Just Add Trouble (3) by Jinx Schwartz

Author:Jinx Schwartz [Jinx Schwartz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery
Goodreads: 8191990
Publisher: KDP
Published: 2007-10-09T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Did I mention that my idea of camping out is a hotel without twenty-four hour room service?

I found a side road and drove the Toyota behind the cover of a little hill just as the sun set and—there is a God—an enormous full moon rose.

I stepped from the truck to stretch, and was hit by such a profound silence that a rush of fear coursed through me. Any idea I had of sleeping in the truck bed was chased away by my own fear of being so alone, so…vulnerable.

Heart thumping, I grabbed the sleeping bag from the truck bed, jumped back inside and slammed the door lock button down. Still frightened to the point of almost panic, I considered continuing the drive, maybe finding a hotel room at La Purisima. If they had one. Which they probably didn’t, but it was my experience that Mexicans generally let you park anywhere. I could park in front of the police station. If they had one.

Indecision finally calmed me. I climbed into the jump seat in a futile attempt to find a place to sleep, but it was well nigh impossible. Even moving from the front to the back required a contortion more likely found at the Cirque de Soliel.

Fearful of opening a door to change places the easy way, and sweating from effort and residual fright, I maneuvered myself into the passenger seat and found a lever that tilted the seat back to almost horizontal. The only thing preventing it from going flat out was the jump seat in the rear, so I raised it, et voila, I had a bed. Within minutes, though, a chill settled into my bones though my damp clothes and I knew, despite my deep fatigue, that I had to fight my way into that moldy old sleeping bag. Using what I was sure were my last reserves, and trying not to think what might have been using that bag for a home back in Chino’s shed, I struggled in, zipped it up and, against all odds, fell into a deep sleep.

My own snoring woke me up sometime in the wee hours. The moon had traversed three quarters across the sky, which told me I’d slept for quite a few hours. Stiff from sleeping in one position for so long, I tried to sit up, but snored again.

Snored? No, I was awake, so what was that sound?

I peered out the window and saw nothing but a desert lit by moonshine bright enough to read by, but with colors faded to an almost uniform gray. Green cactus and brown rocks seemed to blend, only discernable by their shadows and shapes. I rolled down the window and listened, but quickly rolled it back up when I heard a snuffling sound, then saw something move. Several somethings.

Shocked, I screamed, and slammed my hand down on the door lock, then remembered they were already secure. Every hair on my body was standing on end as I reached over, turned on the key and hit the desert lights.

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