If Mick would let him in the apartment, I’d let him sleep at the foot of our bed.”
“He wouldn’t stay at the foot, Susan. Trust me. It gives you a jolt to wake up in the morning and realize you’ve opened your eyes to a hound dog with his head sharing your pillow. Or you’ll find him under the blankets and up against your legs on a cold winter night.”
I smiled at the thought of Joe under the blankets as we ran down the three flights of stairs and out into the parking lot at the back of the building. We kept on running past the carport, the small yard, and out into the freshly mowed field. Mick had allowed Nate to mow down a large section of the field, so we would have a place for Joe to run and do his business. After frolicking with the dog for a good ten minutes, we headed back around the carport, and I took him for a brisk walk around the apartment building.
As we rounded the front of the building, I thought I heard a familiar sound and was surprised to see a red Chevelle go speeding by. From what I could tell, it appeared to be exactly like mine. This must be the car Martin was talking about earlier. I had no way of knowing who it was, but they were going to be getting a lot of speeding tickets if that was the way they were going to drive. I chuckled to myself. After Dad had given the car to me, I collected more than a few tickets that first year and was even in danger of losing my license. I finally settled down and stopped driving like I was in a race every time I got behind the wheel.
“Come on, Joe. Time to go in. Maybe I can talk Mick into letting you lie by my feet while we play Trivial Pursuit.”
Chapter Three
“Sam, that’s terrible! Is she going to be ok?” I asked. I was startled at hearing the news.
Samantha was sipping juice while sitting on a stool at the front counter of the racquetball club. She was keeping me company while I worked my Sunday afternoon shift. We were both watching Larry and Husky play racquetball on the glass court to my right. There had been a number of attacks on women over by the mall area, and one of the recent attacks had been on her cousin, Mae.
“She’s upset, and definitely afraid to go out by herself,” Samantha said, “but she was lucky. A couple of kids were cutting through by the dumpsters to try to sneak into the theater, and when the guy saw them, he ran off. He dragged her in there and smacked her around some, but wasn’t able to do anything before the kids showed up.”
We both shuddered at the thought. I sometimes used to close the club at 1:00 in the morning and walk through the darkened building and out into the dark parking lot by myself. I don’t think I could ever do that again, and I’m sure Mick wouldn’t ever let me anyway.
“Thanks, Jack. Have a good evening,” I said to a member as he handed his towel and locker key back in to me. I turned to a young girl who was literally running up to the counter and said, “Hi, Sheila. Jessie’s waiting for you on court number seven,” I had seen her running through the parking lot and knew she was late for her game. I handed a towel and a locker key to her before she took off running again around the corner to the ladies’ locker room while yelling in my direction, “Thanks, Susan.”
Samantha and I continued chatting and watching the guys play their match around the continual small interruptions working at the front desk brought. We were used to it though and didn’t mind.
“Did I hear you two talking about the rapist at the mall?” asked Lugnut, one of the local auto mechanics in town.
“Yeah,” Samantha answered him. “My cousin had a close encounter with him, but she’s ok.”
“My wife’s scared to death to go over to the mall for anything,” he said. “I don’t understand why the police can’t catch this guy. He seems to only be in the one area. You think they’d step up patrols or somethin’.”
“I know I’m not going to the mall for anything until
“He wouldn’t stay at the foot, Susan. Trust me. It gives you a jolt to wake up in the morning and realize you’ve opened your eyes to a hound dog with his head sharing your pillow. Or you’ll find him under the blankets and up against your legs on a cold winter night.”
I smiled at the thought of Joe under the blankets as we ran down the three flights of stairs and out into the parking lot at the back of the building. We kept on running past the carport, the small yard, and out into the freshly mowed field. Mick had allowed Nate to mow down a large section of the field, so we would have a place for Joe to run and do his business. After frolicking with the dog for a good ten minutes, we headed back around the carport, and I took him for a brisk walk around the apartment building.
As we rounded the front of the building, I thought I heard a familiar sound and was surprised to see a red Chevelle go speeding by. From what I could tell, it appeared to be exactly like mine. This must be the car Martin was talking about earlier. I had no way of knowing who it was, but they were going to be getting a lot of speeding tickets if that was the way they were going to drive. I chuckled to myself. After Dad had given the car to me, I collected more than a few tickets that first year and was even in danger of losing my license. I finally settled down and stopped driving like I was in a race every time I got behind the wheel.
“Come on, Joe. Time to go in. Maybe I can talk Mick into letting you lie by my feet while we play Trivial Pursuit.”
Chapter Three
“Sam, that’s terrible! Is she going to be ok?” I asked. I was startled at hearing the news.
Samantha was sipping juice while sitting on a stool at the front counter of the racquetball club. She was keeping me company while I worked my Sunday afternoon shift. We were both watching Larry and Husky play racquetball on the glass court to my right. There had been a number of attacks on women over by the mall area, and one of the recent attacks had been on her cousin, Mae.
“She’s upset, and definitely afraid to go out by herself,” Samantha said, “but she was lucky. A couple of kids were cutting through by the dumpsters to try to sneak into the theater, and when the guy saw them, he ran off. He dragged her in there and smacked her around some, but wasn’t able to do anything before the kids showed up.”
We both shuddered at the thought. I sometimes used to close the club at 1:00 in the morning and walk through the darkened building and out into the dark parking lot by myself. I don’t think I could ever do that again, and I’m sure Mick wouldn’t ever let me anyway.
“Thanks, Jack. Have a good evening,” I said to a member as he handed his towel and locker key back in to me. I turned to a young girl who was literally running up to the counter and said, “Hi, Sheila. Jessie’s waiting for you on court number seven,” I had seen her running through the parking lot and knew she was late for her game. I handed a towel and a locker key to her before she took off running again around the corner to the ladies’ locker room while yelling in my direction, “Thanks, Susan.”
Samantha and I continued chatting and watching the guys play their match around the continual small interruptions working at the front desk brought. We were used to it though and didn’t mind.
“Did I hear you two talking about the rapist at the mall?” asked Lugnut, one of the local auto mechanics in town.
“Yeah,” Samantha answered him. “My cousin had a close encounter with him, but she’s ok.”
“My wife’s scared to death to go over to the mall for anything,” he said. “I don’t understand why the police can’t catch this guy. He seems to only be in the one area. You think they’d step up patrols or somethin’.”
“I know I’m not going to the mall for anything until