Free Jordan Summers - [Dead World 01] by Red (html) Page B

up."
    "Patching up? Are you expecting trouble?"
His brow scrunched, then slowly lowered. "I can assure you that Nuria
is a law-abiding town. We get mostly farm-related injuries."
    "I have no doubt. No one is saying
otherwise." Red hiked her bag higher onto her shoulder. "But I
like to
be prepared. So here I am."
    "I suppose
you're right, anything can happen this close to the
boundary." Kane nodded. "If I can assist you in any way, let
me know."
    "I will, but to be perfectly honest, I hope
I don't need you."
    He laughed. "Fair enough."
    "No offense," she added
quickly.
    "None taken." Kane
winked.
    Red turned to leave, but stopped short. "You
wouldn't happen to know of a good share space in town, would you? My navcom is
drawing a blank."
    "Understandable, since we haven't been mapped.
The republic has been threatening to do it for years, but it hasn't happened
yet," Kane said. "Try Jesse Lindley's place. It's down a couple of
blocks. Turn right on Evergreen, and then hang a left on Spruce. She's not the
friendliest person you'll ever meet, but her share space is clean and well
kept—the best in town."
    "Sounds good, thanks." Red walked toward the front entrance. The doors slid open as she
approached.
    "Maybe I'll see you around," he called out
after her, hope filling Kane's voice.
    "I'm sure," she said with a shrug.
"It's a small town."
    He coughed. "That wasn't exactly what I
meant."
    Red glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "I
know." She left the emergency care center to go find I the share space. As handsome as Dr. Kane Hunter was, I Red still found her thoughts drifting to the brooding
image of Morgan Hunter.
    Hunter? Hunter? She wondered if Kane was any re lation to Sheriff Morgan Hunter. There was
nothing in  the file about it, but the boundary town files, as she knew, were woefully incomplete. Not that it
mattered. She doubted the sheriff would be near as welcoming.
    Red purchased a protein pack from the automated food
dispenser she'd located earlier to still her growling stomach, and then headed
to Jesse Lindley's place.
    Jesse was a stocky cantankerous woman who ran a water trader business along with the share space. She looked to be in her mid- to late fifties with gray
hair, a deceptively open expression, and an eye patch.
Red didn't bother asking how
she got the latter. The fact that she had an eye patch and looked like a
pirate out of the history e-books was all Red needed to know.
    Jesse agreed to give her a room for fifty credits a
week—a steep price, but well worth it. Red didn't bother to haggle for two reasons: one. the woman appear ed to desperately need the credits; and two, a room
above a water exchange was the best place to b e
to catch local gossip. Eventually everyone in town would come to get
their water supplies.
    Red climbed the stairs two at a time. The hall that
led to
her room was swathed from floor to ceiling in yellow
and pale pink flowers. They'd been painted or st enciled on the walls.
She couldn't tell which.  
    Several thick animal hide throws
buffered the floors, silencing footsteps.
She stared at the fur a second, but couldn't
identify the species. Red resisted the urge to touch them and kept walking. The place
was not quite what she'd been expecting after
meeting Jesse. Some how t he
words soft and feminine didn't quite capture her true essence.
    She arrived at her door a moment later and placed her palm against
the scanner. It hummed as it ran her IPTT identity through the Republic of
Arizona's register system. A beep sounded when it finished. The door in front
of her opened a second later.
    Red entered the large square room with its cheery bright yellow walls and dropped her black duffel
bag on the rest pad in the far corner. She sat beside the bag and bounced,
testing the rest pad's firmness. It was hard. Not her preference, but it would
do for a night or two.
    She glanced around the space, shocked to realize her entire housing unit could easily fit inside
this place with room to