Hell's Belles by Kristen Robinette

Author:Kristen Robinette
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

“That’s not funny,” Mattie scolded. She snapped her fingers at the dog. “Drop it.”

Buddy just stared at her, the tampon string dangling from the corner of his mouth.

She’d only left the dog for a moment, but in that moment he’d managed to discover the box of spilled tampons. Somehow he’d removed the wrapper and plastic case from one—which she actually thought was rather talented of him—before she’d taken the box away. But now he was staring at her, refusing to drop the last remaining prize.

“Now!” she commanded. “I will not pay to have a tampon surgically removed from your gut.” She made a serious face and pointed at him. “Drop it!”

Buddy made an asthmatic, snuffling sound, then opened his mouth, shifted the tampon to the front of his tongue and spat it out on her carpet.

She threw her hands in the air. “Now that’s just gross.”

It had been a long night, but she’d actually felt pretty optimistic this morning. She looked at the wet wad of white cotton sitting atop her usually pristine beige carpet and decided that maybe her headaches weren’t over yet.

Once the police report had been filed, she’d turned the bookstore’s welcome sign to “Closed,” locked the broken front door and walked to her car, shaken and weary to the bone. Jack had driven the land barge for her, then had searched every crack and crevice of her duplex, in case the intruder had returned. Mattie had been right behind him, the back pocket of her jeans bulging with used tissues, her flashlight clutched in strike mode. She’d almost hyperventilated when he’d come to her closet, torn between fear and embarrassment. She’d finally wormed her way between Jack and the closet door, insisting on checking it herself. Mattie figured that, between her metal flashlight and Jack nearby, she’d take her chances rather than expose yet another part of herself.

Had the break-in only involved the bookstore she would have been comforted by the fact that she was home. But there was no real sanctuary, no safe place in which to retreat. She felt naked, stripped bare. And the thought that she might never know who had been in her home was more unnerving than the violent act itself. Would she always search the faces of strangers and acquaintances, weighing their sanity and motivation?

Della and Erica had arrived shortly after Jack brought her home and had helped to right furniture and begin the awful process of cleaning up. Mattie hadn’t completely stopped crying until Shay arrived, carrying a pair of dollar-store rubber gloves, her Bible and some sage incense.

And—best of all—an offer to spend the night.

Della and Erica had stayed for a few hours before leaving, Della to prepare for her trip and Erica to prepare for Della’s brood. Mattie had had to practically shove Jack out the door, promising to lock it behind him and keep her cell phone on her hip. She’d only found the courage to let Jack out of her sight because of Shay. Together they’d managed to put the duplex back in workable order pretty quickly.

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