton Street. The duo then snuck behind the houses of Watery Lane before entering the Scottish woman's home, all before Chief Inspector Campbell had called off the search as the female agent he employed denied any knowledge of a Lynette Paterson or Thomas Shelby being in The Garrison that night, explaining to him that they had went to the races in England and wouldn't back for days.

He knew she was lying, but he still called off the search because he loved her.

..............................

Lynette dropped her jacket onto the kitchen table with a heavy sigh as they entered her home though the rear door, Tommy quickly closing it behind them and sliding the chain to lock it.

She attempted to appear calm but in the back of her mind, she was worrying about what could happen to her if Campbell really did arrest her. There was nothing stopping this man from having her attacked in a prison cell, the police would not care because she was associated with the Peaky Blinders.

Clearing her throat, she turned to see Tommy leaning against the counter watching her. "Help yourself to a drink," she told him. "I'm going upstairs to get my gun just incase."

She left the kitchen and headed upstairs towards her bedroom, as she made her way through the house she ensured that all mesh curtains were pulled over the windows on the lower floor.

As she entered her room, she left all the candles unlit and opted to using the moonlight through the window as a source of light. Crouching down beside the bed, she retrieved her gun from under the floor boards. Lynette then sat on the edge of the bed, opening the chamber to see that all six bullets still reminded inside.

As she closed the chamber, she heard footsteps on the staircase. Looking up to the doorway, Tommy entered only seconds later. He walked up to the window silently, pulling aside the mesh to look along the street.

"What are you doing?" Lynette asked as she watched him.

"I thought it would be better to stay up here. You can see the whole street from your window, it's a better precaution if the police enter the lane."

"Okay," she nodded as she watched him examine her room.

The bedroom was very simple, a double bed and some storage furniture; consisting of a wardrobe, a small side cabinets and a chest of drawers. There were only a few personal touches in the small room as a result of her decision to start fresh when she arrived in Birmingham, most of her prized possessions had to be left in Glasgow.

Tommy leaned against the wall beside the window, his cap now gone and his hands tucked deep in his pockets. "When the trouble dies down, I'll go."

"Do you think the search will go on long?" the redhead questioned as she rested the gun on the small cabinet beside the bed.

"It will probably last until late into the night, I'd say."

"You can stay as long as you need," Lynette stated before a though came to mind. A slight smirk appeared on her face as she added, "It's your decision whether you want to sleep on the couch or the bed."

Tommy's head turned to meet her gaze, his eyes leaving the small picture frame on the shelf which contained the image of a man and older woman. He concluded it was Alaric and her mother as he noticed the sudden resemblance when he looked at Lynette.

His lips had curled into a smile at her comment. "You know, we never got to dance at John's wedding."

Lynette tilted her head with a smile as she looked at him. She debated if his reasoning for mentioning John and Esme's wedding was because that was the night that she offered him to come to her house afterwards. And she wondered if dancing was a euphemism for something else.