{Vessa}
Vessa was halfway up a ladder restocking lamp wicks when the bell over the shop door rang. She looked down, and oh, this was going to be a fun afternoon.
The red-skinned woman from the street was standing in the doorway of Talori Dry Goods, trying very hard to look like a regular customer. It was Samara, the Black Lotus thief Kat had recently told her about.
Now that she knew what was up, she was excited. Kat always forgot this, but Vessa was a businesswoman too.
These games were fun for her, as well.
[Don't smile too big. Be normal. Be a shopkeeper.]
"Welcome in!" Vessa called down. "Be right with you!"
"No rush," Samara said, and then she picked up a coil of rope and studied it very seriously.
Sure she did.
Vessa came down the ladder slowly, and she may have arched her back a little more than the ladder strictly required. And when she glanced over, Samara was staring hard at the wall of fishing hooks. She'd clearly just been caught looking.
