Ticket 1207 Read Online Free PDF

“thanks” and pointed to the towel as she made a hasty retreat.
    On the ride back to her office, Shawn marveled at the fact that she really did feel more confident. That was a far cry from earlier when she’d stood on the sidewalk too chicken to go into the jewelry store and speak to Jill. She’d lost her nerve and was on her way back to her work truck when saw a sign hanging on the gate behind Theo’s store that read: Block this driveway, and I’ll put something on you that’ll make your whole body smell like some stank ass feet. Theo Brasseaux’s Shop of Voodoo.
    “I’m an intelligent, educated woman, not bad-looking.” Shawn smiled. “Hot, according to Vera,” she said as she sat up straighter. “I’m a confident woman.”
    She chanted the mantra, slapping the steering wheel to accentuate her point. At a stoplight, she happened to glance at the vehicle next to her. An elderly couple stared back at her like she was insane. Shawn rolled down her window and smiled. “I’m a confident woman.” The old man in the passenger’s seat poked his wife in the arm, and she stomped the gas as soon as the light turned green.
    Shawn turned into the parking lot of her office building, and unfortunately, the rain had stopped. She’d planned to stroll slowly in hopes that her hair would become soaked by the time she got to the door thinking it might slick it back down. She decided to handle the crisis with a ball cap she dug out of the backseat, but her hair was so stiff that the hat looked like it sat six inches off her head.
    “Shawn, what the hell did you do to your hair?” one of her colleagues asked as she walked through the door.
    “Rain—too much mousse. Don’t look at it,” she said as she sprinted down the hallway.
    *******
    The store was bustling with Christmas shoppers when Jill returned. She quickly set their lunch in the back and returned to the counter to wait on customers. It seemed that when one wave left, another came in. The food was eaten bite by bite whenever one of them could find a second to run into the back of the store, and by the day’s end, Rene and Jill were exhausted.
    “We did good today,” Jill said as she nibbled on a roll.
    “Yeah, the real Christmas rush has begun.” Rene kicked off her shoes and rubbed her feet wearily. “Oh, I almost forgot, Shawn came in here looking for you just after you left.”
    Jill stopped chewing and swallowed half of the roll that she’d stuffed into her mouth. “Did she break something else?”
    “No, or if she did, she didn’t say. Her number’s in our system, maybe you should call her.”
    Jill still had the slip of paper that Theo had given her. She wasn’t sure why, but when she was getting dressed that morning, she’d found it on her kitchen table and stuffed it into her pocket. She’d been played by Theo, of that she was certain, but a seed had been planted nonetheless. Shawn was in her thoughts.
    “Does Nadia really believe in voodoo?”
    “Oh, yeah, and so do I, now that my hair is great,” Rene said as she fluffed it.
    “Do you believe in ghosts?”
    “Nadia does.” Rene made a face. “But I don’t want to. I don’t like the idea of Grandma Tanner floating around my room when Nadia and I are having sex. It would be a total mood killer to open my eyes and find her hovering above me with that disapproving scowl she always had. Dad said it was gas, but I think she was perpetually pissed off.” Rene shrugged. “Anyway, that’s why I always keep my eyes closed when we do it.”
    Jill pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, astounded at the absurdity of her question. “I’m going crazy.”
    “Why?” Rene asked with alarm. “Have you seen Grandma? Is she in here? Oh, man, don’t tell me. Sometimes, I feel like someone is watching me when I adjust my bra or scratch my butt. It itches, you know? Winter always makes my skin dry, and it’s not like I go down into my pants or skirt. She’d always slap my hand if