Part 1
Perfection, Nevada, 5/27/2003
At a flash of light, Nancy looked out the front window of Chang's Market. "Uh-oh. Now we're in for it."
Jodi joined her at the window. She groaned. "Well, it had to happen sooner or later."
The object of their concern strutted through the Market's front door and stood inspecting his surroundings a moment before peeling off his sunglasses. He was a big man; not tall, but round, and with a self-important, officious air about him.
"Well, where is she?" he demanded of the room in general.
"Good morning, Twitchell," Jodi said with a smile.
"Morning," he rumbled reluctantly. "Her paperwork filled out?"
The last was for Nancy, who came around the corner with a sheaf of papers emblazoned with "Residency Permit Application" across the top. "They're done," she said, "but I don't see why she needs them. She's only here for a visit."
"Of unspecified duration," he corrected. "I don't see why you people think this is some kind of boom town out here in the desert. Why not just invite all your friends and family? Have 'em bring the kids." He moved to the counter and took one of the donuts from the display, then turned expectantly to Nancy as he all but snatched the papers from her. "Well? And don't give me any more excuses. Where is she?"
"I presume you're talking about me," a voice said from the doorway to the back of the store.
The government man turned to see a young blond woman leaning with her back against the doorway. She wore light fabric pants that clung to all her curves, and followed the lines of her legs from hip to ankle. Her low-cut blouse was the kind of sheer that made a man think he could see through it even though he couldn't, and just midriff-bearing enough that he could catch the flash of jewelry above her bellybutton. She smiled at him.
He smiled back, forgotten donut halfway to his mouth.
Nancy rolled her eyes at Jodi and the two shared a smile. Then she hurried toward the back of the store, pausing in front of the blond only long enough to say, "Be nice." Emphatically.
"Always," the younger woman replied and returned her attention to the man.
He stepped forward, hand outstretched - until he realized the donut was still in it. He discarded it on the nearest table and extended his hand again. "Deputy W.D. Twitchell," he said, "Department of the Interior."
She took his hand and held it a little too long, flashing him a smile. "Kylie Callahan, Prospective Resident."
He took a step toward one of the small tables in front of the counter. "Why don't we sit down and discuss these?" he said.
She didn't follow.
"I'm sorry," she said, obviously at a loss. "I've had a bit of an accident. You see,I was..." She waved off her explanation. "But you know all about that, don't you?"
She referred, of course, to the graboid attack that took place when she entered Perfection Valley for the first time almost two weeks before. He'd expected to interrogate her the next day, but had been told she was "still recovering from her ordeal." For the next several days she refused to see him. She'd told Nancy she "wasn't nearly pretty enough to manage a government functionary" with her head all bumpy, her hands swathed in bandages, and her left leg swollen and bruised. Nancy had told him she was a gentle-souled young girl who was having a hard time coping with her ordeal.
"What the hell is this 'gentle soul' doing in a place like Perfection?" he'd wanted to know.
She held out a hand and smiled again. "I'll need a little help," she said, the note of apology clear in her voice.
"Oh sure, sure," he said, hurrying to her side. He held out an arm and she leaned heavily against it as he escorted her to the nearest table where they sat down.
He leafed through the pages of the application while she leaned forward and studied him intently.
"It's not, um, completely filled out," he said, when he'd gotten to the last page.
"Do you really need all that information just for a little visit?" She looked down at her form. "Don't you think some of that stuff is a little... personal?"
"Well, I wouldn't need--" he blustered. "But you know the Department of the Interior..."
"Actually, no, I don't," she said, looking interested. "I can guess it doesn't have anything to do with interior decorating, though." She laughed. "Not with agents like you." She leaned a little closer, her eyes quickly sliding left and right. "What's it like, being a Secret Agent with the government?"
He sat a little straighter. "I'm not really a Secret-- Well, working for the government is important work."
She nodded emphatically. "You must be such a busy man." She reached out to lay her fingers on his hand. "Oh, and I'm so sorry for my silly attack of nerves. We should have met before. I didn't mean to hold up your work..."
At the counter, Jodi shook her head.
