Coyote: The Outlander (with FREE second screen experience) by Chantal Noordeloos Page A

remained on her plate, her appetite lost now, and fished a fat cigar from her pocket. “I never even considered that it was possible for anyone to open the rips.” She lit the cigar and rubbed her eyes. “I thought they were just random.”
    “I’m sure most of them are. A lot of Outlanders who wander through are just unlucky victims.” Sunshine pointed her pipe at Coyote. “But think about it. So much technology makes it through to this world, and that can’t all be accidental.”
    “You make a good point.”
    “And . . . do you think you’re the only one hunting Outlanders?” She blew a large cloud of smoke, which obscured her face.
    “No . . . the Pinkerton Agency has a lot of different hunters.” A cold chill rand down her back, because she knew that’s not what Sunshine meant.
    “Pinkertons are a human agency.” Sunshine narrowed her eyes. “There’s also Outlanders hunting Outlanders . . . ” She waited for the words to sink in and then continued, “How do you think they get here if not deliberately?”
    Coyote mulled over Sunshine’s words for a few moments, blowing rings with her cigar smoke. “Have you met any of these Outlander hunters?”
    “I trade Outlander weapons. It’s not only humans I do business with.” Sunshine’s voice was noncommittal.
    “So you’re saying that there are those on the other side of the rips who can open them at will?”
    “I’m saying there are ways to control the rips.” Sunshine shook her head. The wrinkles in her face deepened as she frowned. “I don’t think opening them is as easy as that . . . but I do believe it’s possible.” She winked at Coyote and added, “I don’t think it’s just those on the other side either.”
    “You mean there are those who control the rips from here?”
    “They could . . . with the right technology, or maybe even magic?” Sunshine wiggled her eyebrows. “Know anyone who could have access to such things?”
    Coyote’s mood darkened and Caesar glanced at her, catching her eyes for the first time. He pulled his lips into a tight line, and she knew he was thinking the same thing she was.
    “James Westwood,” she hissed, tapping her index finger on the table with frustration. “If anyone has the means, he does.”
    “Coyote . . . ” Caesar waved his hand at her to indicate she needed to calm down, and she nodded.
    “I know the man,” Sunshine said. “Likely candidate.” She added some tobacco to her pipe and puffed in contemplation. “That damn rip is a nuisance. What strikes me is that it seems to be leading to different worlds. We’ve seen several different Outlanders come out now. That’s rather unusual. When a rip is set, it leads to one world. But this one . . . I just don’t know what to make of it.”
    “Will you show us?”

    “You’re going to need to be patient,” Sunshine warned them as they crouched in the cornfield. The large stalks rose high above them, keeping them hidden from sight. The older woman pointed up at the sky. “That’s where it opens. Every day, like clockwork. Can’t guarantee something comes out of it though. Most of the time it just opens.”
    Coyote shifted her weight, trying to find a position where corn stalks didn’t poke her. “Has anyone else spotted them?”
    “Farmer who owns the fields pointed it out to me, so me and Phil came to investigate the rip.” Sunshine pointed toward the large farmhouse in the distance.
    Coyote bit her lip and frowned. “It’s never good if ordinary folk know about the rips. If he gossips, he’ll risk people coming to explore. Innocent people could run into some nasty Outlanders.”
    “Hank is an old friend,” Sunshine said, brushing corn silk from her blouse. “He doesn’t like peeping Toms at his farm, so he won’t be talking. We told him to come to us whenever there’s trouble with the rips.”
    “He knows what the rips are?”
    Sunshine shrugged. “We had to tell him.”
    Coyote wrinkled her nose and sighed. She