~~~*~~~~~~~*~~~
Chapter Ten
~~~~~*~~~~~
Meow!
Thump!
Gary stirred, awakened by the sound of the newspaper
hitting his door. He remembered that he no longer had an
alarm clock and raised his head to squint groggliy at his wrist
watch which he kept on the nightstand beside his bed.
It was 6:30 AM.
With a groan, he pulled the covers over his head and scrunched
down deeper beneath his blanket. He wasn't ready to face what
the paper had in store for him today and again considered
cancelling his subscription and moving to a new state. Hawaii
sounded like a nice place. Long stretched sandy beaches,
warm trade winds blowing through the palm trees, the sun and
the ocean. Peace and solitude. A mental picture of himself dressed
like the Kahuna clutching a large surf board provoked a smile.
Ignoring his morning wake up call, Gary slept on.
He had stayed up much longer than intended with April last night.
and the two of them had talked quite extensively. He learned
a little bit more about her while they waited for the rain to
subside.She was from New York, and moved to Chicago
about six months ago. She worked as a model in New York
city, and had been engaged to a young intern by the name of
Peter Cohelo. She confided in Gary that Peter had been very
controlling and overly protective of her. But she was deeply in
love with him had accepted him marriage proposal.
Then she discovered that he was already married. She fled
New York and came to Chicago to try and put her life back
together. But lately she said that things were beginning to
happen in her life she could not understand nor explain.
Strange things that frightened her but she would not elaborated
any details to Gary and it only made her more upset to talk about it.
Gary was concerned and wanted to do what he could to help
her. He offered to take her home last night, but she had refused,
assuring him that she would be ok. But Gary insisted waiting until
it stopped raining and then trailed her home to her apartment located
in a very nice residential area. He waited until she was safely
inside before he drove off. She had looked so vulnerable last night
Gary felt she needed someone to watch out for her until she
sorted things out.
Meow!!
This time an annoying persistant scratching at the base of the
door was enough to awaken Gary and he roused from his
sleep to find himself buried beneath a wad of covers. He
wrestled his way out and sat up on the edge of his bed scratching
his head.
Waiting to get his bearing he rose unsteadily from the bed
squinting to bring the door into focus. Door in sight, he staggered
towards it and flung it wide open.
On the paper sat Cat, his fur, still damp from the morning
rain. He had waited much longer than usual this
morning while his master slept and with poise and grace
he rose stretching long and leisurely, his green eyes blinked
knowingly up at Gary.
Meow!
"Morning flea bag." Gary grumbled crouching to slide the
paper from beneath him. Straightening up, he froze staring
at the headline that glared back at him.
'Another Body Found'
Rubbing his eyes to see more clearly he began to read.
"The body of a local man was found shot in the back of the
head by a city worker late Saturday night. The workman
who discovered the body had just clocked in for work when
he spotted the body laying beneath a pile of wood. Apparently
the body had been there for a few days..."
Gary paused and lowered the paper to glare down at the cat
"What do you want from me!" he lashed out. "You...you bring
me this paper every morning, ah....much too early I might add,
and I can live with that! But people are being murdered here,
a-and you're not giving me anything to go on!"
Cat simply yawned, his tiny mouth stretching wide revealing
small white teeth and pink tougue that swiped out quickly
over his face.
Sliding a hand through his hair, Gary blew out a frustrated
breath, "Well come on in," he groused, motioning for
cat to enter. Stepping aside, Cat sauntered in.
He watched Cat pad across the room to pause briefly and
rub his body against the sofa before making his way over to the
large window. He leaped onto the window box where he curled
up comfortably into a ball looking out over the city.
Gary closed the door then joined him on the windowsill.
The wet streets below were drenced the morning cloudy
and gray.
"So much for the Kahuna." Gary muttered, his eyes dropping
to the paper which he held and he shook it in silent frustration.
Would there ever be an end to the senseless killings! It was
too late for the man in the paper and the others he wasn't able
to get to in time.
"Meow." Cat purred softly.
"What now." Gary groaned.
His green eyes narrowing, Cat blinked at him then leaped
from the windowsill accidently brushing the paper from Gary's
lap causing it to spill out onto the floor.
Too tired to complain, Gary shook his head and crouched down
togather it up and immediately his attention was drawn to a small
article in the corner of one of the pages. Rising slowly Gary read
the article quietly,
"Rebecca Danado, 53 was killed last night during a robbery
attempt at the Quick Shop Mart-- " Gary's voice trailed off
as the name Danado seemed to ring a bell. Where had he
heard that name before? He scanned the article again reading
the name of the intended victim.
"Danado," he whispered, as if saying the name would stir
something in his memory. It didn't. He checked his watch.
It was 7:30 AM. He had really over slept. But, the robbery wasn't
supposed to happen until later tonight. There would have plenty of
time to get there. Laying the paper aside, he headed for the
shower.
