Striking Range by Margaret Mizushima

Author:Margaret Mizushima
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

SIXTEEN

Mattie awakened Stella at six, the prearranged time for them to rise in time to get ready to be at the station by seven. The detective roused easily and color had returned to her face, which relieved Mattie’s concern. Maybe she’d worried unnecessarily, but she wouldn’t have done anything differently. Sleeping on the couch was an easy sacrifice for peace of mind.

Stella left to drive to her own home, but not before giving Mattie a hug and a thank-you. Mattie showered and dressed in record time, still giving her a half hour to share her routine Sunday morning breakfast with Mama T, the foster mother who’d raised her during her teen years and whom she’d grown to love as if she were her own mother.

As usual, Robo was waiting at the front door by the time she’d retrieved her service weapon from its safe in her bedroom closet and gathered her things. He waved his tail, his eyes eager as she opened the door for him to go outside.

“Okay, buddy. Let’s load up.” He beat it over to the back of the Explorer while she used a slower pace to navigate the icy stone pathway that led from the porch of her small stucco-covered adobe home. Paved roads and curbs did not exist on this side of town, and her parking spot was a pull-in at the side of the gravel road. She loaded Robo and started her engine before grabbing the ice scraper from its pocket on the back of her seat.

The sun was just beginning to brighten the horizon, and Mattie’s breath turned to vapor as she scraped a light layer of frost from her windshield. Stars still shone in the cloudless sky. It took only a minute to drive the few blocks to Mama T’s home, the tires rattling over pebbles, which gave her some traction. She hoped the sun would come out bright and warm as predicted today so that everyone could get on the road early. There was a lot of work to be done, but with the addition of those who’d arrived with Sergeant Madsen, there were enough capable officers to accomplish it.

She parked in front of Mama T’s house and made her way past the ice-enshrouded pansies in the flower bed, their last splash of autumn splendor ended by the storm. The ceramic chipmunks and squirrels that her mama was so fond of scampered in frozen poses in the yard.

Mattie slipped down the side wall of the house to the kitchen door, tapped twice, and then stepped into the warm embrace of a room laden with the wonderful aromas of her teen years: spicy green chili, scrambled eggs, and homemade tortillas. Mama T had made huevos rancheros, her specialty that she prepared each Sunday. Their time together was one of the treasures of Mattie’s life.

Teresa Lovato, a small plump Latina, her black hair shot with silver and scraped back and twisted into a bun at her nape, looked the same as always, wearing a blue calf-length housedress faded from many launderings.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.