Chapter Thirty-two #2
“As far as I know, they sure do. Noah talked me into having them installed last month.” The plump native woman who wore her long black hair in a bun behind her neck and ancient-looking turquoise earrings that pulled on her earlobes since the day Raven first met her, was incensed.
“Little suckers around here are getting worse than ever, breaking and entering. Been putting up with that nonsense since you were one of them naughty kids back in the day.”
Teasing, Raven had a come-back. “I only did it once, you know that. Darn Winona made me return the cigarettes and apologize. If I remember correctly, I also had to stock shelves and sweep out the place for the rest of the summer.”
Laughing, Elvira admitted, “you did a good job for me too. But lately, it’s gotten much worse.
The young don’t just steal a few things now and again; they break stuff and vandalize the joint.
No respect for their elders anymore. It breaks my heart to say they’ve become…
well, plain, uncaring juvenile brats.” Her voice hardened over the last words, and Raven had a feeling she’d bitten off cuss words.
“I’m sorry, Elvira. People are angrier nowadays and that rubs off on their kids. I see it in my job all the time.”
Recovering from her aggravation, Elvira grinned, “You’re one of the good ones, made a life for yourself. Always knew you’d turn out right.”
Laughing, Raven admitted, “Did Winona give me a choice?”
Becoming serious, Elvira said, “She did. I remember those days when you’d decided getting fostered was better than staying with family. Broke her heart, it did. But you came back, and all was forgiven. Our Winona can be a hard task master, but she loves like no one else I know.”
“So true. You know, she’s taking in the sheriff and his kids. And another woman with a young child, Val and her daughter Bonnie.”
“I heard about Val and Bonnie from Helen. I went and met them at the school earlier when I dropped off a few things. You seem to know this Val better than the rest of us, so I want your advice. I’m needing help here at the store. You figure she might like a job?”
“Hey. That could be perfect. She’d be within walking distance from Nana’s house. I can’t answer for Val, but I think you should ask her. Want me to bring her around?”
“Please do. Maybe she’ll know how to work the techie gadget you want to check out.
Everything is digital nowadays. After Roger decided he’d had enough of the place, I’m lost without someone who knows Googoo stuff and will help with the overall running of the place.
You know, I’m just getting too old for this shit. ”
Correcting her word for Google and chuckling at the movie line from Lethal Weapon, Raven answered with a gentle tone. “You’ll never be old, Elvira, you have a young heart.”
Smiling, standing straighter after hearing a sincere compliment, Elvira pointed to the back of the store,
Raven nodded, following Elvira to her office where they had the monitor setup for the video cameras.
In minutes, Raven had it rewound back to the night before, and they both watched as Dale smashed the corner of the window on the front door in order to be able to undo the lock.
Then he stumbled around in the store, knocking over things without a care in the world.
Once he’d fetched the cigarettes from behind the locked glass he broke and shoved them into his pockets, he reached for a bag to store the beer and a handful of jerky. Then, rather than leaving the place, he headed over to the aisle where Elvira kept some of the over-the-counter medicines.
Disgust plain on his face, while messing up the neatly stocked shelves, he peered at the bottles of medicines and not finding anything of interest, he finally chose one of the boxes and left.
“You don’t keep any kinds of painkillers other than regular brands, do you?”
“Nope. Gotta get that over at the pharmacy. But Floyd’s got a much better security system than I do because of the drugs.
I happen to know that he and his boys are armed and keep guard each night since the flood.
They weren’t willing to take any chances with their products and those desperate for them. ”
“Well, that makes sense. Thanks, Elvira. I’ll let you know about Val. In the meantime, be safe.”
Once she’d finished the chore given to her by the sheriff, Raven took out her phone and tried again to use the GPS tracker she had on her jeep. Excitement amped up when she got a reading this time.
Carefully, using the van, she followed the target along a trail that led to a deeper part of the forest. When it looked to be only a few hundred feet away on her phone’s GPS, she stopped, parked, and left the vehicle.
Keeping out of sight, she stayed behind the bushes and trees before suddenly catching a glimpse of her jeep. Strangely, it appeared to be abandoned.
Not trusting Dale, seeing as how he’d come to such a derelict area of the woods, she hesitated to show herself. Deciding she should call in backup, she stepped away, only to feel the muzzle of a gun in her left shoulder, and a voice speaking low and mean.
“Well… lookie who’s here? Our nosy-parker FBI agent. Now aren’t I a lucky son of a bitch? Move.”