After I finished talking with Lulu, I felt like I was walking on the clouds. I had hoped to try out the Lemon Tree, but Lulu had suggested the Ritzy. I had played there a few times and eaten some of the food, but I'd never had a full-blown meal there.

I fiddled with my tie and combed my hair back, then sat down at the piano to wait for Lulu and Cederick. I was in the middle of trying out a new set of chords when I heard the Lincoln pull up.

Lulu was sitting in the backseat, so I joined her. "How's Bruce?" I asked and immediately regretted it when Lulu frowned. I should have asked about her first. Or the weather.

"He's...doing better. He and Brody haven't killed each other yet."

"And how are you holding up?"

She looked down at her hands. "Let's not talk about that right now. Where are you playing now that the Velveteen isn't in business anymore?"

"Here and there. Mainly small, private places. One of them's called The Journeyman."

We made small talk until we reached the restaurant, then fell silent. There were no cars parked outside. Leaving Cederick with the car, Lulu and I walked up to the door. A sign on the doorknob read, Closed.

"Well..." I glanced at Lulu.

Her eyebrows were drawn down and her lips were set in a thin line. "They shouldn't be closed. They're never closed." She paced around in a circle, then started off around the corner of the building.

I hurried after her. "Look, Lulu, if you're worried about the food, we'll go eat somewhere else."

She answered over her shoulder. "It's not about the food!" She stopped stock-still and stared. A police car sat in the alley and a truck was towing what could only be Lulu's Duesenberg away. The front of the fancy red car was smashed in and it had a long scrape along the side. We both stared with open mouths until the Duesenberg, the tow truck, and the police car had disappeared.

Lulu moved suddenly and knocked on the back door. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. No one answered. Lulu put a hand to her cheek. "Oh..."

"What is it?" I moved up beside her and started to put my arm around her, but she turned away.

"I don't know. Come on!" We got back in the Lincoln. "Cederick, take us to the police station," Lulu ordered. She sunk into silence and stared out the window, hands clasped together in her lap.

"Why was your car at the Ritzy?" I ventured finally.

She turned to me and shook her head. "I don't exactly know. No, that's not true." She sighed. "I let a friend of mine borrow the Duesenberg so he could take his girl on a date. That's why we used the Lincoln last night. Something must have happened..."

"This 'friend'....you trust him?"

Lulu smiled. "Yes. AJ went with me to get Bruce back from the NoLuks. Buck...I've got something to confess. I set this date up so I could talk with AJ."

"Oh." I couldn't figure out what to say. Should I be mad?

We pulled up in front of the police station. "Buck, I need you to do something for me."

"Name it."

"Go inside, find a cop named Billy McCarty, and ask him to come out here."

I opened the car door and got out, then stuck my head back in the car. "Aren't you coming?"

"Are you kidding me?" Lulu's eyebrows flew up and she shrank back in her seat. "I'm a suspect in Shamus's murder - there's no way I'm going in there right now!"

I nodded and walked up the steps and into the station, feeling like I was walking to my execution. I wasn't a criminal, except that I played and ate muffins in speakeasies. And, of course, there was the fact that Bruce had stolen money while we were performing together. And now I was involved with Lulu. You don't have anything to be afraid of, I told myself.

"I need to speak with Billy McCarty," I said, lounging against the front desk and smirking.

"In there."

I followed the pointing finger down a hall, where a young man sat at a desk, nearly touching foreheads with a redhead dame. They both looked up as I entered, and I recognized Annie O'Capella.

"Mr. Buchanan!" The girl stood up and turned to face me, blocking the paper behind her from view.

"Officer McCarty?" I asked the man. When he nodded, I stepped forward to shake his hand. "I'm here with Lulu - I mean Louise - McGinty. She wants to talk with you outside."

Annie's eyebrows drew together slightly. McCarty frowned at her. "Stay here, Annie," he said to the girl, who looked like she was about to argue until Billy squeezed her hand and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. He followed me out to the Lincoln where Lulu waited. She got out quickly when we arrived, and started to hug McCarty, then stopped.

"Thank you for coming, Billy," she said simply.

Billy looked over his shoulder at the station. "What're you doing here, Lulu?"

"I need to find out what's going on. I saw my car being towed away from the Ritzy." Billy rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at me. "It's all right, Billy. You can say anything in front of Buck." Lulu laid her hand on my arm and I wrapped my arm around her.

Billy's eyebrows twitched and he began speaking. "We got a call from the Ritzy late last night...early this morning. We found the Ritzy crashed against the dumpsters in the alley. Two people were in the car...JinLi and Madame Yu. Madame Yu was unconscious from some sort of poisoning, and Li had been shot twice."

She gasped. "Shot?" Lulu murmured, "So it's true."

Billy frowned. "I don't know the full story, but it seems there was an ambush on the Duesenberg."

"Why would anyone want to ambush A...oh." Lulu's face paled. "He was driving my car." She stepped back and rested her hands on the side of the Lincoln.

