Page 13 of Working for the Mob

“I will!” I said, and went back to the dining area with Lucy. I placed my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me.“I have a plan. First, we need a place to stay. Then, we need jobs.”

“Or new boyfriends,” Lucy added, and I tried not to shake my head.

“You may need to prove you have a job before you can find a place to stay. Or come up with enough money for a deposit,” Art said, but I tried to ignore him. He had lost any place in my future plans. He wasdangerous.I knew better than to hang around with someone from the mob.

“How are we going to get enough money for a deposit before we have a place to stay?” Lucy asked, and Art shrugged.

“We’re not talking to him, Lucy,” I said.

He worked his jaw without saying a thing, which I knew meant he was about to curse and yell at me.

“Before you say anything …” I began, and Art did swear and strode to the front door.

“Let’s go,” he said, and he held the front door of the café open for us.

“You haven’t said where we are going,” I said, but Lucy obediently got up and followed him out the front door.

“Your car’s around back,” I said, stubbornly, but he and Lucy started walking away.Schnitzel. I couldn’t leave Lucy alone with a member of the mob.

“You haven’t said where we are going,” I said, but they ignored me.

I chugged the rest of my luke-warm coffee and took after them.

I hustled past a tailor and antique shop before I caught them in front of the barbershop. A buzz emitted from the inside, with every chair full.

“Your car’s around back,” I said, once I caught up to them on the street.

“We’re not taking the car,” Art said, as we passed a barbershop. A buzz emitted from the inside, with every chair full.

“You still haven’t said where we’re going.”

“We’re here,” Art said, and stopped in front of the next storefront. A butcher shop. Raw sausages sat behind the window, next to slabs of red steaks and pale pink chicken thighs.

“Oh god, you’re going to stick us in a meat grinder,” I said, and Lucy laughed behind me.

“As appealing as that sounds, no. Miss Dunham has her nose in everyone’s business, and if someone needs a job or has a place to rent, she would know about it,” Art said, low enough for just the two of us to her. “Plus, she runs a real estate business on the side.”

Art opened the door for us, and Lucy urged me into a green-tiled room that smelled of iron and disinfectant. A glass display case lined the left wall, full of pork and steak. The other wall held an assortment of sauces and spices.

Behind the counter, a large, frizzy-haired woman waved at us with forearms as thick as hams. I couldn’t help but wave back at her infectious smile.

“Miss Dunham,” Art said. “What’s the news of the morning?”

“I heard a small lady from out of town caused quite a scene at the café and the train station this morning,” Miss Dunham said, and her blue eyes fell upon me. “That wouldn’t happen to be one of you ladies, would it?”

A red glow snaked its way up the back of my neck and covered my face. “I’m afraid it is, madam.”

“The whole town’s been blabbering about it all morning. I heard you punched the ticket-booth worker. Is that right?”

I didn’t think I could have turned any redder, but as I did, Art tried his best to hide his chuckle.

“That part definitely didnothappen,” I assured her.

Miss Dunham shrugged. “It’s a better story if you did, miss. I think I’ll keep it that way.”

Great.

“What can I do for you three?” she asked.

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