Bones by the Wood by Catherine Johnson Page B

friends, not least because it would be much easier for him to keep in touch with her if he did, but her own was an ancient brick of a thing, and she couldn’t afford one for him, too.
     
    “That’s good, bud.  Thanks.”
     
    Thea didn’t drop Josh off directly outside the school because the traffic there was absolutely crazy, but there were plenty of kids making their way along the sidewalks from the point that she let him out a few streets away.  She was touched that she still warranted a quick kiss on the cheek before he clambered out of the car and followed the hordes.
     
    She went by the store on her way home to pick up the few groceries she needed and spent the rest of the day at the laundromat.  She was relieved to get a text from Billy’s mama, confirming that Josh was at her house and that she’d make sure he was back at their apartment building for five.  Her own dinner was another bowl of cereal and a slice of toast before she pulled on her uniform polo shirt and headed to her shift.
     
    Mondays were always a quiet night, and this one was no exception.  It was the lack of excitement that had made it the ideal day for her to schedule a regular double shift.  Nine hours of no fun and no frolics, but also no stock checking or deliveries.  If anything, the hardest thing about her Monday shifts was the struggle to keep her eyes open.
     
    Thea had been dozing on her feet, her eyes closing in long blinks, for at least the last hour, when the sound of the doors opening roused her.  She checked the time on the display on the register, just after midnight – thank god – she only had a couple more hours to go.  When she looked up to check who had walked in she just about fell off her feet.
     
    “I hope you’ve got your good panties on tonight.”
     
    Dizzy had come almost right up to the counter, which in itself had been a surprise, but his smirk and eyes were telegraphing dirty thoughts which took her mind right back to the dream she’d woken from that morning.  She had to take a beat to find her voice, but when she did she was beyond glad that it came out normal and not as a squeak.
     
    “My panties are none of your business, thank you very much.”
     
    “Maybe not right now.”  Thea clenched her jaw rather than let it fall open at the sheer arrogance of that statement. But she still watched his retreating back as he wandered off deeper into the store, and okay, maybe she checked out his ass a little too.
     
    Her head snapped around when she heard the doors go again. It was always the way. No customers for hours, then everyone came in at once.  At least it was too late for her to worry about ending up with a line full of people huffing and tapping their feet like it was her fault that they’d all picked the same half-hour window to shop in.
     
    The man who had come into the store loped straight towards the counter.  Thea figured that he just wanted smokes, but something about him set her inner alarm bells clamoring.  He was wearing a padded jacket with the hood pulled up; it was torn and stained in places and had definitely seen better days.  As he got closer, Thea had to resist the urge to step back, or to turn and flat out run away.  The guy looked like he was an extra out of that TV series about the zombie apocalypse.  His cheeks were shrunken, and the skin of his face that she could see was blotched with scabs.  It looked like he was thin all over; his clothes were hanging off him.  His eyes were wide and wild; she could see the whites all the way round the iris.  Oh shit, this was not good news.
     
    Even though she was expecting trouble from him, the gun he tugged out of his jacket pocket still shocked her with an immense jolt of fear.  It was a big hunk of metal and looked far too heavy and solid for what must have been a twig of arm to hold.  That arm was shaking.  Fuck, a fucking junkie in the grip of a comedown.  Most likely he’d be feeling like fire ants were