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The heat in the green houses was as bad as Shawn ever remembered. The polythene propagation tunnels were worse than the permanent glass houses.
Inside the faint whisper of the water system dribbling onto the trays of baby Carnations and Chrysanthemums gave a faint feeling of colder air closer to the ground, but as Shawn hung the newly filled hanging baskets from the roof hooks, the heat higher up was almost to much to bare...
Summer was in with a vengeance, and she grabbed her step ladder, kicking it closed, and headed back outside.
The simple paths that curled amongst the rows of glasshouses were lined with her stock for sale..From filled garden urns, to small water features, with a variety of water lilies for sale close by..
The small car park to the side of her property was full..Shawn couldn't suppress her smile as she watched her customers strolling around, filling their trolleys with the plants, she'd grown from seed.
It gave her a huge sense of pride every day to watch her 'garden grow'..To literally see the differences every morning as something she'd taken care of thrived..
Four years ago, she'd started out with one propagation tent, and a small note book, with some addresses of houses whose owners she was lucky enough to convince to hire her on a week to week basis..
Now, she owned a 15 acre plot, had 6 full time staff, and 4 part timers...And she now often had to regretfully refuse to take on more clients for the home gardening side of her business, as her reputation grew...The hard work, and back breaking exhaustion was finally paying off..Shawn Carmichael didn't look like your convention gardener...
And it was part of her charm..She wasn't rich because of her success, didn't care to be frankly..But so long as her bills were paid , and she could reach her payroll, look after herself, and have a little set aside, she could sleep.
The radio crackled again, the theme music for the lunchtime news buzzed, and as the costumers closest to it, quietened, so too did the ones further away, as they all stood listening...Another two innocent people had died in cross fire the evening before..
Two Mob families were locked in a dispute that held the entire bay area ransom..For the last 6 months on an almost nightly basis, there was some incident..From shootings, to arson, to punishment beatings..And non of it was hidden...
The two families so full of hate, so full of fury and determination, that the law as a joke to them..and anyone that was in their way was dealt with quickly and permanently..
Murmurings from the customers that drifted back to their trolleys at the end of the broadcast, only served to confirm what most knew, but didn't say..People were afraid to go far from their homes..Certainly not down town where the focus of most of the attacks was.
The public prosecutor was trying to build his case..An impossible task when both families bought their freedom through corruption and intimidation within the legal system. Money talked, shit walked unfortunately.
That evening, Shawn waved off her last customer, and watched Tod cross the road to one of the garden center flat bed trucks..He waved to her as he pulled off, and Shawn padlocked the gate before she headed across to her 4x4..She really wanted a car..a little convertible..anything, any make, just so long as it nipped her across the city and out the coast road..Unfortunately, her 4x4 was needed more than some little pretty sports car, and as she pulled away, she frowned, looking up at the roof top of one of the ware houses across from her garden center..
Something had flashed..Something small...Maybe it was nothing, just something on the roof catching the last of the evening sun..Shawn shrugged it off, and pulled our of her parking spot and headed home..
Home being the house her parents had left her. A beautiful two story and hours drive out of the city, with wrap around porch, within walking distance of the cliff walks down to a quiet beach that was too far out of town for anyone to bother with..It had been her parents pride and joy, and Shawn's memories of her childhood had been only of the happiest moments in this house..
Closing the front door behind her, the warm smell of floor wax greeted her, and as she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom, the perfumes of her scented candles, and soaps from her bathroom diluted her tiredness and invited her to bathe and work the tiredness from her shoulders before eating, and watching some T.V before bed.
As she bathe, Shawn wasn't aware, that the cause of the flash from the rooftop of the warehouse earlier, had followed her home. She wasn't aware that her name was whispered to a cell phone, with her address, car registration, and her description... She wasn't aware of the surprise expressed by the voice at the other end of the phone call, that the one 'they'd' been looking for was a woman..And she wasn't aware that the error that had been made, was about to turn her entire world upside down, and could cost her everything she'd worked for to stay alive.
