celwriter: My fiction press story is underway, so if you would like to read the story that Mort is 'writing,' you can find it under this same screenname. please r and r. anyway, next chapter, not much action, but a lot is explained. Here it is:
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Chapter 9

The two names that Cel had not recognized were the names of characters from two of her father's stories. One was a New York body guard who somehow always ended up with psychotic clients who tried to kill him and the other was an outsider who was thought to be crazy, but really knew what was going on when no one else but the conspirators did.

Cel guessed that John Shooter must have 'killed' two of Mort's characters to try to frighten Mort. She exited from the search engine and headed for the bank. After cashing her check, she found Mort standing over some catalogs. He hid the order form as Cel walked in.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"Oh, just ordering a few things that I need," he replied suspiciously. Cel knew what he was up to because the catalog just happened to be for teenage girls. She looked at a different catalog from the stack and several things caught her glance. These she put on an order form and she bought a money order to mail along with it. Neither father or daughter let the other see what he or she was ordering.

Cel and Mort were walking back to where the car was parked when Mort remembered that he had left something in the store. As Cel stood waiting, she heard a voice speaking to another. Overcome by curiosity, she stepped closer.

Inside the courthouse/jail, a deep conversation was going on. Cel peered into a window to see who it was. The sheriff of the town was speaking with the sheriff of the town that she had first arrived in. Evidently, the latter was telling of his suspicions about Mort to the former. As Cel leaned closer, Mort came back. She told him that she had something to do and that she'd meet him by the car when she was finished.

Mort walked away and Cel slipped into the courthouse and stood outside of the sheriff's office. She cocked her head to listen and heard something that made her blood run cold.
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celwriter: someone told me that they preferred chapters that you had to at least scroll to read, but I am not sure if this cahpter is long enough. Just so you know, I tried to lengthen it, but still allow it to end with a great cliff hanger.