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even targeted her. He had seemed to be looking straight at her, but that didn’t mean he had been. She cast her mind back, trying to recall if she’d noticed anyone else who appeared to be attempting to evade him, but discovered that was useless. She’d been too mindless with panic to think at all, and certainly too frightened to notice anyone else.

    As she emerged from the shuttle at her stop it finally dawned on her why she’d been afraid the moment she’d seen his uniform. Morris had claimed him as a neighbor and the only reason a home guardsman would’ve been living in old town was because he’d been planted there to ferret out rebels.

    That thought instantly sent her into panic mode again and it was all she could do to pretend even a modicum of nonchalance as she headed out of the terminal and turned toward her apartment. As she focused on restraining the urge to run for all she was worth toward the only safe harbor that came to mind, she felt the watchful eye of the vids she passed beneath boring into her like lasers.

    She’d already reached her apartment building and stepped into the lift tube before it dawned on her that her apartment was the last destination she should have in mind if she really thought they were after her. They could be waiting for her when she got there.

    But what about Morris? And what about Nigel?

    They could be blindsided if the home guard really was bent on arresting her for something.

    There was no stopping the damned lift, though. She’d already punched in her level like a bot before her mind had even begun to make sense of her situation.

    She wasn’t certain it was making sense even now. The sensation of being herded like prey had totally demolished her reasoning ability. She could do little more than allow her instincts to guide her--and her main instinct was to run for cover.

    The corridor was empty when she reached her level. Goosebumps immediately erupted and chased up her spine.

    Trying to ignore the alarm that sent through her, Lena’s hand tightened on her tote as she strode briskly down the corridor toward her door, her ears pricked for any sound that seemed out of place.

    The apartment was empty. She knew that the moment she stepped inside and whirled to bolt the door behind her. “Morris?”

    She wasn’t terribly reassured when she didn’t get a response. Striding through the apartment, she dropped the grocery tote on the counter in the kitch and then, after looking

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    around for something she could use to defend herself, searched the apartment with her wooden meat mallet. It wasn’t much of a weapon. The thing probably didn’t weigh more than a few ounces. At worst, swinging it as hard as she could probably wouldn’t cause more damage than a bad bruise, but she had nothing else that looked even vaguely threatening. On the rare occasions that she actually had real meat, she used the laser slicer. The closest thing she had to a knife was her butter knives and she would’ve had to saw somebody’s head off with one of them. The forks were probably more lethal.
    She was somewhat relieved when she’d reassured herself that she really was alone in the apartment. If, as she’d thought, the home guard was after her for some reason, they would’ve been waiting for her--probably outside the building, certainly inside the apartment.
    Those thoughts brought her little comfort though.
    Ignoring the food she’d abandoned on the counter of her kitch, she began pacing the living area, trying to make sense of her fears. Was she over reacting? Was the only threat in her mind?
    She blushed when it occurred to her to wonder if the guy had merely recognized her and decided to further their acquaintance.
    That was just wishful thinking, she realized almost at once. They hadn’t even been introduced, for god’s sake! She seriously doubted he remembered that very brief meeting.
    Besides, there was no doubt that he had been looking for someone. It wasn’t paranoid to