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ideas?”
    She shrugged. “I guess we’ll do it the old fashioned way.”
    He nearly choked. “Prostitution? Miss West, I—”
    She put a hand on his arm. “Pawn something,” she clarified.
    He hesitated. “We can do that?”
    Elizabeth swallowed the laugh that threatened to bubble up. He seemed genuinely alarmed at the idea. “It’s not the best bang for your buck, but when you’re in a pinch.” She shrugged. “I think this qualifies as a pinch.”
    “I’m afraid I don’t know…” he said and then held out his hands helplessly.
    Elizabeth smiled. This she knew how to do. It was a good feeling to be able to help. “I do. We need jewelry, things like that are the easiest to pawn. What do you have?”
    Simon took stock of his personal items. She’d never seen him wear jewelry of any kind, except for his wristwatch. He pulled back the sleeve of his sweater and took off the watch. “Will this do? It’s not a very modern design.”
    Elizabeth took the watch and frowned. “Broken,” she said. The crystal was smashed. “Must have happened when we crash landed.”
    Simon put the watch back on his wrist. “Your necklace?” he asked.
    Elizabeth self-consciously tugged at the chain. “Not worth anything. My ring’s a fake too,” she added with an embarrassed smile.
    She’d never had any real jewelry, certainly nothing worth pawning. She looked down at her ring. Fat lot of good it would do them. They needed something real, something gold.
    “The ring!” she blurted and then without further explanation took off back down the street.
    She’d nearly forgotten it in all the excitement, but she’d been holding it when they’d…done whatever they’d done to end up here.
    Elizabeth turned the corner and hurried back into the alley, glad to see the big steel door was shut again.
    When Simon caught up, she was on her hands and knees crawling around on the pavement in the alley.
    “What in God’s name are you doing woman?”
    “Ah-ha!” she cried and jumped to her feet. She held out her hand to him in triumph. In her palm rested the small scarab ring. “I thought I remembered holding it when the watch did its thing.”
    Simon’s face paled as he took the ring from her. Elizabeth watched the play of emotions across his face, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.
    “It’s a good thing, right?” she asked. His face was ashen. “Bad penny?”
    Simon looked up at her and clenched the ring in his hand. “Very much so.”
    She waited, but he offered nothing else in the way of explanation. “We can find another way.”
    “No,” Simon said and put it away in his pocket. “It should bring a good price.”
    He stood up a little straighter and nodded toward the street.
    “It’s getting late,” he said. Everything about his demeanor had changed. All the emotions he’d let seep out were tucked neatly away. Even his voice was different. Crisp and business-like. What was it about that ring that frightened him so much? The tension in his body was palpable. “We should find a pawn shop.”
    “Right.”
    Simon stepped back and gestured toward the mouth of the alley. His face was again an impassive mask as they headed back out. Elizabeth’s eyes darted toward the street. Despite Simon’s mood change, she felt a sense of calm acceptance start to take root. If life had taught her anything, it was that she couldn’t control anything except her response to it. Especially when the unexpected happened—like a little unplanned trip back in time.
    She could do only one thing. If she wanted to survive, she had to take each day as it came and mine the good from the bad, as she’d always done. At least this time, she wasn’t alone. She let out a deep breath and glanced over at Simon. Together they rounded the corner and stepped into the past and into their future.

Chapter Four
    CALVIN COOLIDGE SAID THE business of America was business. And nowhere was it more evident than the streets of Manhattan in 1929.