Jacob's POV
'Jacob Frye, you are a complete and utter idiot.' I mentally scold myself as I walk the streets of London in search of Pearl Attaway. 'Damn it, she was right in front of me, looking as if she was waiting for me to kiss her. Why the hell did I pull away at the last minute? I had the opportunity to kiss her, to feel her lips against mine, like she was mine.' I felt nothing but anger towards myself for not kissing her. But then, I thought about what we are all dealing with right now, what we are trying to accomplish. 'No matter how much I wanted to kiss her, I just couldn't do it. No matter what I feel for her, I can't act upon it, not now anyway. We need to free London before I can even think about wanting to be with her.' I knew that we didn't have time to indulge ourselves in the simple pleasures of life, to allow ourselves to think about what we want or who we want, to give into our hearts desires. 'I must simply wait before I can act upon the feelings I seems to have towards (Name). We simply don't have time for any distractions, we must stay focus on the task ahead. Though, it's easier said than done.' My thoughts were interrupted as I came across someone standing beside a burning omnibus.
"Those fiends!" She yelled out as she watched them go up in flames. I walked over to her and, with a questioning tone, said,
"Miss Attaway..."
"Yes, may I..." She begins to say as she turns around. "Oh, splendid, you're here to murder me."
"I...what?" I asked with confusion at her words.
"No matter, everyone has a price. Is this enough?" She then offered me a coin, to which I gently pushed her hand away and said.
"I'm not here to kill you."
"Then what's your game?"
"Mr. Starrick and the Millner Company have blocked your ambitions long enough. I have a business proposition for you."
"Wonderful! Come with me, we have much to discuss, Mr..."
"Jacob Frye, at your service." I shook her hand as I introduced myself.
"Truer words were never spoke."
Mini time skip
"If you'd be so kind as to take the reins." Pearl spoke as we approached another one of her omnibuses, one that hadn't been set on fire. With a quick nod of the head, I sat in the front and took control of the reins, spurring the horses on to begin trotting. "You must understand, I've received threats against my life. Malcolm Millner has all but waged war on me since Mr. Starrick brought out his company. And, no offense, I hope, but you do look like the killing type." I couldn't help but chuckle at her words.
"I doubt I shall ever recover from such a slight."
"What, then, is your interest in my redemption, Mr. Frye?"
"I sense an opportunity that will benefit us both."
"Do you?" I could sense the surprise in her voice as she spoke.
"Is that so hard to believe?"
"Whatever your intentions, it will be quite the tonic to strike back against Millner and Starrick. I have worked like a trooper to make Attaway Transport what it is today. I will not allow anyone to bring me to ruin." Nothing more was said as a carriage drove past us. "That's one of Millner's!" Another carriage had sped past us as it attacked one of Attaway's omnibuses. "I can't lose another bus!" With determination coursing through my veins, I spurred the horses to go faster, chasing after the one who is attacking the omnibus. "Get away from my bus!" Pearl all but shouted as we got closer and closer to the carriage, which had done a significant amount of the omnibus.
"Come on, just a little closer." I mumbled out as I spurred the horses even more, wanting to get closer to the carriage.
"She can't take much more of this!" Once I was close enough, I pulled out my gun and shot the thug who was driving the carriage and chasing the omnibus. I then caught up with the other thug who was riding the first carriage and managed to kill him as well. I then stopped the carriage I was driving, walked over to the first thug and found what looked to be an omnibus route schedule, with a message no doubt, from his back pocket. The message read,
Wiseman,
Report to the storage yard tonight for a special task.
Forbes
"So, it looks like there is to be something going on tonight down at the storage yard." I say as I read the message. "Looks like that's where we need to be." Nothing more was said as we made our way to our next destination.
Mini time skip
"Malcolm Millner, Starrick's puppet himself." Pearl spoke as we observed the man himself ordering around some men.
"Careful, you twats! This parkesine has to make it to the Attaway depot!" We heard Malcolm shout out.
"He thinks he can burn my buses? Let's give him a taste of his own medicine."
"Let's give him the whole damn bottle. We'll turn Millner's parkesine against him. But I'll need help from my gang." I said.
"Such entrepreneurial instinct, Mr. Frye. I shall leave you to it." With that, she walks away while I begin to infiltrate the storage yard. As I move within the shadows, looking for any signs of Rooks, I overhear some thugs speaking amongst themselves.
"You can see that smoke from across the bloody river." The first one said.
"Settin' her buses on fire. It never gets old." The second one said.
"Serves Attaway right for thinking she has the right to complete with us." The third one said.
"I don't know what happened to the driver." The fourth one said.
"I just passed him on to Millner. That was a week ago." The fifth one said.
"Millner wouldn't exactly treat one of Attaway's employees to tea and biscuits, now would he?" The sixth one said.
"The end result is that she got fewer people on her payroll. That's all I care about." The final one said.
"Not interested in how the meat pies made, eh?" I managed to find some Rooks by the time the conversation came to an end.
"Good day lads." I said to them.
"Mr. Frye, good to see you." One of them said.
"Say, where is Miss (Last name)? I ain't seen her for a little while now, ain't she usually with you?" Another one said. At the mere mention of her name, it instantly brought up what happened. 'Not now, Jacob. Focus on the task ahead.' I thought as I put on a fake smile.
"She's busy recovering after finding herself caught up with some Blighters. Anyway, how do you all fancy a little fun?" I asked them.
"Got some thugs to deal with?" The first one asked.
"Indeed you do. There are seven thugs who I need gone from this area. Think you lads can handle it?"
"You got it Jacob, leave it to us." Nothing more was said as they made their way to the yard and made all the thugs leave, mostly by having the thugs chase them out, weapons by their side. With the area clear, I made my way over to the cart full of parkesine.
"Ugh...heave ho, Jacob." I said out loud as I pushed the cart right next to Millner's omnibuses.
Primed and ready." With that said, I ignited the cart and then escaped the area before returning to where Pearl seemed to be waiting. "How's that for a taste?" I said as the omnibuses went up in flames.
"I can see Millner's stock pile plummeting already! You're hired! Oh, I have more business plans for us both. Drop a note to my secretary to make an appointment and I shall reveal the next step in our scheme." As Pearl spoke, she made her way into her carriage.
"I don't actually work..." I begin to say before the carriage door closed in my face, "like that?" All I could feel at his moment was nothing but confusion. 'What, just happened?' I thought as I scratched the back of my neck before turning around, only to catch a glimpse of, what looked to be, someone retreating from the edge of a building. Thinking nothing of it, I simply looked ahead and walked away.
End of POV
"What the hell is he doing?" I said out loud as I retreated from the edge of the building, not wanting to be caught. Before I could do anything else, a sudden pain shot up through both my arms and legs, causing me to slightly wince. 'Damn, I really should've stayed and rested on the train. But, I couldn't help but follow Jacob, my curiosity getting the best of me. It's not fair that I must stay behind instead of getting back out into the field. I know I should rest, but I can't.' So many questions course through my mind as I think about what Jacob is up to. However, there are two questions that stands out the most. 'Who was that woman he was with? And what are they up to?' For some reason, I didn't have a good feeling about this woman, and it's not because I'm jealous that she has his attention, not at all.