He was next to Deke and liked the view looking north, particularly the way the city’s lights patterned out towards the horizon at night. Alice again...did the decorating. The large photographs over the bed showed each of the ten women currently in the family posed in the nude and looked elegant and desirable. Elsa had arranged for her photograph to be taken while she still didn’t have too much of a baby bump (hidden by strategic placement of her leg). Mel and James had collaborated to do the. That was exactly what happened. Amanda was relieved that her close friend was really happy for her, and that there was no jealousy involved. At noon Todd arrived and the Chinese take-out she had ordered just five minutes later. While they ate Amanda told him about her pleasant talk with Kate and that she had renewed her invitation for her to live at her condo for a transition period before she would find something permanent to live. Amanda had a contract with the university to teach at least. But the second time the power went off I couldn't start it.========================My next-door neighbor, Tony, is some kind of mechanical engineer, so I went over and asked if he could help. He actually got the generator started one time, but after the next round of power back on and then off, it just stayed dead. Tony and Veronica, his wife, were very nice and invited me to warm up in their home. Tony figured out how to cut off my water and drain the pipes, so I wouldn't have a leak.My. Faking a step towards the edge of the bridge, she took a combat dive in the other direction. Two shots ring out, but since she wasn't hit she didn't worry where the shots might have gone. Like all of David's people, she wore a bulletproof vest. Unless the shooter was experienced enough to hit an extremity on a moving target, he was unlikely to inflict any damage. At least he wasn't firing an automatic weapon, which would be difficult to avoid.Monique tumbled, grabbing her pistol from behind.