Page 93 of Stars At Dusk

That’s when Zipporah lost it. Her face transformed into an ugly mess. First, she screamed profanities, then, in a sudden burst of energy, lunged across the table, hacking away at Harlow with her hands. Harlow jumped back defensively, but not before Zipporah latched onto her throat.

Harlow felt something rip away, and she gasped as she saw her grandmama’s purple sapphire pendant clutched in her companion’s hand.

‘Success,’ the woman screeched.

Harlow tried to reach for her pendant, but Zipporah scrabbled for her bag, turned and fled. Harlow sat back heavily in her chair as the older woman, energised by the meal she’d just eaten, lunged for the cafe door and disappeared into the street.

Harlow tremulously reached for her neck. It was empty. She pulled back her hand to see specks of blood.

‘Sweet Eden,’ Harlow whispered to herself. ‘That’s what she was after all along.’

‘Are you OK?’

Harlow looked up to see one of the cafe’s servers standing over her, looking deeply concerned.

‘I’ll be fine,’ she said hollowly.

She rose slowly to her feet and walked to the till paying the bill and leaving a generous tip for all the trouble Zipporah had caused.

Harlow wandered into the street, mind blown, her soul hollow like a piece of her heart was now missing. She felt trapped in a nightmare she didn’t know how to wake up from.

A soft trill rang out from her wrist comm, and she jumped at the unexpected sound.

‘Miss Harlow. It’s me, Mirage.’

‘Mirage? How -.’

‘Do you recall that we agreed to your safety protocols, and should anything concern me, I can contact you?’

‘Yes, I remember,’ Harlow said, feeling profoundly relieved that someone out there was watching over her.

‘Your wrist comm showed a dangerously elevated heart rate. I also registered a small disturbance at your location. A diner called for security, but he later discarded the call. Are you alright?’

‘No, I’m not,’ Harlow confessed, speaking softly.

‘What seems to be the problem?’

‘I was robbed,’ Harlow said, unwilling to divulge further about the hideous woman she’d bothered to entertain.

‘Are you physically OK?’

‘I’ll survive. I’ve lived through worse,’ Harlow joked weakly.

‘What was stolen from you?’ Mirage said almost judiciously.

‘My purple sapphire pendant necklace. It’s worth a lot of schills.’

‘The same one in your identikit.’

‘Yes.’

‘Shall I put out a notice for the item? This means whoever stole it cannot sell it in the known System. Not on Eden II and not anywhere else across Pegasi.’

‘I don’t think they’ll use legit channels when hawking it,’ Harlow countered.

‘Don’t you worry, Harlow,’ the AI clucked. ‘My reach goes beyond the everyday ma and pa store. I have fingers in the darkest of marketplaces and exchanges, on and off the web.’

‘Thank you, Mirage. That will be helpful. It means a lot to me, and I’d like to get it back.’

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