"They're both in the hospital," Billy told her. "Li is stable, but Madame Yu..." He trailed off as Annie walked down the steps. "I told you to stay inside, Doll," he said wearily. She just grinned up at him as they linked arms.

"Thank you, Billy." Lulu flashed the cop a sad smile and started to get back in the car. She paused. "Billy...the clubhouse...and the Spanish Mob boss? I just found out today that was Shamus. He made a deal with Madame Yu's nephew, KanBo to take him out. Madame Yu had nothing to do with it."

"Understood" Billy looked like he hated to see her go. "Thank you, Lu. Do me favor? Now that you know... be careful."

We got back in the car, leaving Billy and Annie on the steps. I began to wonder if I would ever get to eat lunch. Cederick drove us to the hospital, where Lulu and I walked in and asked for JinLi's room. We stopped by the door, where two uniformed men blocked our way. I glanced at Lulu and she swallowed, but stepped forward bravely. "I'd like to see JinLi."

"It's alright officers," came a weak voice from inside the room. The men stared at us for a minute, then motioned us inside. One hurdle cleared. Who knew how many more?

A Chinese man sat in the bed and a brunette perched beside him, singing. I suddenly realized that the singer was the same girl who'd blown everyone away with her rendition of "Love Me or Leave Me" the night of the raid at the Velveteen.

"Miss Lulu!" The man leaned forward as the singer trailed off in mid-verse. "I'm sorry about the Duesenberg. I-"

"It's all right, AJ." Lulu walked to the edge of the bed. "I'm not worried about the car. I'm worried about you and Madame Yu."

"I'll be fine," AJ grinned, then sobered quickly. "Lulu, someone tried to ambush Loren and I on our way home last night. Some of the men were NoLuks. I got us both out safely and took Loren home, but I needed to warn Madame Yu. That's when I got into trouble."

"How is she?"

"Madame? They're still not sure how to help her. They're giving her expectorants to try to get the poison out of her system."

"So you found out about the plot?" Lulu sounded relieved.

"Yes." AJ frowned. "KanBo is the leader, but Xiao's in on it, too. And..." he hesitated. "They're working with the Irish. I thought you should know."

Lulu let out something like a moan and I felt sorry for her. "Thank you, AJ," she said after a moment. "I need to know if my men are going behind my back. They will pay for this I promise you."

AJ nodded sympathetically. He looked up at me. "...Bruce?"

"Buck, actually. Bruce is my twin."

AJ's eyebrows rose, but he nodded. "Thank you for coming to see me, Miss Lulu. You don't know how much it means."

Lulu smiled. "I'm just glad you're alive."

We left the room and as we walked down the corridor we heard, "Mrs. McGinty, I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lulu turned and froze like someone had just thrown a bucket of cold water on her face. "O-of course, Agent Order," she said a moment later. He kissed someone on the cheek who looked like Myna Darkly, the owner of the Ritzy and caught up to us. 

Agent? Now there's an agent mixed up in this, too? I'd better keep my mouth shut. 

Order looked at me coldly, but Lulu pulled me closer. "Buck is with me, Agent Order."

"Fine." Lorne crossed his arms and I saw the gleam of his badge. "I was going to track you down, but you saved me the trouble."

Lulu's fingers dug into my arm, but when she spoke, her voice was steady. "Well, here I am."

"You're in danger, Mrs. McGinty. There was an ambush. I believe it was meant for you but if I discover the target was in fact AJ..."

"I know, Agent Order! You want to take me in?"

Lorne chuckled humorlessly. "I wish it was that easy. I'm not taking you in. Yes, you're still suspect, but I don't have anything on you... yet. I'm just warning you to be careful. In case you haven't realized, if Madame Yu dies, you're the only thing that stands in the way of the NoLuks expanding their territory."

I felt Lulu relax slightly. "Is there anything else?"

Lorne shook his head. "Not unless there is something you would like to tell me." 

"There is biblical saying, Agent Order. To first remove the splinter from your neighbor's eye, you must first remove the plank from your own."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Agent Order looked visibly angered. 

"It means if you want to solve this case you may wish to look a little closer to home, perhaps you're own back yard before hoping the fence into my territory."

"Is that a threat, Mrs. McGinty?" 

"No, just some friendly advice. If you wise enough to take it."

Agent Order looked confused by this conversation. "Just lay low until this blows over."

Lulu nodded. "I will. Let's go, Buck." We walked back to where Cederick was waiting in the Lincoln. Lulu took a deep breath. "How do you feel about heading to the Lemon Tree?"

I smirked. "Sounds wonderful. I can't wait to try their agnoletti."

The Lemon Tree's agnoletti was better than Fortuna's, I had to admit. We ate and talked for a long time, then walked back to the Lincoln, holding hands. The good food and wine had left us feeling quite amorous, so we paused by the car for a kiss.

I suddenly realized we were standing in the street, kissing in broad daylight. I pulled away and as I did so, a bullet flew through the space between us...right where Lulu's head had been a moment before.