Oh, God! He was going to beat Chéri, and it was all her fault! She scrambled after Chéri, throwing her arms around her fast friend.

“No!” she screamed, half livid and half terrified.

Then, she heard a familiar voice calling to her uncle in … also familiarity.

Sheer horror that crossed her face when her eyes landed on Elijah. Elijah! Oh, God. She was probably getting kicked to death here between Uncle Ben and Elijah both, for ‘breaking the law’ and making her father roll in his grave by filling his gaps with a perfectly legal trade. A perfectly legal trade that often intersected with its share of less perfectly legal activities – but that was not her work.

She had to get away! What if he had seen the letter to the editor? He probably hadn’t, of course – no one read those gossip rags, even if she strategically left them open in the places it would hurt most … right? Trembling, she let her arms drop from Chéri, but stayed close.

If not for Chéri, she might have fled.

“Ch-,” she cleared phlegm from her throat. “Chéri was looking out for me.”

Unlike her uncle. But it was all she could force out.