Read Online The Madness Underneath: Book 2 (THE SHADES OF LONDON) by Maureen Johnson - Free Book Online Page B

something about him as well.
    “Oh. Right. Well, the owner of our old flat decided it was time to start charging three thousand pounds a month again.So that was that, really. Since we did such a good job with the Ripper, Her Majesty’s Government has given us a proper office and somewhere to live. It’s just here.”
    He pointed at one of the many largely identical buildings along the road—plain brick houses in a row, the kind found all over the city. Definitely not as fancy as the old place.
    “There’s one more thing,” he said. “I told Callum and Boo there was a meeting tonight, but not what it was about. For two reasons. One, I didn’t know what would happen. It was possible that you wouldn’t go through with it or it wouldn’t work. And two, Boo. She would never have stood for it. And I couldn’t tell Callum without telling Boo. They never knew how close we were to being shut down.”
    “Sounds like you’ve been keeping a lot of secrets,” I said.
    “It goes with the job. Come on.”
    We entered a very narrow hall, stepping on a pile of mail and flyers as we passed inside. There was weird textured wallpaper in the hall, and a light that didn’t quite do the job it was meant for. It glowed down, making a puddle of light in the vestibule, but the stairs were shrouded in darkness. There was no handrail, and the carpet on the steps was slippery from being trod on too many times. I put my hands on the walls and supported myself as I went up, my fingers running over the Braille of the wallpaper. Another jingle of keys. I heard voices inside the apartment on the landing—one low, laughing. The other high-pitched and insistent. I knew that last voice very well. I had lived with that voice.
    When he opened the door and I poked my head inside, I recognized a lot of the furniture from the old flat, including the two old sofas and the unstable kitchen table withmismatched chairs. The other flat had been larger, so everything was crammed in, leaving barely enough room to get around. Books were piled on the floor, all along the walls, piles and piles of them in varying heights. There were also document boxes and piles of thick folders. Maps and notes were taped all over the walls, which were covered in more textured wallpaper, this time in a mustard yellow. It was particularly jarring when combined with the red Scotch plaid curtains that were drawn tightly shut over the front windows.
    A head popped over the top of the sofa, then the rest of Callum appeared as he climbed over the back of the sofa to get to me.
    “Hey!” he said. “Look who it is!”
    Callum gave me a big hug, wrapping me in his extremely impressive arm and chest muscles. Boo was on the other sofa, her leg in a cast, stretched out. Boo had been trying to protect me from the Ripper, and he had thrown her in front of a car.
    “Get off her, you perv!” she yelled at Callum. “Come here!”
    I crossed over and gave her a hug. Boo had touched up her hair in exciting new ways. She’d previously had a sharp-cut black bob, kind of a Louise Brooks look, with a deep red streak. She had added a touch of violet to the edge of her bangs, so that there was a strong purple line running right above her eyes. It looked like a fashionable lobotomy scar.
    “How long will that be on?” I said, pointing at the cast.
    “Just a few more days, but I’m getting used to it. I have to crawl up the stairs on my bum…”
    “It’s very entertaining,” Callum said.
    “Make us some tea,” Boo commanded. “Mine’s gone cold, and Rory needs some.”
    “I cannot wait until that thing is off your leg,” Callum muttered.
    “Make one for me too,” Stephen said.
    Boo pulled on my arm, causing me to fall onto the sofa next to her.
    “How are you?” she asked.
    “Okay.”
    “Really?”
    “I’m okay enough. What about you?”
    “You know,” she said, shrugging. Boo and Jo had been best friends, and Jo’s death—or her after-death death—had been a terrible