Lone Calder Star Read Online Free PDF

second cup of coffee, he added his own dirty dishes to the ones still soaking in the sink, stuck the grocery list in his shirt pocket, and plucked the iginion key to the ranch pickup from its hook by the back door.
    He wasted thirty minutes trying to get the truck to start before he gave up and climbed behind the wheel of the rental car.
    Located well off the more heavily traveled routes, the town of Loury attracted mainly local traffic. Downtown had a deserted feel to it when Quint drove through that morning. The breakfast crowd at the Corner Cafe had already come and gone, and it was too early for the town's old-timers to gather there for coffee and their morning bull session.
    The grocery store had seven cars in its lot. Quint bypassed it for the time being and drove straight to the feed store on the east end of town. He pulled into the graveled lot and parked next to two pickups that stood in front of the metal building. When he climbed out of the sedan, his glance flicked to the passenger door panel of the truck beside him, and the sign painted on it that read SYKES FEED & GRAIN. The words were an echo of the board sign above the door.
    A chalky white dust coated the front windowpanes, obscuring Quint's view of the interior. But an ingrained caution had him scanning the dim interior for any sign of movement. Upon entering the feed store, he automatically stepped to one side, well clear of the glass door.
    Dust motes danced in the few shafts of sunlight that penetrated the windows, and the air had that familiar, musty smell of grain. A grumbling murmur of male voices came from the open doorway that connected the store with its warehouse area.
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    Quint glanced in their direction just as a female voice called out a somewhat absent "Be right with you."
    Quint was quick to locate the woman. She was seated at a desk well to the rear of the front counter, facing a computer screen, her back to the door. At almost the same instant, he caught the faint, tinny tap of fingers moving rapidly over a keyboard.
    He crossed to the counter and idly leaned a hip against it to wait until she was through. After another thirty seconds, she swung her chair around and stood up. She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt that stopped at midhip. A cap, emblazoned with the name Sykes Feed & Grain, covered her head, its bill casting a shadow on her face.
    As she approached the counter, something about the way she walked nagged at Quint. Not until his curious glance encountered her pale brown eyes did recognition strike. It was Dallas, the waitress from the Corner Cafe. Pleasure kicked through him, warm and unexpected. He smiled when she faltered in midstride, revealing her own surprise at seeing him again.

    "I thought you would have been long gone." Her mouth curved in a small smile that seemed to say that she was glad he wasn't. " And I thought you'd be in school."
    "School!" 'There was a note of increduality in her short, amused laugh.
    Then understanding dawned in her expression. "You must have seen me studying. I go to college three nights a week. Second year " I)espite her attempt to sound matter-of-fact, a faint note of pride crept into her voice.
    " You're in college?" His initial assessment of her underwent a rapid revision as he added a few more years to her age.
    " That's right," Dallas replied, then hesitated, a flicker of regret shadowing her eyes. "If you're here about a job, I can tell you now -they aren't hiring."
    " No problem. I'm here to get some grain."
    She shot him a quick, curious look, then masked it with an air easy efficiency. "You came to the right place. What do you need?"
    "One hundred and fifty pounds each of corn and oats, and a hundred pounds of top dress-whatever you carry in the way of a vitamin and mineral pack," Quint replied, as two men filed into the store from the warehouse.
    The taller of the two had a round beer belly and sharp eyes that sized Quint up as a stranger. He threw him a curt nod and