table. “You watch a lot of those cop shows on TV, don’t you?”
“Every chance I get,” I lied. The truth was I didn’t even own a TV. The last thing I wanted in my house was a twenty-four-hour electronic salesman.
“It shows,” she said. “Let me tell you, they ain’t real. People don’t just wind up dead like that in real life, especially not around here.”
“No, you’re right.” I tried to smile. “I need to lay off those shows.”
“Damn right you do.” She thumbed through the pocket of her apron, pulled out my bill, and slapped it on the table. “Murdered,” she said, and walked away.
I picked up the bill, dropped a ten on the table, and left.
Crossing the parking lot, I cursed myself for being so stupid. I’d come back to see if I could learn more from Megan, but all I’d done was make myself look suspicious.
I sat in my truck for a while, wondering how much damage I’d just done, then started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
CHAPTER 14
When I got to the pharmacy I went to the back of the store and rang the service bell at the window. The pharmacist was on the phone. When he saw me he raised one finger and continued his conversation.
After he hung up he came over and said, “You have good timing. That was Dr. Conner up at Archway.”
“And?”
“He said it was OK to refill the prescription, so that’s what I’ll do.” He paused. “He did give specific dosing instructions, and I can go over those with you when I have it filled.”
“How long will that be?”
“Not long,” he said. “I’ll call your name when it’s ready.”
While I waited, I paced through the aisles, eventually stopping at the magazine rack. I grabbed the thickest one I saw and flipped through pages that smelled acidic and flowery. I put it back and reached for another.
A collage of makeup and clothing advertisements, meaningless articles about sex and love. Nothing in any of them made sense.
I flipped through the magazine faster, then put it down and tried another. Then another. They were all exactly the same, and the pages blurred.
I heard someone whisper, and turned around.
The kid behind me had pomegranate red hair that spun off his head in ringlets. He had his mother’s coat sleeve in his hand and he was whispering to her and staring at me. She looked down at him, then up at me, her eyes wide.
“Good morning, Dex.”
Her name was Theresa Hall, and she’d been a year behind me in high school. We’d rarely spoken in those days, even less since then, and I didn’t have much to say to her now. I nodded my greeting.
The boy kept staring until she put one hand on the back of his neck and led him around the corner, away from me.
I wondered about his father.
If Theresa was the same kind of girl she’d been in high school, the possibilities were endless.
I was glad she was gone.
I looked down at the magazine in my hand. It was open to a page that showed a close-up of a woman’s eyes. There were no words on the page, just those two green eyes.
The pharmacist’s voice came over the speaker, calling my name. I closed the magazine, slid it into the rack, and walked back to the window.
The pharmacist watched me approach. When I got there he said, “Are you doing OK?”
I told him I was and reached for the bag.
He pulled it away. “Let’s go over Dr. Conner’s instructions.”
I listened to him run down his list and then held out my hand again.
For a moment the pharmacist didn’t move; then he dropped the bag on the counter and said, “You can pay for these back here if you’d like.”
I told him I would, and that’s what I did.
I sat in my truck and read the instructions on the label, then opened the bottle and tapped one of the pills into my palm. It was small and red, the size of a ladybug.
I picked it up and dropped it in my mouth, but I didn’t swallow. Something held me back.
Was it really what I wanted?
I could still tell what was real and what
“Every chance I get,” I lied. The truth was I didn’t even own a TV. The last thing I wanted in my house was a twenty-four-hour electronic salesman.
“It shows,” she said. “Let me tell you, they ain’t real. People don’t just wind up dead like that in real life, especially not around here.”
“No, you’re right.” I tried to smile. “I need to lay off those shows.”
“Damn right you do.” She thumbed through the pocket of her apron, pulled out my bill, and slapped it on the table. “Murdered,” she said, and walked away.
I picked up the bill, dropped a ten on the table, and left.
Crossing the parking lot, I cursed myself for being so stupid. I’d come back to see if I could learn more from Megan, but all I’d done was make myself look suspicious.
I sat in my truck for a while, wondering how much damage I’d just done, then started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot.
CHAPTER 14
When I got to the pharmacy I went to the back of the store and rang the service bell at the window. The pharmacist was on the phone. When he saw me he raised one finger and continued his conversation.
After he hung up he came over and said, “You have good timing. That was Dr. Conner up at Archway.”
“And?”
“He said it was OK to refill the prescription, so that’s what I’ll do.” He paused. “He did give specific dosing instructions, and I can go over those with you when I have it filled.”
“How long will that be?”
“Not long,” he said. “I’ll call your name when it’s ready.”
While I waited, I paced through the aisles, eventually stopping at the magazine rack. I grabbed the thickest one I saw and flipped through pages that smelled acidic and flowery. I put it back and reached for another.
A collage of makeup and clothing advertisements, meaningless articles about sex and love. Nothing in any of them made sense.
I flipped through the magazine faster, then put it down and tried another. Then another. They were all exactly the same, and the pages blurred.
I heard someone whisper, and turned around.
The kid behind me had pomegranate red hair that spun off his head in ringlets. He had his mother’s coat sleeve in his hand and he was whispering to her and staring at me. She looked down at him, then up at me, her eyes wide.
“Good morning, Dex.”
Her name was Theresa Hall, and she’d been a year behind me in high school. We’d rarely spoken in those days, even less since then, and I didn’t have much to say to her now. I nodded my greeting.
The boy kept staring until she put one hand on the back of his neck and led him around the corner, away from me.
I wondered about his father.
If Theresa was the same kind of girl she’d been in high school, the possibilities were endless.
I was glad she was gone.
I looked down at the magazine in my hand. It was open to a page that showed a close-up of a woman’s eyes. There were no words on the page, just those two green eyes.
The pharmacist’s voice came over the speaker, calling my name. I closed the magazine, slid it into the rack, and walked back to the window.
The pharmacist watched me approach. When I got there he said, “Are you doing OK?”
I told him I was and reached for the bag.
He pulled it away. “Let’s go over Dr. Conner’s instructions.”
I listened to him run down his list and then held out my hand again.
For a moment the pharmacist didn’t move; then he dropped the bag on the counter and said, “You can pay for these back here if you’d like.”
I told him I would, and that’s what I did.
I sat in my truck and read the instructions on the label, then opened the bottle and tapped one of the pills into my palm. It was small and red, the size of a ladybug.
I picked it up and dropped it in my mouth, but I didn’t swallow. Something held me back.
Was it really what I wanted?
I could still tell what was real and what
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