Chapter Two

“I’m fine.”

“You were shot, Stew.” Neil argued. “I’d say that’s far from fine.”

“Neil-”

“I’m not arguing with you, Stewart, now stop trying to get out of bed.” Neil got up from his chair too quickly, and pain shot through his bad leg. “Damn it.”

“Are you all right, sir?” The nurse looked on in concern.

“Old war injury, I’m fine.”

“No, he’s not, he-”

“Stew, stop it.” Neil looked at the bewildered nurse, and said, “I’m fine. He’s a stubborn old man who doesn’t know his limits.” She giggled and said, “Sounds just like my grandpa.” Stew looked affronted, while Neil snorted, and sat back down.

“She called me old.”

“Stew, you are old.” Stew gave Neil a few choice words that made him bark a single, cold laugh. Before he could respond, Vinny came in, followed by Jon Booker, Roland, Timmy O’Connor, and Clifton…. with Sally in tow.

“Uncle Stew…” She looked scared half to death. Even though he wasn’t sure how he felt about her, he could sympathize with her worries. She gave him a gentle hug.

“Hey, kiddo. I’m sorry, I haven’t seen you in years, and this is how we get reacquainted.” He kissed her cheek. “Vinny get you back to the house okay?”

“He did.” Stew looked slightly uncomfortable and said, “You…you meet any of the rest of my associates here?” It was Sally’s turn to look uncomfortable. “Sally…”

“Um…yes. Well, most of them.”

“What did you do, all pile in Vinny’s little car to get here?” Stew joked. Nobody said a word. Roland shifted uneasily.

“Well, this would be my doing, Mr. Foster. I happened to run into Sally as she came out of my latest movie.”

“You watch your own movies?” Vinny asked. Roland nodded.

“This is how I improve my work, by watching my mistakes. As I despised this work, I knew there would be much to see.” Even Neil smirked at that. “But it would be my fault. I did not know she was your niece.”

“How…why the hell were you at the movies?”

“Is it a crime to want to see a girl my age fall in love? Especially with someone as handsome as Mr. Dubois?” Stew chuckled, and Roland blushed profusely. “Sorry, sweetie, but it’s true.”

“Like he ain’t aware of the girls that follow him.” Vinny teased. Clifton rolled his eyes.

“Either way, Stew, you can’t be mad at them for not knowing. Aside from Vinny, none of us had ever seen her before.” O’Connor pointed out.

“No, you’re right. Why didn’t you lugs get her home?”

“I was going to offer actually.” Vinny said. “Then we got the call.”

“What do we do about the Music Box in the meantime?” Clifton asked.

“We might have to close…” Stew sighed, looking dejected. Sally perked up. Neil eyed her wearily.

“I could run it.” Stew looked at her and laughed. “What?”

“Like hell.”

“Oh, come on, Uncle Stew. I went to secretarial college. Isn’t that why Mama sent me here? To work for you to keep me out of trouble?”

“And running a speakeasy is the way to stay out of trouble?” Neil deadpanned. Roland smirked and shook his head.

“It keeps me from explorin’ the city, which is exactly what Mama wouldn’t want. And I’m good at it. I was working for Papa before they got all bent out of shape.”

“You snuck out of your house, Sally May.”

“Semantics, Uncle Stew.” The way he eyed his niece made Vinny smirk. Neil knew she just about had him.

“Why not give her a chance? She does poorly, we close it till your back.” Clifton said. “I’ll show her around the speak, give her an idea of how we keep track of our profits, Vin can come in early tomorrow and show her how we inventory before and after our runs.” Sally turned and gave a small smile to Clifton. To Neil’s surprise, Stew nodded.

“Okay.” Sally grinned.

“Really? Oh, thank you!” She kissed his cheek and hugged him gently.

“On one condition.”

“You name it.”

“You need a right hand. Vinny is mine, but…you need someone to keep you safe. It’s a rough world out there for the men, but a little lady like you? You’re going to need all the help you can get. Vinny here will make sure you know the details, and he’s protective. Clifton is sneaky enough to keep you out of trouble.” Sally nodded. “Timmy is well connected and can keep the local officers off your back. Hell, most of them are customers of ours.” Timmy smiled. “Roland is more of a socialite that brings in customers, but I’m sure he’d be happy to help anyway he can. He’s quiet, but he’s damn smart and he’s very observant. Neil over here pretends he’s a grumpy old man, but he’s seen some stuff that could come really useful in this line of work. He’s a doctor, so he can patch these lugs up easily. He’s got a head for strategy too, so if you ever need it, it’s there.” Neil eyed her as she looked around the room. “Jake, my driver, he’s tough and good for protection, but that might be about as far as you’ll get. Don’t go near Andy Brewster. Please.” Even Neil snorted.

“Wow…looks like I’ve got a lot of options.”

“Don’t matter who you go with, we all wanna make sure you do good.” Vinny said. Sally looked around, and her eyes landed on Neil. It took him a few moments to make him realize why she hadn’t looked away. He barked his cold, humorless laugh. “Yeah…right.” O’Connor looked wildly surprised. There was a smirk on Roland’s face that made Neil want to punch him. “No way in hell, kid.”

“Dunn.”

“I’m sorry, if I’m not mistaken, it’s my decision.” She crossed her arms and cocked a hip. Neil swallowed.

“And I don’t get a say?”

“Nope.” Stew adjusted his glasses and looked evenly at Neil. The surly doctor didn’t miss the slight glance to Roland. “He’s a good choice. Seen more of the world, he’s a little older than the others…aside from Roland, maybe.”

“I am actually the older of us two.” Roland admitted. “I think it is a wise choice Neil. She is sharp, you can keep up with her better than even I can.” There was a glimmer in Stew’s eye-only one a meddling uncle could give. Somehow, this pissed Neil off.

“And what do you know about working a speakeasy?” Neil looked at her, crossing his arms.

“Same as anything else. Profits, cost, inventory-”

“Ever stop a bar fight? How do you intend to keep the cops off our asses?” Sally looked at him for a long moment. “Can you even drive?”

“Well…no…but…”

“Oh, good, this gets better and better.” Neil snapped. He couldn’t put a finger on it, but the way her face fell, she reminded him of someone. And it hurt him to know that. “You certainly dress the part, but can you act the part of a flapper?”

“Excuse me?!” She asked. “Hold on just a second, Mr. Prissy little doctor from Boston.” That surprised Neil. “Who are you to ask that? Have you ever run a business, speakeasy or otherwise? You think you’re so smart, why because you have a medical degree?” He couldn’t argue with that, mostly because he was dumbfounded. “What I do know is how to keep a business afloat, and that’s what I’m going to do. The rest comes with working on the job.”

“Shoot, if you want, Clifton and I can even teach you to drive.”

“Clara Wallace, our singer, we taught her.” Clifton agreed happily. Stew looked at them and nodded.

“And where she was raised, not to mention how, none of that would have been relevant until now. You’re going to show her all of it.”

“I’m not babysitting some wanna-be flapper.”

“No, you aren’t.” Sally snapped. “You’re going to sit at one end of the bar and sulk while I do the hard part.” Stew laughed until he started coughing.

“She’s got you pegged.” He finally said, after his coughing fit was over. “Like it or not, she’s chosen you. Now quit being a grump and take her home.”

“You do it, O’Connor. I’m sitting-”

“No, you’ll do as your told. You want to know how I am, come back tomorrow.” He seemed very weary suddenly. Neil was worried. They all looked at him in concern, but he finally said, “I’m exhausted. Just do as your told, Neil.”

Before Stew could make the attempt, the doctor was ushering them all out of the room.