𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙼𝙰𝙽𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿 - 𝚃. 𝚂𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙱𝚈

16

Tommy looks to where Juliet is pouring over her work as Grace sits and observes quietly.

"Grace, give us a moment," Tommy says and the woman nods, standing just out of sight but close enough that she could still hear every word.

"There's tea," Juliet says.

Tommy gently holds Juliet's face in his hand, inspecting her injuries.

"What happened to you, eh?" He asks.

Bruises clearly littered Juliet's face along with grazes and cuts. Her hands were scabbed, the smooth skin now rough to the touch.

"It's nothing I can't deal with," Juliet says.

"You don't have to deal with it," Tommy says. "I'll just go and shoot them in the face"

"No, Thomas," Juliet says. "This is the one person you can't shoot in the face I'm afraid. Thank you for offering though"

"The new system," Tommy says, looking at the book on Juliet's desk. "Everything in the diary, eh?"

Juliet nods as Tommy pulls out a pen.

"Black star on December Third, what does that mean?"

Juliet and Tommy's eyes flicker to Grace who was standing in the doorway, clearly listening.

"Black star day is the day we take out Billy Kimber and his men," Tommy says. "No one knows this"

"Not even your family?"

"Jules, everyone in my family hates me," Tommy says. "Why would I tell them? So it's just you-"

"And Grace," Juliet says. "About her, Tommy-"

"There's something odd about her?" Tommy asks, shutting the door and Juliet nods.

"It's just every time some piece of information has been told to her, the police have been there," Juliet says. "She was on the phone minutes before Freddy was taken away. I think she knows I'm suspicious-"

"And Inspector Campbell did this?" Tommy asks and Juliet nods. "Okay, Jules listen to me. Your suspicions do not leave this room, okay? For your own safety"

"But she's heard about Black Star Day," Juliet says.

"Let's hope she didn't hear the reasoning," Tommy says. "And if she has, we'll deal with it, alright?"

A loud banging allows Juliet to look up from the menial task of wiping the bar down. As much as such simplistic things bored her, it was nice to be able to do such a mundane task in the chaotic mess that had become her life.

Such simplistic tasks were like the one house still standing after a hurricane had hit, the one piece of normalcy in the tornado she was trapped in.

Juliet opens the door to reveal the face of Thomas Shelby with a mild look of panic that was foreign upon his face.

The look of worry scratched upon his face was like a knife to the gut because whatever could scare the man who believed himself God should be something to hide from.

Juliet begins to close the doors but Tommy stops her.

"Leave that open" Tommy says.

"Are you expecting trouble?"

"Yeah," Tommy says.

"At this time of night?"

"Midnight is as good an hour as any," Tommy says.

Tommy places a gun on the counter after checking it's loaded.

"Thomas, what the fuck is going on?" Juliet asks.

"When the St. Andrew's bell strikes midnight," Tommy says. "Two IRA me are gonna come through that door. When they have what they want, they plan to kill me. It's your job to stop that happening"

"You don't think a warning would have been nice?" Juliet asks, her eyes wide as the words he had said try to compute and process in her brain.

"I just got the message myself," Tommy says. "They want to meet here alone"

"Barmaids don't count?" Juliet asks.

"No barmaids don't count" Tommy replies. "Now you're gonna be in that back room. I'm going to be sitting there. When I make a toast, you're gonna come out with that thing raised. You don't shoot. You just point. I'll do the rest."

"Will you kill them?" Juliet asks, taking the gun.

"No, the police want them alive," Tommy says.

"The fucking police know about this?"

"Look," Tommy says. "Just hold it up. Just point. Right?"

Juliet nods as the bell chimes, signalling the witching hour was upon them. Tommy's head snaps up.

"Alright, go. Go on. Go!"

Juliet rushes into the back room and presses herself against the wall where she stands in silence. Listening. Waiting.