[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Had the cops found the body? Were the forensic tests completed? Did the police have any suspects? Had the next of kin been notified? Had Townsend given any more thought to his tushie tattoo?The afternoon crawled by slower than it takes a cold sore to heal.I was daydreaming about a gorgeous cowboy with a great smile running his fingers through my hair and looking deep into my eyes.Of course, in my fantasy, I had someone else’s hair—someone for whom the term “the frizzies” is a mystery.I had earphones on, listening to sample CD tracks, imagining myself anywhere but where I was, when it dawned on me there was a customer to my right, almost rubbing elbows with me.I pulled my headphones off and turned.A long set of ugly fangs greeted me.I gasped, and then recognized the fangs as belonging to a rather frightening cobra tattoo coiling around a rather large arm.“Sorry,” I gulped.“Did you find everything you needed, sir?” I watched, intrigued, as the cobra seemed to wriggle when its owner’s muscles tensed.“As a matter of fact, no, I haven’t found everything I need.” Cobra Man moved closer, his brewery breath hot on my face.“But I’m guessin’ you’ll be able to help me out.You are the helpful type, aren’t you?” He tapped my Bargain City name tag.“Tressa?”“That depends on what you want,” I replied, my eyes drawn to the silver stud pierced through his left nostril, and the collection of them in his left eyebrow, before returning to the serpent decorating his arm.“I want my property,” the snake charmer said, and wound a lock of my blonde hair around a dirty-nailed finger.“I want my property,” he repeated, “and I want it now.”“P-p-p-roperty?” I stammered.“Did you check the lost and found at customer service?”The serpent performed another recoil.“What I want was never lost, but it sure as hell was found.And you, blondie, found it.Now, I want it back.Simple as that.So hand it over.”“If you could be more specific, sir—”“I ain’t got the patience for game playing, bitch.Just hand over the green and everything will be cool.”“Green?” My god, I thought, a robbery! “Is this a robbery?” I asked, with a pathetic tremor to my voice.Tattoo Ted’s eyes shot open, and he looked around.“Just calm down, you stupid bitch.I didn’t say nothing about no robbery.I’m here to retrieve my personal property, that’s all.I happen to know it came into your possession last night.You got it.I want it back.End of discussion.”Up until this point I was pretty much playing a guessing game on how to serve this particular customer.His references to green, property, and the other night finally got the old cognitive abilities firing, and it became clear as the slithering serpent on the bulging biceps.Since I was fairly certain my visitor didn’t want Peyton Palmer’s body back, even though it might well be green by now, I concluded he was inquiring about the envelope of Bennies that had almost made me wet my drawers.“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have the particular item you’re interested in.” I hardly recognized my own voice.In my dreams I’d wished for a voice this husky.The finger tangled in my hair yanked hard on the twisted lock.My eyes began to tear, and I knew how the early settlers must have felt before they said goodbye to their scalps.“This ain’t no goddamned raincheck I’m asking for, girlie.You got something belongs to me and I aim to get it back.”“But I can’t—” I started to explain I couldn’t give him what I didn’t have when he clamped another dirty hand over my mouth.“I hate the word ‘can’t.’ Implies a lack of effort.I hate it almost as much as I hate Buttinsky blondes who can’t keep their goddamned nose out of things that don’t concern them.But believe me when I say, I know how to motivate reluctant women.” He sneered, and I almost gagged at his brown, putrid teeth.“I’ve had lots of experience.”I was about ready to promise my firstborn just to get the guy off me, when one of my regulars arrived to play the demo video games for an hour or so.I could have kissed the little brat.“You still have the same, dumb old game previews?” He came up to Tattoo Ted and me.“Hey, are you supposed to be making out in here?” the freckled lad asked, staring at the motley character’s hand in my hair and fingers on my mouth.I took advantage of my pint-sized savior’s arrival and freed myself from the repulsive grasp of my supposed admirer.I hustled to the boy and put a shaking arm over his shoulders.“I’m so glad you came in today,” I said, steering the boy to a more populated area of the store.“You can’t imagine how glad I am you came in today.”“Huh?” The little twerp I’d kicked out a record number of times looked up at me.I cast a backward glance.Cobra Man had disappeared.“Your boyfriend is over there,” the red-headed youngster pointed toward the garden center.“I think he’s trying to get your attention.”I spotted my beau.He tapped his watch, then made a disturbing slashing gesture across his throat, turned, and walked out.I proceeded to grab my carrot-topped rescuer in a giant bear hug and planted a wet, slobbery kiss on him.He ran from the store screaming.By five o’clock, I was feeling uneasy, both from the previous night’s excitement and my more recent encounter with Tattoo Ted.I was now convinced I was in very real danger.I was being stalked at my workplace by a probable killer who thought I had his stash of cash, and he was bent on getting it back or taking it out of my cowgirl hide.I threw my vest in my locker, clocked out, and hurried to my car.I needed answers to the questions that had been cycling through what was left of my mind.The cops would have no reason to keep their progress from me.After all, I was the one who brought the report to them in the first place.I stopped for a chili dog and soda, and managed to leak chili sauce on my white shirt.My earlier fright did not seem to diminish my appetite.I have yet to find something that will.Sigh.I parked my car on the square outside the courthouse and tried the door
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]