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Lindsay nodded in agreement, took the fancy business card, and tucked it into her wallet. "Thank you. I will be in touch, hopefully with my thoughts more organized," Lindsay muttered before walking around the front of her car, opening the driver's side door, and sitting down.

That was a close one. I need to thank that guy if I see him again... his misstep saved my a** back there. As to the lie I told back there? Meh, if she does her homework, she will know I was lying, but I guess I could say I was self-conscious about revealing my real name so soon after everyone saw everything. It's not a perfect excuse, but it at least roughly covers the bases. Lindsay thought as she started the car.

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Pursuing a labyrinthine path through the thick metropolis, Mariana tried her best to lose anyone that may be following her--save the kid, of course. She walked just slow enough so she wouldn't lose sight of him. Finally finding her final destination, she strolled into the dark alleyway back behind Ali's Bakery. A while ago, she had taken another kid here, but they ran across some kind of shady meeting and had to take cover. Today, she honestly didn't care if she interrupted someone else's play-date; perhaps she'd even get a fight out of the deal. But, the place seemed to be empty today. Well, the odds were just about even, one way or the other. She made her way into the shadow-bound depths and located a door camouflaged well with the decrepit brick wall nearby. There were a few worn, torn posters up on it, but she never bothered to look at those. What was inside was of much greater importance.

Inside was the make-shift pawn shop operated by her fence, a mover-and-shaker from the Arabic world who goes by the name of Aleser abd Ferran, among others. He was using a few rooms in the back of his cousin's bakery complex to conduct a little black-market trading to pass the time between big deals. She hadn't done anything big-time yet, but if she recalled correctly, he liked to pull those jobs off out in public, just for a challenge--something she always admired. The man was well-connected, sociable, and gutsy, and he had pretty good business sense. He always made it difficult with Mariana when she tried to pawn something off on him, but that was only part of the fun. Today, it didn't seem he was in; he had his lackey, his shy niece who barely spoke a word of English. This would make things difficult; she didn't know a word of Arabic, and she wasn't about to try. "Aleser," she simply said, and the girl nodded and went into the back. Now Mariana and Danny were alone. She put her hands above her head and stretched thoroughly, exhaling audibly. She caught the scent of the patisserie's freshly-baked goods, a constant reminder of the front in the front. Much more relaxed now, she turned to the boy behind her. "It may be a while. Make yourself at home. Look at the merchandise if ya want, I can add it to my tab later."

"Ah, just paying a visit to a dear, old friend," she replied. She grinned at this, continuing, "Why? You wanted to see all the hot spots, didn't ya? Well, like I said, Mama's gonna get you nice an' toasty pretty soon. Just relax and enjoy it. Who knows, we might even get into a scrap or two in these parts! I'm itchin' to do somethin' after that mismatch back there." She strummed her fingers along the countertop. Her contact seemed to be taking quite a bit of time, but it was little matter. With the statue she turned in, she should be getting a tidy sum; here was as good a place as any to spend it. She liked what she was seeing, but there wasn't anything in that part of the store she felt she should be buying. After all, she didn't know exactly how much she was getting. She knew she wanted a weapon of some kind--she didn't want to be caught at a disadvantage again. So, she headed over to the opposite wall, mussing up the boy's hair as she passed. There, on the other side, she almost immediately came across a modernized tomahawk--carbon-and-weave, so it would get through metal detectors easily. She picked it up and marveled at it for a good five minutes before a voice from behind startled her.

"You like?" it asked. She whirled around and caught the man's shoulder. "Easy, friend! You like? You can afford now, if you are wishing," he assured her. "Statue? Was not of gold, so no melting down was good. But inside? Insiiiiide was a pretty." The man grinned widely, never once opening his eyes. He was a little short for his age, but there was little doubt as to his age. He had deep, golden skin and dark brown hair highlighted with a honey-blonde, and his soft bangs covered one of his eyes. Otherwise, he maintained himself well. There was something odd about his teeth, but he never showed them long enough to yield further information. He was dressed smartly, as if he had just stepped out of a corporate office. Other than his strange speech, nothing else was particularly striking about him. "A pretty? Well, now you've got me curious!" Mariana exclaimed. "Ah, but no... no. The less that you know, yes? But this I will tell you: I had a... friend... that was wanting the pretty. Was worth not much, but plenty indeed. Most things here you can afford now, yes." "Really? How much're we talkin'?" The man leaned in and whispered into her ear. Her face lit up, and she immediately grabbed two of the axes. He chuckled at this. "Ah, yes. I shall go 'ring you up,' as they say." He began to walk to the front but stopped as he caught sight of the boy. "Ah, a new customer? I have many things for the buying, and you will not find a better price. A friend of yours?" he asked, looking back toward Mariana. "We'll see," she consented, smirking. "Ah, good, good. You are interested in something here, yes?" he asked, approaching the boy.

((Sorry about the tardiness of this post... I was hospitalized earlier this week. I'm fine now, though.))

"Ah, but how you are knowing that you will never use them? Someday, someday you may find suddenly, you are needing of something that I have here but you do not have it today. As they say, my mother's fourth name is 'caution'," the man insists.

"Well, he does have a point," Mariana chimed in with quiet delight. "That IS her name."

"Yes, yes, precisely! That is why it is good for the havings of things for the not-knowings," Aleser remarked.

Mariana walked toward the register, scanning along the aisles as she went. "Speaking of which..." she added, trailing off while trying to think of something. As she got to the front, she pointed down toward something in the display cabinet and raised two fingers. Aleser, catching her drift, put something in a paper bag, followed by several other smaller components. He then deftly typed in some figures into a calculator before flipping it around so Mariana could see. She nodded and grabbed the supplies before turning to Damien or whatever his name was and inquired, "You're sure you don't anything? If not, lemme know if there's somewhere special you're thinkin' of goin'."

It struck Mariana as rather odd that he would inquire about that cove. Yes, she knew about the beach, and she was certain she could find the cove if she needed, but... why there? It wasn't exactly one of the "hot spots" that he was asking about earlier. For that matter, how did he know about it? It wasn't THAT famous, and nobody ever went there unless...

She looked at the sky. The sun was going down, and a myriad of colors streaked across the heavens. Of course, that's why! She remembered just the kind of reputation that place was getting. He seemed rather unemotional, so it didn't dawn on her until now that he was thinking along those lines. Sneaky! I like him, she thought. I wonder just how far he was thinking of taking this. "All right," she consented. "But, first..." she reached into the grocery bag she was carrying and flung a shiny piece of metal toward him. She then fished one out for herself along with a couple of magazines. "Don't want ya gettin' hurt, now," she said, brandishing the pistol with the devil's grin. "If someone catches us with our pants down, well... ya can't be too careful in this kinda town."

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