Free Ravenous by Ray Garton Page B

your reason for being late is hardly relevant. It’s happened much too often. Do you understand what I’m saying? Once more, and you’ll have to look for work elsewhere.”  
    Cynthia nodded. Miss Williams returned to what she was doing, and Cynthia went through the door at the back of the store.
    Jason knew she would come back out in no time at all, and they would spend another day working together. He had to admit to himself that he had a bit of a crush on Cynthia. But she was not the woman he thought about the most, the woman for whom he reserved his true affections. That would be his next-door neighbor, Andrea Norton.
    He’d heard shouting over there again that morning as he ate breakfast. His mother had heard it, too, and had shaken her head as she stood at the stove cooking.
    Jason lived in an apartment over his parents’ garage. From a side window in his apartment, he could see the Norton’s’ front yard. His heart broke for Andrea. He had elaborate fantasies in which he saved her from her terrible marriage and they went away together with her baby and little girl, married, and lived far away in another town. He had other fantasies about her, too, which were not quite as elaborate, but no less exciting. He dreamed of burying his fingers in her long, thick brown hair as he kissed her on the mouth, then the throat, then her breasts, kissing and smiling.
    Andrea came into the bookstore now and then. She told him she usually bought her books at the used bookstore, but she had a favorite mystery writer and she always bought his books as soon as they were released in paperback because she hated to wait for them to show up at the Paperback Trader. Jason sometimes visited her in the afternoon while her husband was at work, and even mowed her lawn sometimes during the summer, so she wouldn’t have to do it. Her husband never did any yard work.
    It did not seem fair that Jason was alone and had no one, and yet a prick like Jimmy Norton had a wonderful wife whom he mistreated and abused.
    Cynthia was Sunday-afternoon shopping sprees and sexy clothes and bubblegum pop music. Andrea, on the other hand, was something more ... she was a real woman—thoughtful, intelligent, mature. Jason had a schoolboy crush on Cynthia, but his feelings for Andrea were deeper, stronger.
    Andrea’s favorite writer had a new novel in hardcover. Miss Williams had opened the box in back that morning, and Jason would be putting them out on the front shelves a little later. He’d already decided he would buy one for Andrea—it would give him an excuse to go over and see her that afternoon when he got off work at three.
    The two middle-aged women came to the register with their purchases and Jason smiled.
    Â 

 

 
    7
    Â 
    Fish and Game
    Â 
    Â 
    Sheriff Farrell Hurley awoke at seven, as usual. He did not even have to set an alarm anymore—he’d been doing it so long, he now automatically woke at seven every morning, whether he needed to or not. Upon waking, he went to his home office and got on the treadmill for awhile. As he walked, he tried to read more of the book of essays by Twain, his favorite writer. After showering, he usually made breakfast for Ella and himself. That Tuesday morning, he felt edgy, nervous. He hadn’t even been able to read while walking on the treadmill—he kept reading the same paragraph over and over again before finally giving up. He made a breakfast of waffles and strawberries, but he repeatedly dropped things or tripped over his own feet going from one counter to another. He turned on the radio on top of the refrigerator and he and Ella listened to the morning news as they ate. When the female newscaster came to the report of Deputy Garrett’s death, Hurley stood and turned off the radio, then returned to his breakfast. They usually talked over breakfast, but on that morning, Hurley was silent, and so was Ella. He hadn’t caught her yet,