Mina Cortez: From Bouquets to Bullets by Jeffrey Cook

admiring the scenery, and reading historic placards.
    The only thing she was able to notice from
higher up that she hadn't seen from below was a delivery truck
pulling up to the back. There were no signs of the truck opening or
being unloaded, though three people from inside did come out, and
engaged the driver in conversation. Eventually, she left the bridge
and continued with her delivery. The first was made easily enough.
An older woman at one of the groceries received anonymous birthday
flowers. Mina slipped back out post-delivery as the woman and the
other store employees nearby started speculating.
    Moving across the street, she passed by Lucky
Pho's spacious—
    and mostly empty—storefront. She did note a
few employees moving about inside, but no actual customers. The
place was amazingly well staffed for a place without much business.
As she passed by the next alley, she noted the delivery truck she'd
seen moving slowly down the back alleyway. At the next footbridge,
a few blocks later, she went back up, scanning past the low
buildings as best she could until she found the delivery truck
again, this time parked behind one of the other stores along the
street. Once again, no sign of any deliveries being made.
    Mina crossed the bridge, moving towards her
second delivery. Had she not been looking back towards Lucky on a
regular basis, she'd have missed them. Three men, dressed similarly
to the people she'd seen talking to the delivery driver. She
couldn't tell if they were the same, as she'd been too far away
before, but guessed they likely were. Her chip quickly drew her
attention to small details that didn't fit right. While each wore
similar light jackets, the sleeves weren't quite long enough to
entirely conceal hints of tattoos that reached to the wrists on two
of them. She also picked up signs off of each that they were armed:
well concealed guns, but guns, nonetheless. Remembering the earlier
warning, she made sure not to stare too long, while still keeping
track of their progress.
    The three stopped at a few stores along the
way, not too far behind Mina, emerging each time and heading
further down the street. She lost sight of them amidst making her
second delivery, this time dropping off congratulatory 'Just
Chipped!' flowers at a vid-and-file shop. She didn't have quite the
same chance to quickly slip out this time, as the recipient's
mother had to call her from the stockroom to come get the bouquet
herself.
    Mina and the Chinese girl spent a few moments
explaining to her parents that they weren't schoolmates, and no,
the flowers weren't from Mina; she was just the delivery girl.
Further assurances she had no idea who they were from, but, yes,
she was very happy for the family. She turned down the offer of
tea, insisting she had to be going. It was just enough of a delay
that she nearly bumped into the three men from Lucky, on their way
into the shop, as she was heading out. Noting them at the door, she
instead quickly ducked back behind one of the shelf units. She
turned her delivery jacket inside out. It would look odd, but the
lining was a different color and didn't have the Emerald City logo
on it. Then she pulled her hood up and tried to keep her head
down.
    That was all she had time for before the
shouting started. She tasted aluminum as her chip started
translating for her, with everyone else speaking rapid-fire
Mandarin. The woman who had been at the till insisted they didn't
have enough money. The oldest of the three men started threatening
her. When that didn't change her insistence that they would give
the men everything they had, but it wouldn't be enough, his tone
changed as well.
    Mina was still in her hiding spot, unable to
see, but hearing everything. There was a scream, and the sound of a
gun cocking, then another.
     

 
    Chapter
Eleven
     
    Peeking around the edge, she saw the youngest
of the three men grab the teenage girl. The one who would have been
safe in the stockroom had Mina not