Lainy replied to the uniformed postal worker behind the counter. A professional, and her first cousin. “Sure, Lainy. This is going to Mitch, so I think I can send it with special rates. What’s inside?” “A prototype for a new laptop I designed and built.” Lainy wondered if she should have padded the box better. “Okay, how much you think it’s worth?” Lainy gave a figure and bought the insurance for the package, all the while chewing the inside of her cheek. “Hear from Ben?” Melanie snapped her gum as she placed Lainy’s box in a bin behind her. “Not lately, why?” Melanie and Ben were brother and sister, so Lainy figured Ben would keep Melanie more informed than her, his cousin. “He thought he might have a stopover at Mitch’s base,” Melanie supplied and Lainy’s heart thumped. “Really?” Her breath stopped somewhere in the vicinity of her diaphragm. After the first hiccup, she swallowed and repressed the urge to leap across the counter and hold her cousin down for questioning.
