Hungry and a little homesick, I queued up the next episode ofGalactic Queensand plucked chopsticks from the utensil caddy on the table.Noodles and reality TV made everything better.
The jazzy theme song underlaid the “previously on” segment.“Welcome toGalactic Queens.I’m your host, Avalon Westerly.”The glamorous redhead gestured broadly toward the palatial estate where the scheming queens were living this season.
Before I could pull the takeout from my bag, my doorbell buzzed, interrupting whatever Avalon was going to tell me about this episode.
Weird.No one ever buzzed this late except when I ordered takeout.
I paused the video and changed screens to answer the door.“Who is it?”
A gruff voice responded.“Bob, your neighbor.Delivery guy messed up and left something for you at my place.”
I frowned.Had I ordered anything lately?Pretty sure I hadn’t.Still, Bob was the definition of surly neighbor and didn’t interact with anyone in the building unless he had to, so he was probably telling the truth.
Cranky from hunger, I returned to the door and peered through the low-tech peephole.
Despite the distortion from the fisheye lens, I recognized my neighbor immediately by his close-cropped white hair and permanent scowl.Bob was a cantankerous bastard and I was pretty sure the grouchy ran all the way through.
Apology ready—it never hurt to be nice to the neighbors—I opened the door.“Sorry.I wasn’t expecting anything.”
“Don’t care,” Bob said.“Some courier left this for you.”He held out his hand.
When I opened mine, he dropped a packet into my palm.My fingers had barely curled around it before he turned, disappeared into his apartment, and slammed his door.
“Thanks,” I mumbled to the empty hallway.
I slipped back into my apartment, studying the packet.Yep, that was my name and address on the front, along with the logo of a data transmission service in the upper right corner.
Hmmm.
“Who sent you?”I whispered.It felt like a data chip, but where did it come from?
Since there was no way I was putting a random data chip anywhere near my computer system without disinfecting it—twice!—I tucked the mystery package into my pocket.I’d deal with it after dinner.
The door buzzed again when I was halfway back to the table.A quick glance through the peephole revealed it was Bob again.“Another package?”I asked with a laugh as I opened the door.
He didn’t laugh.His face was pale, his expression tight with pain.
I barely registered the figures behind him before he was shoved in my direction.
I dodged, but the unexpectedness of the intrusion took me by surprise.My back slammed against the door and my breath caught as I tried to get out of the way.
Ignoring the pain radiating from my shoulder, I shuffled sideways and stumbled into the living room.A masked figure pushed Bob deeper into the room and slammed the door closed.Bob collapsed onto the floor with a whimper and then was silent.
Though I hated to get farther from the door, I moved back, keeping distance between the intruders and me.
“Where’s the map?”the larger of the two men demanded.
Both wore nondescript dark cargo pants and long-sleeve shirts.I didn’t see any identifying marks on their clothing.
That was all I had time to process.My brain whirled, trying to make sense of his question.“What map?”
I looked at Bob lying still on the carpet—was hedead?—and then at the two men behind him.Heart pounding, I struggled to understand the nightmare I’d suddenly found myself in.What the fuck was happening here?
Bob lay between me and my unwelcome visitors.All three of them blocked my access to the door.
Think, Lacy, think!Panic wouldn’t help right now, but knowing that didn’t stop my heart from racing.What would Dad do?He’d probably say something like if you can’t talk your way out of it run, and if you can’t run, fight.
Fear threatened to overwhelm my ability to reason, so I shoved it back as much as possible.I may not have my father’s charm, but maybe I could buy time to think.
