Chapter 15
The ride went more quickly than McDuff dared hope, but the side streets the driver found to avoid slower going jostled his body far worse than he feared.
By the time the carriage jolted to a stop, he was nearly in tears with renewed pain in his back, along with an even worse need to relieve himself. The bruising over his kidneys might not be visible any longer, but the results of the blows lingered still.
Thankfully the meeting spot was far nicer and more civilized than the behavior of the men who’d spent too many raucous hours toasting a retiring policeman. A clean and well-organized privy right inside the door and a splash of cold water on his face set him as right as he could be for what awaited.
A broad, open stretch of tables covered in white linen greeted him, along wi