The heat in the green houses was as bad as Shawn ever remembered. The polythene propagation tunnels were worse than the permanent glass houses.
Inside the faint whisper of the water system dribbling onto the trays of baby Carnations and Chrysanthemums gave a faint feeling of colder air closer to the ground, but as Shawn hung the newly filled hanging baskets from the roof hooks, the heat higher up was almost to much to bare...
Summer was in with a vengeance, and she grabbed her step ladder, kicking it closed, and headed back outside.
The simple paths that curled amongst the rows of glasshouses were lined with her stock for sale..From filled garden urns, to small water features, with a variety of water lilies for sale close by..
The small car park to the side of her property was full..Shawn couldn't suppress her smile as she watched her customers strolling around, filling their trolleys with the plants, she'd grown from seed.
It gave her a huge sense of pride every day to watch her 'garden grow'..To literally see the differences every morning as something she'd taken care of thrived..
Four years ago, she'd started out with one propagation tent, and a small note book, with some addresses of houses whose owners she was lucky enough to convince to hire her on a week to week basis..
Now, she owned a 15 acre plot, had 6 full time staff, and 4 part timers...And she now often had to regretfully refuse to take on more clients for the home gardening side of her business, as her reputation grew...The hard work, and back breaking exhaustion was finally paying off..Shawn Carmichael didn't look like your convention gardener...
And it was part of her charm..She wasn't rich because of her success, didn't care to be frankly..But so long as her bills were paid , and she could reach her payroll, look after herself, and have a little set aside, she could sleep.
The radio crackled again, the theme music for the lunchtime news buzzed, and as the costumers closest to it, quietened, so too did the ones further away, as they all stood listening...Another two innocent people had died in cross fire the evening before..
Two Mob families were locked in a dispute that held the entire bay area ransom..For the last 6 months on an almost nightly basis, there was some incident..From shootings, to arson, to punishment beatings..And non of it was hidden...
The two families so full of hate, so full of fury and determination, that the law as a joke to them..and anyone that was in their way was dealt with quickly and permanently..
Murmurings from the customers that drifted back to their trolleys at the end of the broadcast, only served to confirm what most knew, but didn't say..People were afraid to go far from their homes..Certainly not down town where the focus of most of the attacks was.
The public prosecutor was trying to build his case..An impossible task when both families bought their freedom through corruption and intimidation within the legal system. Money talked, shit walked unfortunately.
That evening, Shawn waved off her last customer, and watched Tod cross the road to one of the garden center flat bed trucks..He waved to her as he pulled off, and Shawn padlocked the gate before she headed across to her 4x4..She really wanted a car..a little convertible..anything, any make, just so long as it nipped her across the city and out the coast road..Unfortunately, her 4x4 was needed more than some little pretty sports car, and as she pulled away, she frowned, looking up at the roof top of one of the ware houses across from her garden center..
Something had flashed..Something small...Maybe it was nothing, just something on the roof catching the last of the evening sun..Shawn shrugged it off, and pulled our of her parking spot and headed home..
Home being the house her parents had left her. A beautiful two story and hours drive out of the city, with wrap around porch, within walking distance of the cliff walks down to a quiet beach that was too far out of town for anyone to bother with..It had been her parents pride and joy, and Shawn's memories of her childhood had been only of the happiest moments in this house..
Closing the front door behind her, the warm smell of floor wax greeted her, and as she made her way up the stairs to her bedroom, the perfumes of her scented candles, and soaps from her bathroom diluted her tiredness and invited her to bathe and work the tiredness from her shoulders before eating, and watching some T.V before bed.
As she bathe, Shawn wasn't aware, that the cause of the flash from the rooftop of the warehouse earlier, had followed her home. She wasn't aware that her name was whispered to a cell phone, with her address, car registration, and her description... She wasn't aware of the surprise expressed by the voice at the other end of the phone call, that the one 'they'd' been looking for was a woman..And she wasn't aware that the error that had been made, was about to turn her entire world upside down, and could cost her everything she'd worked for to stay alive.