Shadow Borne
down at the bag. One corner had
stretched tight when I'd set it on the chair and the outline of a
bent leg and a foot was clearly visible through the cloth. Oh,
hell. I resisted the impulse to straighten the sacks, instead
raising my chin and doing my best to look dignified.
    "Uh...right." Don cleared his throat. "So."
he said brightly, his demeanor saying 'fine I'll ignore this if you
will'. "What can I do for you this morning?"
    "I need a security system out at my cabin."
I said, getting right to the point, wondering if Don would try to
convince me yet again to move to town 'where it's safe'. A few
months ago, Don's mother had moved in with him and his wife and so
far he hadn't had any luck selling her house on Sixth Street.
    It was a nice house, but, just looking at it
from the outside–which I had, at Don's insistence–it didn't feel
like home for me, not the way my cabin was home. I hadn't bothered
to tell Don there was no guarantee 'in town' would be synonymous
with 'safe' for much longer.
    Hopefully, the fences here would never fail
but if they did, especially if Kahn and the Lahuel had really bred
some sort of mutant Coatyl army, advance warning wouldn't do the
town's people much good, anyway. Lately, Mark and Bob worried daily
over the increasing possibility of riots. No, telling people that
we were screwed wouldn't solve anything.
    So when Don aimed another none too subtle
stare at the burlap sack and asked me if I'd had any trouble out at
the cabin lately, I promptly pasted a smile on my face, crossed my
legs, leaned back like I didn't have a care in the world, and
lied.
    "No. No trouble. But a woman alone can never
be too careful, don't you think?"
    If the Coatyl in the chair next to mine had
been able to talk, I'm sure he would have vehemently disagreed. I
continued to smile at Don and made a mental note to add 'can't
expose my lies' to the running list I'd started halfway between my
house and Main Street of 'reasons why I'm glad the peeping bastard
Coatyl is dead'.
    "What kind of system do you have in mind?"
Don slid a yellow, lined pad closer and began to tap a pen idly
against the paper. "Or do you want to add reinforced doors and
windows?"
    I thought for a moment. "All of it." I
finally decided.
    "All of it?" The pen paused in its rhythmic
downward swing and hung in the air for three long beats before Don
recovered himself and began to scribble notes on the paper. "It's
gonna cost you." he warned a few minutes later.
    I shrugged. "How much?"
    He named a figure that was hefty without
being unreasonable and I nodded easily. I had plenty of gold saved,
if it hadn't been stolen from my bedroom by now, and even a few
currency cards with decent amounts loaded onto them. Besides, what
else did I have to spend it on?
    "Good?"
    "Good."
    "I can probably make it out today to get
measurements." he offered.
    "No." I said automatically, remembering the
shambles my house was in. "Tomorrow would be better." I rose to my
feet.
    "Tomorrow it is, then. In the
afternoon?"
    "Yes, that would be perfect. Thank you."
    I left the shop a few moments later, feeling
more optimistic than I had in several days. Maybe, just maybe,
things would turn out okay after all. Hell, at this point I'd even
gladly take 'not so bad'. The cold, logical part of me was well
aware, as always, that rarely did we get to choose. Still, I tried
to fill my mind with positive thoughts as I completed the rest of
my errands at the home store and the Bank of Grandview. The sun was
in full splendor now and people were beginning to get out and
about, both on foot and in cars.
    My baggage was beginning to attract some
serious stares and I hurried across the main drag, almost at the
edge of town before I remembered I'd promised a cup of coffee to
Juliette. Not that she deserved any, I reflected pettily, but I
wanted some so I doubled back to go to the cafe I'd passed a few
shops down–and ran straight into Aranu.
    I hit his brick wall chest with enough force
to

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