Chapter One
New York City, Summer 1889
"WE'RE IN A WORLD OF TROUBLE, EMILY JEAN." Maxwell Wise paused before
Emily Jean Bartlett's desk, waiting impatiently for her to finish
writing her sentence.
When Max cleared his throat for the third time, Emily finally looked up,
and the chastisement teetering on the tip of her tongue died suddenly at
the ashen look on her publisher's face. Max was not a man given to
hysteria or theatrics, so it was obvious that something was terribly
wrong.
After setting down her ink pen, she gathered up the sheets of her latest
dime novel, The Montana Kid, and pushed them aside, intending to
transcribe them later on the typewriting machine, as was her practice.
She hadn't decided yet whether or not the Kid was going to kill off the
determined sheriff anyway, so it was probably just as well that she had
more time to think the scene through. Fight scenes were always the most
difficult for her to write; she absolutely abhorred violence. That was a
bit ironic, considering the type of lurid novels she wrote.
"What's wrong? You look like you've lost your last friend."
"More like my business." He waved a piece of paper at her. "I've just
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