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has a gun, that’s a violation of his probation. I can have him picked up and thrown in jail by dinnertime.”
    “Assuming she’s even telling the truth. You know how she is, Lily. She’ll say anything to get the judge mad at Miguel.”
    Not only that, she also had a history of hiding the kids when her ex-husband showed up for visitation, an act that had provoked his violent side. But a threat with a gun definitely raised the stakes. “I’ve never worried before that he’d hurt his kids, but sometimes I think he gets so angry at Maria that I wouldn’t put it past him. Are the police involved?”
    “No, not yet.”
    “Why don’t I start with Pete Simpkins? He was still Miguel’s attorney last I heard. Maybe I can get him to call the probation officer to go over and search for a gun.”
    “Works for me.” He handed her the file and pushed his hands in his pockets, clearly troubled.
    “Something else, Tony?”
    He looked down at his feet for a few seconds before finally meeting her eye. “The Cryder Foundation didn’t renew us for next year.”
    The Cryder grant was specifically set aside for children and family legal services, and it covered most of Lily’s salary. She had written the application herself last summer touting the number of people that had benefitted from the foundation’s previous support. “Did they say why?”
    He shrugged. “Like everyone else, their portfolios crashed. They hardly funded anyone this cycle, but they invited us to apply again next spring.”
    She had worked at the law clinic long enough to know her job was secure, though it likely meant she would be handed more criminal cases, since their contract with the public defender’s office was one of their main sources of funding. “You’re sending me back to jail, aren’t you?”
    “I’m afraid so. I know how much you hate it, so I promise I’ll at least try to get you all the juvie cases.”
    She definitely preferred juvenile justice to adult crime. The last thing she wanted was to find herself defending the likes of Miguel Esperanza.

    Anna touched her cheeks with blush before the mirror on the back of her office door. For a six whole weeks she had done her best to keep her expression calm and serious in front of her staff, but in the privacy of her office it was all she could do not to whistle with joy. Their second blood test had confirmed the embryo’s growth, which made them breathe easier. They could hardly wait for the first sonogram, only two weeks away.
    In the meantime, she had her hands full with Premier Motors. The sooner she got the dealerships back on track, the more time she would have for Lily and their family. Today’s meeting was the critical first step toward turning her business around.
    The whispers had started already, from the office and sales staff all the way out to the service department. It wasn’t every day she gathered the executives and managers from all four dealerships in one place. She needed their support for this transition as much as they needed her decisive leadership. She rolled up the sleeves of her white cotton shirt, hoping to convey her readiness to work just as hard as she was asking them to do.
    In the conference room she took her place at the head of the table, flanked on one side by Hal, her chief financial officer, and on the other by her father, who was vice president of operations at the Beverly Hills Volkswagen dealership. Next to him sat Brad Stanley, who held the same position at the BMW dealership. Their Palm Springs counterparts were next, along with the company’s vice president for human resources, Nancy Gravitt, who had helped iron out the final details of their plan. Sales, service and office managers from all four lots were seated around the perimeter of the room.
    “Perfect attendance. I like that.” Anna pasted on a confident smile and tried to make eye contact with everyone present. “I know you’re all expecting bad news today, but I hope when you come