She looked up when Burt walked in and stood glaring at Twitchell, then hurried to the end of the counter and quickly motioned him over.
"What's he doing here?" Burt demanded.
"He's going over Kylie's Residency Permit," Jodi replied, putting a cup of coffee in front of him.
"I thought he did that last week."
"He was going to turn it down, so Kylie said to stall him and she'd handle it."
"How's she going to change his mind?" Burt asked. "Once the government makes up its mind, there's no--"
"She doesn't have to convince the government, Burt," Nancy said in a low voice as she came to stand next to him at the counter. "She just has to convince Twitchell."
"And how is she going to do that?" Burt asked, after a sip of coffee. "Twitchell never changes his mind unless you bribe him with something."
Nancy stared at him a moment, then looked to Jodi for support. She shrugged.
"She is bribing him with something, Burt," Nancy explained at last.
Burt frowned. "With what?"
She sighed. "She's a very pretty girl, Burt. She's using her... smile."
Burt gave her a puzzled frown and looked to Jodi for help. She just nodded.
Then realization dawned. "You're both crazy!" Burt scoffed. "You're telling me she expects to change his mind by-- by flirting with him?" he asked in patent disbelief. They nodded. "And you believe this will work?" They nodded again. "That's crazy."
Nancy shrugged and half turned, inviting him to look at the pair at the table. Twitchell was laughing at something Kylie had just said while he folded up the sheaf of papers he held and slipped them into his pocket. Then both leaned toward each other, whispered for a few minutes, and laughed again. "Looks like it's working to me," she commented smugly.
Burt snorted his skepticism and looked to Jodi for support.
"Whatever works," she said with a shrug.
He shook his head and sipped his coffee until Twitchell approached.
"Gummer," he said, looking the taller man up and down. He didn't seem to like what he found.
"Twitchell," Burt replied, equally friendly.
Twitchell turned to Nancy. "I'll be bringing her permit out sometime this week." He glanced at Burt then back to Nancy. "See that she doesn't get into any more trouble, will you?"
He walked out of the store while Burt watched him, the astonishment clear on his face.
Nancy and Jodi giggled.
"How do you do that?" Nancy asked as she and Jodi migrated to her end of the counter. Burt picked up his coffee and went to Kylie's table.
"Good morning Doctor Burt," Kylie said as he sat and held out his hands, giving her greeting little attention. She slipped her hands into his, palm up. Then answered Nancy while he examined her healing injuries.
"It's easy." She ticked off the points on the fingers of the hand Burt wasn't currently inspecting. "Listen, agree, flatter, support and, above all, be sincere."
She laughed at Burt's dubious expression. "The value of a convent education," she explained.
Burt grabbed the hand she was gesturing with and frowned. "You think you can get anything you want with your looks?"
"Workin' out okay for me so far," Kylie confirmed with a smile.
He glared at her. "Well don't try it on me."
She smiled innocently at him. "Oh no, Doctor Burt."
He ignored the grin she threw the other two women and returned his attention to her hands. "That last sliver seems to have worked its way out of your thumb. They're almost completely healed," he pronounced. "You probably won't have any scars by the end of next month."
Kylie smiled, then turned to Nancy and Jodi. "Besides, he was just yanking your chain about turning it down in the first place. I think you'd find he's really a very nice man, if you give him a chance."
Burt snorted.
"He is."
"To you, maybe," Nancy pointed out. "Not the rest of us mere mortals."
"You can like anyone if you set your mind to it," Kylie responded.
"Sounds like a quote," Nancy said. "Nuns teach you that too?"
"Of course."
Burt shook his head at the conversation and let go of her hands. "How's your leg feeling?"
She stretched it out and bent the knee a few times. "Just fine. Hardly even have a limp anymore."
"You wouldn't have a limp at all if you'd just stay off it," he said sternly.
"Yes sir, Doctor Burt." Her tone was meek, but Burt caught the twinkle of mischief in her eyes.
His eyes turned grimly skeptical.
"Don't give me That Look of yours, Burt. I said I'd stay off it."
"And five minutes after I leave, you'll be wandering around town again. Just like the last time."
"But I really mean it this time. I'll sit right here," she promised.
