Judging from their thinness and pale brown skin, these were refugees from Vesta, the most ravaged of the Asteroids. Lofty lowered his head to regard t...he trace of red wine he'd left untouched for so long and sipped it slowly while his eyes carefully followed Manu and his comrades walk across the bar to the room at the back which was where the proprietor could most often be found. Only when the door slid shut did Lofty at last put down his empty glass and step down from the bar stool.No one cared. It is a sequel to a story by my favorite writer. She was fully aware of my intent to compose it before I began, and she has read and approved this effort. Her original story was about a middle-aged, upper-class couple, Jonathan and Amelia Russell, who moonlighted as cat burglars in their neighborhood. Under investigation by police and a U.S. State Department agent, they fled the country to Switzerland. In this sequel, the duo finds other illegal means of making money. There’s vehicle-related. There it was again, a soft thud. She turned off the shower and stepped out. Was there someone upstairs? Karina thought Grandma and Elizabeth were the only other people in the house and she had heard them go downstairs together before she went in the shower. Wrapping a towel around her dripping body, she opened the door quietly, and stepped outside into the hallway, almost under the stairs that went up. She listened carefully, but she didn’t hear another thud. She did hear a soft rattling sound. A wicked grin spread across Alex’s face as he felt the door open with little effort. He slowly entered her house and closed the door behind him. He pulled the ski mask from his back pocket, slid it over his head and quietly made his way to where he believed her bedroom was. He was pleased to see the lights still on in her house, and he made his way easily to her bedroom door. His heart was racing as he reached out and turned the knob. He slowly opened it and glanced quickly around the.