Ultimate Nyssa Glass, H. Burke [cat reading book .TXT] 📗

found herself swirling with them, caught, unable to break free, the world spinning out of control.

She screamed.

***

Nyssa jerked upright and gasped for breath. Her hands clenched her blankets, real, solid. She inhaled.

“Stupid dreams.” Kicking off her covers, she sat at the edge of the bed. Somewhere in the distance a cock crowed. She felt for the small alarm clock. The irradiated hands indicated it was almost five a.m.

Rising, she opened the shutters and stared out over roof-tops bathed in the cold light of early morning. A lone steam-wagon rattled down the street. On the horizon, the line of sea shone golden in the rising sun. If she squinted, she could just make out the cylindrical shapes of the zeppelins moored by the docks.

She closed her eyes, trying to forget the image of Ellis’s face melting into Uncle Al’s.

“Well, now that I’m up, I might as well have a cup of tea.”

After dressing, she exited her room into the sitting room. She tiptoed across, not wanting to disturb Theo. The boy still slept on his cot, his head under the blanket.

Still sound asleep. Poor kid’s had a rough few days.

When she stepped on the first step, it creaked like an old man moaning about rheumatism. Nyssa winced and glanced back. Theo didn’t stir.

Reaching the hall at the bottom of the stairs, she paused to take in the silence. No rattle of pans. No grinding from Ellis’s chair. A draft snaked around her, and she shivered.

“Did someone leave a window cracked?” Nyssa mumbled, lapsing into her old quirk of talking to herself.

She used to talk to herself while she worked, finding it helped her think. Since Ellis, though, every time she started an intended one-sided conversation, he’d responded.

“Odd how in only a few months he’s made me alter such a long term habit.” She glanced towards the door to his rooms and blinked. It was open. Was he up already? She peeked in.

Papers were scattered about the floor, and the safe on the wall sat open.

Nyssa’s jaw dropped. Where was Ellis? Was he okay? She rushed to his bedroom door and pulled it open.

He grunted and sat up in bed. His blanket slipped revealing a hairless but well-formed chest.

She flushed. “Are … are you all right?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed his eyes. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Get dressed. You’ll see soon enough.” She turned away.

A moment later she heard the whir and click of his chair. He wheeled out.

“What the …?” He hardened his expression. “Have you checked what’s gone yet?”

She strode over. The safe was completely empty. The papers lying every which way might be some of their personal documents—their forged passports, the deed to their home—but everything of transferable value would most certainly be gone.

“All the bonds? Were they in your name?” she asked.

“No … I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to prove my identity, so I took all bearer bonds. Anyone would be able to cash them.” He tugged at his disheveled hair. “Damnit. How did they get in?”

Nyssa’s stomach twisted. This was her fault. She should’ve known not to underestimate Uncle Al. Still, that alarm system was top notch. She wouldn’t have been able to disable it, and Uncle Al wasn’t half as good as she was with electrical based alarms. He was an old fashioned, lock picks and brute force sort of thief.

“I can’t believe I slept through this,” Ellis said.

“I can. A burglar works in silence.” Nyssa kicked at a loose leaf of paper. “Come on. Let’s check the rest of the house.”

When she entered the hall, the same draft brought goosebumps to her arms. At a glance, the workshop appeared undisturbed. However, the kitchen door was wide open.

“He went in and out through here, then?” Ellis rolled up behind her.

“Must have.” Nyssa examined the door, trying to see how he’d jimmied it without triggering the alarm. No scratch marks on the lock. No broken frame. “Could we have forgotten to lock it?”

“No. I double checked every door and window last night. Where’s the control panel for the alarm again?”

“The workshop, under the counter.”

Ellis left the kitchen. “Nyss,” he called a minute later. “It’s been switched off.”

Nyssa scurried into the shop. “That’s impossible. I set it …” Her head spun. “I need to check on Theo.” She darted up the stairs. The bundle of blankets still rested on the cot. She yanked back the first, revealing a pillow and Theo’s old coat, wadded up in a ball. On top of it sat Theo’s repaired pocket watch.

Theo was gone.

Chapter Ten

Ellis stared into his teacup, his eyes hard and mouth a firm line. Nyssa slouched against the wall as the detectives picked over the study. Her stomach twisted, and in spite of Mrs. H’s coaxing, she’d refused even a bite of food.

The older of the two detectives, Simon, approached her. “It’s plain what happened. We’ll put out a description of the boy, but it’s what happens when you let a thief into your home, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Thanks. Next time we’ll just let an eight-year-old starve on the streets.” Nyssa scowled.

Detective Simon shrugged.

“No prints,” Detective Bastiat called. “Must’ve wiped it down for it to be this clean.”

“Not surprising.” Simon nodded. “Like I said, we’ll keep an eye out for the boy—”

“And Albert Glass?” Ellis frowned.

Simon drew a long breath. “Do you have any proof this man was involved? Honestly, with the access you gave him, the boy could’ve very well acted on his own.”

“He is eight.” Nyssa’s fingers clenched. “How many eight-year-old safe crackers do you know?”

“Could you have given him the combination? Left it lying on a paper somewhere?” Bastiat raised his eyebrows. “They came and went with no one hearing, after all. Awful easy.”

Nyssa shook her head. “There’s no way Theo knew the combination.”

“Ah … and were the contents of the safe insured?” Simon leaned forward.

Ellis sat up straighter. “They were but only for half their actual value.”

“Half their claimed value. I mean, we only have your word what was in the safe at