Chapter 12

Laurie stepped out of the drugstore and into the heat of her brother’s glare.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Johnny’s voice shook.

“Can we discuss this as we walk? I’d rather not have it out with you in the doorway.”

A shudder worked its way through her brother’s lean frame, like a rubber band stretched too tight. Best to be out of sight of the Prohibition agent before he snapped.

Grabbing his arm, she steered him down the sidewalk. “Before you begin yelling, hear me out.” Laurie moistened her lips. “You’ve already said you won’t give up your—your evening runs. By keeping an eye on the federal agent, I can help keep you safe. I can find out what he knows and maybe even feed him some bad information to throw him off your track.”

“I told you to stay out of it.” Johnny jerked his arm free, but kept walking. “I don’t want you involved in this.”

“I’m already involved. It’s too late for that.”

A string of foul words spilled out of his mouth. “I don’t need my little sister to protect me.”

Laurie squeezed her hands into fists and jammed them into her pockets. “You don’t know what you need. You need to quit running booze, and Dad needs to quit drinking it—but we both know neither of those things is going to happen, so I guess it’s up to me to protect you both.” She took a deep breath and reined in her resentment. “It seems to be my job to protect our family’s reputation. Samuel already knows rumrunners are landing on the beaches here, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out who is behind it.”

Johnny’s head whipped around. “Samuel, is it? Geez, Laurie, how long have you been sneaking around with this guy?” He ripped the cap from his head and slapped it against his leg. “I can’t believe I had to hear about it from Daniel.”

Laurie halted. “Daniel Shepherd?”

“He’s an old buddy of mine. He told me you’d been seeing that G-man.” His lip curled.

Her stomach twisted. She knew Shepherd had been spying on her, but some little corner of her had hoped—or wished—she was mistaken.

“Tell Daniel Shepherd he can watch his own back.” She blinked away tears. “I’m doing this to keep an eye on yours.”

Daniel got back from his walk in time to see Laurie and Johnny disappearing down the street. Their stiff postures suggested that all was not well between the siblings. Acid crawled up the back of his throat.

He ducked into the alley behind the store. He had no desire to hear their argument. Going to Johnny behind her back had been a coward’s move. But that Brown fellow was up to no good and there was no way he wanted his friend’s sister mixed up with him.

She deserved better. A woman like Laurie Burke deserved a man she could rely on. A man she could trust. A man with principles.

A man like me.

His mouth grew dry. The shadows of the brick buildings pressed in against him.

A delivery truck idled at the rear entrance. The driver hopped out and held out paperwork for Daniel. “You work here, right? I still got to see your license before I can unload the crates.”

Daniel pulled out his wallet and retrieved his pharmacy license, a new pang of disquiet added to the cluster jostling around in his chest. Only a few shipments demanded that level of protocol.

“Looks good. Shall I bring in the merchandise?” The young man handed the card back to Daniel and pushed his tweed cap up on his forehead.

“Sure. Let me give you a hand.” Daniel shoved the wallet back into his pocket, his fingers brushing the temperance coin. His stomach churned as the driver threw open the rear door.

“It looks like we’ve brought you two cases of sherry and four cases of scotch whiskey. Man, what a party you could have with that.” The young man winked as he wrapped his arms around one of the wooden crates.

The bitter taste rising in Daniel’s mouth stifled any humor. He reached for the second crate, the bottles rattling against each other.