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Um .. yeah .. wow .. it took me a while to find this one! I've been running slightly behind on everything (totally blaming NaNo! lol), but I'm hoping to make up for lost time now. ******* The 'back to civilization' took awhile, but soaking up to her neck in the inn's bathtub made it all worth it to Jun.  The fragrant smell of lavender wafted up with each small movement, the hot water slowly cooling to warm loosening her tight muscles.  She would have slept in the bathtub if she could.  A rap at the door made her sit up with a jolt.  "I'm going downstairs," Red Impulse announced through the door.  "I'll be back in a few minutes." "Okay," Jun called out, not really wanting to get out of the bath just yet. Instead, Jun added a little more hot water and sank down, her muscles relaxing with the warmth.  In her mind, she turned over what they had so far. PI makes housings and parts for small engines -- thanks to the intern orientation, she wasn't likely to forget that any time soon -- and Reading Industries was a research facility for nylon fibers.  Somehow, the two were connected. Jun wondered if there was anything either in the USB key she found or in the documents that gave any clues.  If there was, would Nambu contact them and let them know? Then there was the man in Parnell's office -- who was he?  Likewise, who the ones that tossed their room back in the city?  Was it just a luck of the draw, that a bunch of thieves just happened to choose their room to break into? Somehow, Jun doubted that.  It was too much of a coincidence.  So that meant they could assume that they had been spotted and under surveillance.  Had someone spotted them at some point during the day?  Had Parnell actually noticed her? Red Impulse had said something about getting into Reading Industries -- now he wanted to go! -- but what she did not know was how they were going to accomplish that.  Maybe sneak in, but somehow that didn't seem to be Red Impulse's style. Jun sighed and climbed out of the tub.  She dried off and rejoiced at putting her own clothes back on.  Still, she kept her bracelet tucked in her pocket, not wanting to draw any attention to herself.  If they had learned anything in these past few months, it was that Galactor was on the outlook for the bracelets. She patted her pocket to assure herself that it was still there and then headed downstairs.  The staircase opened into a small parlor that looked like something out of a museum tableau, the ceiling low and the furniture small and dark.  To the right was a small room being used as a check in/check out and, presumably, the rest of the house.  To the left was a small dining area and the kitchen.  Jun followed her nose into the dining room. She walked in and looked around a moment.  Like the rest of the house, the dining room was small with a ceiling so low she could have easily reached up to touch it.  A swinging door on one wall opened to the kitchen; French doors on a third wall opened to a small garden patio.  She had been expecting Red Impulse to be there, or at least in the garden, but all of the small tables were empty.  Jun was still pondering her options when she heard a woman's voice behind her. "Your father's gone into the village," she said with a smile, a bundle of folded cloths in her hands.  "Can I get you something to drink?  Tea, perhaps?" Jun smiled at the woman, but this time, she did not correct the woman's assumption as to her relationship with Red Impulse.  It was bad enough that they had arrived late in the evening, without reservations or luggage.  True, he had procured two rooms for them, with a shared bathroom between them, but still, the set-up demanded an explanation and that was the easiest one there was. "That would be lovely, thank you," Jun said, then she paused a moment, a sudden anxious thought occurring to her.  "Just how far away is the village?" "Oh, not far," the woman said, bustling across the room.  "A handful of kilometers or so." Jun instantly swung her head to look out the windows, her heart racing.  But no, her bike was still parked where she had left it. "How did he ...," Jun began. "Went in with my husband, he did," the woman said, chuckling at Jun's alarm.  "He said to tell you that he should be back in a few hours and not to worry." Jun nodded and took a seat at a small table near the French doors.  Once settled, she gazed out into the evening shrouded garden and mulled over this new turn of events.  Funny that he should tell her not to worry when worry was the only thing she was capable of doing at the moment. Had Red Impulse finally found a way to leave her behind?  Would he truly be back or was that just something he said to fob off the woman, and her? Could he truly be that cutthroat? Jun was afraid to look too closely at that answer. The woman returned with a cup of tea and a small plate of biscuits, which she put down in front of Jun.  Pleasantries exchanged, Jun frowned as she assembled her tea. At least he had the decency to leave me my bike, she thought, annoyed that he could do this to her and furious with herself that she had let him just leave so easily.  She should have known better, she berated herself.  As she stirred her tea, Jun weighed her options. She could go back to the city and admit defeat.  Once back in Utoland, she could just tell the guys that she needed a few days off and no one would be the wiser. Or she could go forward, taking matters into her own hands.  Reading Industries begged to be explored and the fact that it was so closely guarded meant there was a secret worth guarding.  Of course, it would be easier if she knew what Red Impulse did, if anything, but she could improvise.  After all, she had handled those four men by herself.  She didn't need him. Jun took a sip of tea.  She didn't need him, but it was nice to have someone else in situations like this.  Fortunately, she did not need to make any decisions right at this moment; she had seen Red Impulse pay for the rooms in advance, so she knew she had at least two days before she had to leave. Maybe take a day to go back, she thought, biting into a sweet, crumbly biscuit, and if nothing else turned up, then she would go back. Maybe. She heard the front door open and close, with voices in a terse exchange and Jun turned around fast enough in her chair to see a man head up the stairs.  She blinked in surprise.  He had actually come back? Quickly, Jun finished her tea and biscuits and practically flew up the stairs.  She went through her room, through the bathroom, and sure enough, the door leading from the bathroom to Red Impulse's room now stood open.  He sat casually in the room's only chair, a newspaper held open in his hands, his long legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles.  He barely gave her a glance as he turned the page. "Is there a problem?" Jun was still panting slightly from her race up the stairs.  Is there a problem?  She wanted to throw the first heavy object she could find at his head. "You left," she charged.  That got his attention.  She saw his eyes snap up from the paper to her face. "As I told you," he said coldly.  "And you had no objections at the time." "Actually, you said you would be downstairs," Jun pointed out. "And I was," he countered.  "I also said I would be back ... and I am." "The woman downstairs said you went in to the village." Red Impulse folded the newspaper, taking his time and making sure every crease was exact.  "That's right.  I did." "Why?" "Why do you think?" Jun stared at him.  "Do you always have to do that?  Answer a question with a question?  I don't know why or else I wouldn't have asked." Red Impulse tossed the newspaper onto the small table next to the chair and stood up. "What we don't have here is the luxury of time.  And thanks to your little confrontation with those men from Reading this evening, they are now tipped off to the fact that someone is watching them, which means we have to act fast if we want to have any hope of going in tomorrow morning." Jun's eyes widened.  "We're actually going in?  How?"

Oops I read these in the wrong order. Now the opening line in the other makes more sense!

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Jun might not be so forgiving if she comes home to find the Snack J leveled.

Hopefully Joe can salvage something out of this mess! It seems like Stacy is willing to try and work things out for the sake of the baby.