[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Chuck walked her to the school door and left her withJerry Johnson, who walked her toher classroom door.After school, Chuck was waiting atthe school entrance.The pasttwo days, Chuck had accompanied her to Jensen sgrocery store, where she and Bethpored over drawings and colors.Julia had promised tohelp Beth redecorate.ThenChuck or the lanky foreman called  Sandy wouldwalk her home.They would waituntil Cooper arrived and make a solemn littleceremony about  handing her over.Julia felt like the baton in a relay race.She hadn t the faintest idea what story Cooper andChuck told the men in Simpson,but it got results.Loren stood rigidly behind thecounter, eyes scanning the streetoutside, while she and Beth happily planned thegrocery store s rejuvenation.Julia hadsketched sheet after sheet while Beth talked and Lorenhadn t once taken his eyes off thedoor.Once, when a lost and bewildered traveling salesmanhad walked in and asked fordirections, Loren had pulled a walkie-talkie from underthe counter and spoken into itquietly.Chuck and Bernie had immediately materialized.Chuck s hand hovered over hispistol in its brand-new leather holster and Berniecarried a rifle.The traveling salesmanhad looked from one unsmiling, suspicious face to theother, bought a bag of apples,asked the way to Rupert and quickly exited.Julia couldsee him mop his brow outsidethe shop and run to his waiting car.Chuck and Lorenand Bernie had moved to theentrance and watched until the car s taillights haddisappeared from sight.It was no way to increase tourism.Julia was looking forward to the evening with Cooper.He had hooked up a DVDplayer to her TV set and had brought over enough filmson disk to keep her busy for thenext fifty years.To her astonishment, it turned out thatCooper was a film buff, too.Theolder the better, just like her.Their tastes ran alongremarkably similar lines, thoughJulia had a slight preference for romantic comedies andCooper leaned towardsHitchcock and Westerns.Tonight he d promised tobring over Casablanca.She shivered as she thought of what would comeafterwards.Except for when she was in school, Julia carried a gun,a small, powerful one.ABeretta Tomcat, that took.32 caliber bullets.Or rounds , as Cooper called them.Cooper had said that he didn t want her to have a girl s gun.The Tomcat wassmall, but Julia was astonished at its kick, and at thedamage it could do to the few treetrunks she was starting to hit.She had a callus between the thumb and forefinger andhad had to set aside specialclothes for shooting practice because she came homereeking of cordite after a practicesession.It took her an hour to get the powder out fromunder the fingernails of her righthand.Cooper was an excellent instructor, patient andthorough.At first, he had walked herthrough the theory over and over again, until her headspun with  sighting planes , trigger pulls and  creeps.Then he had let her starttarget practice.The back of herlegs still hurt from the improper stance she d adoptedat first.Cooper had made her leanforward in a slight crouch, steadying her hand with hisuntil she got off the first shot ofher life.She missed, but not by much.Cooper made a big point of praising her aim, but Juliaknew better.Still, a gun nolonger felt like an alien metal lump in her hand.Shedoubted she d ever have the nerveto actually fire at a human being, but it was astonishinghow reassuring it was to havethe gun near to hand at all times, which she was surehad been Cooper s intention allalong.A sharp rap startled her. Miss Anderson? Jim calledanxiously. You okay inthere?She sighed. Fine, Jim.I m coming right out.* * * * *There it was!The professional leaned forward eagerly as thecomputer beeped.It was about time.This place was enough to giveanyone the creeps.The bedsagged, the weather was lousy and the food was worse.But the long wait was over.kdsjcnemowjsiwexnjskllspwieuhdksmclsldjkjhfdkdiejduenbkclsjdjeudowjdiejdocmdksdldkjdjeielmpnwjcmsmwkcxosapewkrjhvgebsjckgfnghgdsjDecryption 60% complete& 70%& 80%& 90%&Come on, baby.We can make it to St.Lucia byThanksgiving.Decryption completed.Bingo!The letters moved across the screen.File: 248Witness placed in Witness Security Program: JuliaDevauxBorn: London, England, 03/06/76Last domicile: 4677 Larchmont Street, Boston, MACase: Homicide, Joey Carpuzzo, 9/26/04 [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]