To be continued.....................
Chapter Ten
~~~~~*~~~~~
Meow!
Thump!
Gary stirred, awakened by the sound of the newspaper
hitting his door. He remembered that he no longer had an
alarm clock and raised his head to squint groggliy at his wrist
watch which he kept on the nightstand beside his bed.
It was 6:30 AM.
With a groan, he pulled the covers over his head and scrunched
down deeper beneath his blanket. He wasn't ready to face what
the paper had in store for him today and again considered
cancelling his subscription and moving to a new state. Hawaii
sounded like a nice place. Long stretched sandy beaches,
warm trade winds blowing through the palm trees, the sun and
the ocean. Peace and solitude. A mental picture of himself dressed
like the Kahuna clutching a large surf board provoked a smile.
Ignoring his morning wake up call, Gary slept on.
He had stayed up much longer than intended with April last night.
and the two of them had talked quite extensively. He learned
a little bit more about her while they waited for the rain to
subside.She was from New York, and moved to Chicago
about six months ago. She worked as a model in New York
city, and had been engaged to a young intern by the name of
Peter Cohelo. She confided in Gary that Peter had been very
controlling and overly protective of her. But she was deeply in
love with him had accepted him marriage proposal.
Then she discovered that he was already married. She fled
New York and came to Chicago to try and put her life back
together. But lately she said that things were beginning to
happen in her life she could not understand nor explain.
Strange things that frightened her but she would not elaborated
any details to Gary and it only made her more upset to talk about it.
Gary was concerned and wanted to do what he could to help
her. He offered to take her home last night, but she had refused,
assuring him that she would be ok. But Gary insisted waiting until
it stopped raining and then trailed her home to her apartment located
in a very nice residential area. He waited until she was safely
inside before he drove off. She had looked so vulnerable last night
Gary felt she needed someone to watch out for her until she
sorted things out.
Meow!!
This time an annoying persistant scratching at the base of the
door was enough to awaken Gary and he roused from his
sleep to find himself buried beneath a wad of covers. He
wrestled his way out and sat up on the edge of his bed scratching
his head.
Waiting to get his bearing he rose unsteadily from the bed
squinting to bring the door into focus. Door in sight, he staggered
towards it and flung it wide open.
On the paper sat Cat, his fur, still damp from the morning
rain. He had waited much longer than usual this
morning while his master slept and with poise and grace
he rose stretching long and leisurely, his green eyes blinked
knowingly up at Gary.
Meow!
"Morning flea bag." Gary grumbled crouching to slide the
paper from beneath him. Straightening up, he froze staring
at the headline that glared back at him.
'Another Body Found'
Rubbing his eyes to see more clearly he began to read.
"The body of a local man was found shot in the back of the
head by a city worker late Saturday night. The workman
who discovered the body had just clocked in for work when
he spotted the body laying beneath a pile of wood. Apparently
the body had been there for a few days..."
Gary paused and lowered the paper to glare down at the cat
"What do you want from me!" he lashed out. "You...you bring
me this paper every morning, ah....much too early I might add,
and I can live with that! But people are being murdered here,
a-and you're not giving me anything to go on!"
Cat simply yawned, his tiny mouth stretching wide revealing
small white teeth and pink tougue that swiped out quickly
over his face.
Sliding a hand through his hair, Gary blew out a frustrated
breath, "Well come on in," he groused, motioning for
cat to enter. Stepping aside, Cat sauntered in.
He watched Cat pad across the room to pause briefly and
rub his body against the sofa before making his way over to the
large window. He leaped onto the window box where he curled
up comfortably into a ball looking out over the city.
Gary closed the door then joined him on the windowsill.
The wet streets below were drenced the morning cloudy
and gray.
"So much for the Kahuna." Gary muttered, his eyes dropping
to the paper which he held and he shook it in silent frustration.
Would there ever be an end to the senseless killings! It was
too late for the man in the paper and the others he wasn't able
to get to in time.
"Meow." Cat purred softly.
"What now." Gary groaned.
His green eyes narrowing, Cat blinked at him then leaped
from the windowsill accidently brushing the paper from Gary's
lap causing it to spill out onto the floor.
Too tired to complain, Gary shook his head and crouched down
togather it up and immediately his attention was drawn to a small
article in the corner of one of the pages. Rising slowly Gary read
the article quietly,
"Rebecca Danado, 53 was killed last night during a robbery
attempt at the Quick Shop Mart-- " Gary's voice trailed off
as the name Danado seemed to ring a bell. Where had he
heard that name before? He scanned the article again reading
the name of the intended victim.
"Danado," he whispered, as if saying the name would stir
something in his memory. It didn't. He checked his watch.
It was 7:30 AM. He had really over slept. But, the robbery wasn't
supposed to happen until later tonight. There would have plenty of
time to get there. Laying the paper aside, he headed for the
shower.
To be continued.....................