Dark Empathy by Archibald Bradford (best books to read for women .txt) 📗

morning, and was looking forwards to delivering the package.

Though it would have been funny to see her face if she opened the artisanal flour that Cordelia’s father had sent her!

But the brunette was silent for several seconds as she turned one of the pieces over in her hands. Her continued silence caused the Lapine’s smile to falter until the baker slowly shook her head.

“I can’t be certain…” She gnawed on her lip anxiously as she spread the rag out and separated the pieces on the table; “Rebecca, I think this is the trigger assembly for a caster.”

“A what?”

“A caster- a pistol, Becks. These parts are illegal.”

The Lapine gave a short laugh and waved her hand dismissively.

“Don’t be silly! Carol told me ages ago that she ordered the package herself! That’s why she wanted to make sure it didn’t get lost!”

Cordelia took a long time to answer; her face was grey as she considered the lost-tech parts on the counter before her.

The more she examined them, the more certain she became; she believed that she could even identify the specific components.

“Look, see this? This is the spring array. See how the coils meet here? This is the trigger junction. That’s what resets the trigger after the weapon is fired. And this-” She pointed at the two largest pieces of metal that fit together like a clamshell; “This is the trigger housing, everything here fits between these two plates before attaching to the receiver assembly, which I guess is being shipped separately.”

Rebecca slowly shook her head in disbelief.

“No, you’re wrong.”

“Becks-”

“You’re wrong Cordy! Why are you saying all of this? I thought we were friends!”

“We are Becks! But I swear I’m not lying! Look, you know Oldeera works with the Aegis, I’ll have her come take a look at it and she can-”

“NO! I’m not leaving this with you! There has to be an explanation, there just has to be! I need to talk to Carol about all of this, she runs a machine shop so she’ll… she’ll know what this is.”

Cordelia’s eyes widened in concern.

“Becks, no, what if I’m right? This woman, she isn’t who she says. She might…” Her voice trailed off at the uncertain thought.

Rebecca leveled an angry glare at her concerned friend.

“Might what? Might, hurt me? We’ve been dating for months! I trust her and you don’t even know her!”

The baker stretched one hand out, but Rebecca was done talking, she scooped up the components and wrapped them back in their cloth before dropping the bundle back into the box with shaky hands.

“You should never have opened this! Mind your own business!”

The Lapine all but threw the correct package at Cordelia before whirling in place and storming out of the bakery, the alarmed brunette calling after her.

She’s wrong! She has to be! Carol... Carol can explain everything.

The image of Carol’s face smiling at her was all she could see.

She couldn’t see the calculating gleam in her eyes.

__________

Rebecca arrived at the warehouse late in the day, well past the time the courier service usually made their deliveries.

She had all but sprinted through the rest of her deliveries after arguing with Cordelia so she was more than a bit out of breath, she pressed on though as she had to talk to her lover, had to have her make this okay.

The large doors were slightly ajar when she arrived, but before she could knock, she heard the sounds of an argument from inside.

Anxiety bloomed in her gut and she chewed on her lip as her long ears turned towards the building.

The words were faint, but with her superior hearing, she could make them out.

“-that’s two operations blown in less than a year! And now you’re telling me that the retrieval team is overdue?”

It was a woman’s voice, an older woman she didn’t recognize.

“Calm down, you’re making it out to be worse than it is.”

Rebecca’s heart fluttered as it always had at hearing Carol speak.

“Worse than it- are you being thick Bethany?! How many thousands of coins have you lost so far this year?”

Bethany? Who’s Bethany?

“My name is Carol. Keep it straight in that old brain of yours.”

Rebecca wanted to knock on the door, to be greeted by Carol or even the night manager Gregory just as normal, but now…

The anxiety in her gut tightened its grip and she swallowed.

She needed to understand what was going on.

With care she eased her face into the crack between the enormous doors; if she could just see Carol’s face she knew everything would make sense.

Through the opening she saw several well-dressed people standing beside the crucible, maybe forty feet away; while to one side of them, the more familiar rough looking men and women who worked there were sitting or standing on the exiting tables for the enormous presses.

She recognized Gregory, as well as a few other faces, many of whom were fidgeting at the argument playing out in front of them.

Amongst the well dressed people was an older woman leaning on a cane who was currently shouting at someone just out of Rebecca’s line of sight.

Where is Carol?

“This isn’t getting us anywhere, you know that the team I sent out to the Sansee-”

“The overdue team. The one that cost me a fortune.” The old woman interjected.

“-will be back soon, and if that haul is half what my intel suggests, we will recoup all of our losses many times over.”

Carol!

Rebecca dared to sneak the door open another few inches, a deafening creaking sound made her flinch, but the humans inside didn’t have her ears and she relaxed, if only slightly.

With the door open more she could now see the confrontation. The elderly woman was wagging her ornate cane at Carol, who was