Anathema by Kristopher Rufty

Author:Kristopher Rufty [Rufty, Kristopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lazarus Press
Published: 2018-05-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

The last time Hunter had been to the library was when Emma hadn’t been old enough to drive herself. She adored the library and their vast array of books and used to ask him every weekend to bring her.

However, he doubted her admiration of the library’s selection was why she’d insisted that she and Mel tag along with him this morning.

He looked over at Emma. Sitting in the passenger seat, her elbow was propped on the door frame. Her chin rested in the palm of her hand. She still had on the lounge pants and T-shirt she’d slept in. The sun sparkled off the dark lenses of her sunglasses. She had a ballcap tugged low on her head, her long hair curtaining the sides of her face.

She let out a yawn that triggered one from Hunter.

“Don’t start that,” he said.

“I’m tired,” said Emma.

“You probably got what…two hours of sleep last night?”

She stuck out her lips and made them rattle.

Hunter smirked. “You should’ve stayed in bed.”

“And miss all the fun?”

“Oh, yeah. Stopping to pick up a new shower curtain and then a trip to the library. Fun.”

“You know what I mean.”

“At least you could’ve let Mel stay behind and sleep.”

From the backseat, Mel said, “Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Looking in the rearview mirror, Hunter saw Mel in the middle row of Paula’s van. Head leaned back, Mel’s nose pointed at the padded ceiling. Her sunglasses made it too dark to see her eyes, but he figured they were closed.

Hunter steered the van into the parking lot behind the library. There were only a few cars parked in the spaces, with plenty left to choose from. He picked one near the back, put the car in park, and unfastened his safety harness.

The time on the radio said it was almost nine in the morning. Hunter sighed. He really should be in his office working on the new story. If it hadn’t been for Paula, he would still be in his office, pecking away on the keys. She’d barged in and reminded him about the shower curtain. Then he’d told her about his idea to stop by the library afterward.

Even now, Hunter could feel the story beckoning him.

Like the old days.

Did he remember to close out the file? Hunter felt a pinch of alarm in his chest.

Yeah. I even shut the laptop.

Hunter felt himself relax. It was an old tradition of his, hiding his work from his family. He wasn’t ashamed of it, but he wasn’t comfortable with them reading the violence and sex that filled his books. Not that Paula ever snuck on his computer and read what he was working on, he wanted to be very sure she didn’t see anything this time. Maybe it was because the story he’d started working on the other night when Crystal was spying strangers slinking around their yard was nothing but a recounting of that morning in Oscar’s room.

When Crystal told us about Ruby.

Last night he’d added more scenes that would have been familiar had Paula read any of it.

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