He didn't look convinced.
She put her foot in the chair opposite. "I'll keep it elevated, even. I promise."
He sighed, but still gave her That Look again. "See that you do."
"Oh! Burt! Come here. Quick." Nancy was gesturing for Burt to join her at the counter.
Her rolled his eyes, but reluctantly went to lean next to her. "What is it?" he asked, resigned to listening to one of her crazy theories.
Nancy pointed toward the window.
Tyler Reed was walking across the street from his Graboid Adventures building, probably for breakfast. He looked the same as he always did: t-shirt, jeans, Vegas 51's cap, and boots.
"Something wrong with him?" Burt asked.
She shook her head. "I wanted to give Tyler a hand," she said with a smile.
Burt looked from Nancy, to Tyler, then back again. "With what?"
"With Kylie."
He only frowned at her.
"Some time alone. You know, so he can get her to go out with him." She sighed. "Come on, Burt, you must have noticed. He's been after her since she arrived."
Tyler came in then, said a quick "Hey Burt. Nancy, Jodi," and made a beeline to Kylie's table, where he sat in the chair Burt had recently vacated. "Hey midget," he said with a warmer voice and a smile.
Kylie leaned back in her chair and grinned. "Hey cowboy."
Burt turned away. "No, I hadn't noticed." He turned to lean on the counter and reach for his coffee but realized he'd left it at the table.
"Of course," Nancy complained. "If it doesn't involve a gun or explosives, you're not interested."
"That's right."
Jodi scooted around the counter and put Kylie's breakfast and a cup of black coffee in front of her. The girl looked up long enough to thank Jodi then went back to sparring with Tyler.
Nancy leaned forward when Jodi came back to the counter. "Tyler having any luck?"
"Who can tell?" Jodi said. "They were just trading insults from what I could hear."
"That's how they do it these days," Nancy said with a knowing grin.
"Why won't she go out with him, did she say anything to you?"
Nancy shook her head. "Who knows? She keeps saying she's 'not ready yet'. I don't know what she's talking about, though. She broke up with her last boyfriend almost six months ago, I think. How 'ready' do you have to be when you're twenty-five?"
"She's twenty-five?" Jodi asked. "I thought she was about eighteen."
"She looks younger," Nancy agreed. "I think it's her height." She watched the couple at the table a minute, a calculating light in her eyes. "We've got to get those two together. I think we should--"
"I think you should mind your own business," Burt said. He'd been the unhappy recipient of Nancy's matchmaking efforts more than once in the past. "If she doesn't want to date him, who are you to decide she should?"
"Burt, try to be a little romantic."
He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"But wouldn't they make a cute couple?"
He looked over his shoulder at them. Tyler's dark head leaned toward her blond one as he swiped a piece of toast off her plate. She stabbed at him with her fork and giggled. Looked like Tyler was doing just fine without Nancy's help. "Make a fine looking couple," he admitted, reaching for his nonexistent coffee. "Can I get a cup of coffee here?" he complained.
"See?" Nancy said.
"If she wants things to go that way. They don't need your interference."
"But, she's twenty-five. How does she know what she wants? All I'm saying is--"
Rosalita burst through the door then, halting all the conversation in the room. And sparing Burt more of Nancy's cockamamie speculation.
"Burt!" Rosalita said as soon as her eyes zeroed in on him. "You have to come out to the ranch! Something is killing my cattle. This is the third one! You need to do something!"
Burt stood, suddenly alert. "El Blanco?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I said 'something', Burt. Don't you think I know what it looks like when El Blanco comes around? There were no holes, no broken up ground. Just bones. Harlowe says it looks like a coyote. He found tracks."
Burt shook his head. "A coyote couldn't take down a full-sized cow." He thought a moment but shook his head. "We don't have anything in the area but El Blanco that could take down one of those cows." He shook his head. "I'll have to check it out." He turned to Tyler. "Come on, Tyler. We have a coyote to investigate."
Tyler looked up. "Coyote?" he said, confused. He looked to Kylie and Burt and back to Kylie. "I haven't even finished my coffee." He took a quick sip before hurrying after Burt and grimaced. "Cold anyway."