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"Is the syringe dangerous?"

"Nah, but it’s proprietary So I try to keep it double-bagged until I can get it back to the mother ship I’m responsible for every one of these bastards"

"Have you found Fast Freddy yet?"

"No" Fideli see somewhere, and was able to e was done Otherwise he’d have shown up by now People tend to notice sha--" He checked himself and looked at her "No offense"

Bryn cleared her suddenly tight throat "Uh, none taken, I guess So what do we do now?"

"Sa before, while ait for our ht"

"I need another trained mortician before I can open for business"

"Luckily, I already got that covered You’ve got an appointment in"--he checked his watch--"half an hour Applicant’s name is Riley Block"

"But I didn’t even put out an ad yet!"

"Actually, you did You’re paying pretty well, too Oh, and you offer medical and dental Lucy’s already prepared all the paperwork for you" He stood up and smoothed the creases out of his pants as the front bell sounded "That’d be your applicant, I guess"

It was Lucy bustled in, rin and a thick sheaf of paperwork Bryn took it and tried to shtly in return, but she ave her a concerned look "Boss, you look pale You need to stop working all day and night You spend too much time inside this place"

The more she came in contact with real human sympathy, the more isolated Bryn felt "I’m okay, Lucy Thank you I have to say, between you and Joe, you’ve done an aether I really don’t feel like I’ve done anything"

Lucy smiled "Well, that’s just nonsense You pay , and I know more about the death business than anybody you’ll ever h all the wars"

"I’d love to hear some of those war stories," Joe said

"Why, letwith Joe about her favorite ht perverted, and hilarious Bryn got herself a cup of coffee and left them to it as they walked from her office She’d decided not to take Mr Fairview’s palace of a workspace, but had kept her own; she felt more comfortable there Less haunted by what had happened Now she sipped her coffee, then got up and put on her white lab coat and et here? She could still remember the echoes of how proud this coat had made her, how excited she’d been to dive into the new job on that first day

It seemed like a million miles away now

Bryn started a little as a brisk knock sounded on her door; she couldn’t help but flash back to Mr Fairview, and her firstit up, straightened the line of her jacket over the holstered gun, and went to greet her prospective new employee

Riley Block was not what she’d expected--mostly because she’d expected, well, a man Riley was a woman, older than Bryn by about ten years; she was taller, blonder, and had a square face with a prominent jaw that seeave Bryn seemed artificial and businesslike as she held out her hand "Miss Davis," she said "Nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you Please come in"

They settled in the same comfortable area where Bryn would have placed a prospective custoather her wits She’d never interviewed anybody else for a job; she’d expected Joe Fideli to be here and guide her through it How do you tell if someone’s a lunatic, anyway? There had to be some kind of clue, but as she studied Riley Block, she didn’t catch one She finally, somewhat desperately, said, "So, tell ht thing to say Riley whipped out an impressive résu (excellent), acadeoals

One thing was certain: she was no Fast Freddy, and Bryn loved her on the spot just for that