When the Hammer Drops
Oblique Publishing
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2012 by Gary Baker
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
This story is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Publisher Contact: obliquepublishing@gmail.com
Image Credits: Bill Longshaw, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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Kara pulled into the parking space and Jim, riding shotgun, frowned, looking at the car parked next to them.
“I think that's Steve's car,” he said.
“Your step dad?”
“Yeah.”
Jim eyed it, looking it up and down: a late model black Honda, same wear and tear on the paint, same tires.
“Let me check this out,” he said, getting out of the car. His voice was distant, as though he were some kind of meditation.
“I thought he was supposed to be working tonight,” Kara said, getting out.
Jim walked over to the front of the car, reading the license plate. It was a match. Jim felt uneasy and said, “I thought he was, too.”
Kara opened the back door to retrieve the tennis rackets.
“So that's him?” she said.
Jim nodded, staring at the license plate. Then he looked up at Kara, shaking his head. “What the hell is he doing here?”
Kara stood on the other side of the car behind the back door looking uneasy, as though this discovery could have dire consequences. It was starting to get dark and behind her, about a hundred yards across the parking lot, there was a big field with several soccer practices going on at once.
“Maybe he got off early,” she said.
“No, I doubt it.”
Jim walked away from the front of Steve's car, meeting Kara on the other side of hers. He rubbed his chin, thinking, then leaned on the driver's side window.
“Let's go look for him,” he said, “think of it as a warm up with all the walking we'll do. I'll bet we find him soon, though, get to the bottom of it, and play tennis afterward—just as planned.”