Read Online Bombshell by Phyllis DeMarco - Free Book Online Page B

countertop. His breathing heavy and labored, he wiped away at the beads of sweat on his forehead and could barely watch as Annalee went about the grim task of wiping the carnage off her shoe and from the floor.
    “Must be fixin’ to rain,” he breathed. “Always come upon them sons-a-bitches when it’s fixin’ to rain.” He bent low, picked up the pots and pans from the floor with trembling hands, and appeared to be trying to calm himself down.
    “My goodness. What do you do when you’re at home or at the police station and those things pop out at you?”
    “I don’t ever see ’em. Penelope must eat ’em or something.”
    A fresh giggle tickled the back of her throat, but when Annalee gazed into his eyes and realized they were filled with stark terror, the terrible urge to laugh faded. She took hold of his shaking hands and led him out of the kitchen. “Let’s get some air.”
    Lightning illuminated the cloudy night sky. The wind picked up just as she finished handing out the last of the pay envelopes, and by the time Earl and Molly Brown loaded their brood into their car, the first drops of rain started to fall. Annalee sat down next to Sheriff Calaway on the brand-new porch steps and rested her head on his shoulder.
    “I just don’t like bugs,” he softly insisted.
    “Well, that was one mean centipede.”
    “It was.” He reached over and gathered her hands into his and toyed with her fingers. “Thank you for rescuin’ me.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    They watched, sore and half-drowsy from a long day’s work, as heavy raindrops splattered to the ground.
    “Can we go see that scary picture now?”
    ****
    Annalee had forgotten how awful Curse of the Black Cat was. Sitting in a darkened theater packed with townsfolk, she gazed up at the sixty-foot version of herself and realized some things were best left forgotten.
    “Ugh. Look at how that gown hangs on me,” she grumbled. “Makes me look like I’ve got hips like a Mack truck. I begged them to let me wear something else.”
    Sheriff Calaway shoved a handful of popcorn into his mouth and stared wide-eyed at the screen as the titular black cat suddenly morphed crudely into a mad scientist—Annalee’s character, the hapless Carlotta, had walked into a trap.
    “Annalee, why would you do that?” he yelped. “You knew it was a trap!”
    “Well, Carlotta didn’t know it, did she?”
    A few people turned to glare at them, but Carlotta’s screams of terror brought their attention back to the film. Annalee glanced once more at the man she adored, the man who now stared with rapt attention at a lousy horror film, and stifled a giggle.
    The mad scientist, played by an utterly delightful Englishman, staggered menacingly toward Carlotta, stalked her until her back was against the cold cinderblock wall, and wrapped his huge hands around her delicate neck.
    “Aw, no, are you gonna die?” Calaway asked with pure dread in his voice. “Glory be, I can’t look.”
    “Me neither. That gown is just atrocious.”
    Suddenly the hero burst through the door, determined to save Carlotta from her hellish fate at the hands of a madman. Annalee glanced over at Sheriff Calaway, who was shadow-boxing along with the hero, and nearly burst out laughing.
    Onscreen, the enemy defeated, Carlotta and her lover shared a passionate kiss.
    Calaway’s enthusiasm melted into a grouchy frown. “Did they have to go and show that ?”
    ****
    Sheriff Calaway held his umbrella over Annalee’s head as he walked her to the door at the Steamboat Inn. His goodnight kiss was as warm and welcome as the summer rain.
    “So am I better at singing or acting?” she asked.
    “Both. Can’t say I cared much for that fella kissin’ you, though.”
    Annalee took hold of his hand and toyed with his fingertips. “Why, John Calaway, I never took you for the jealous type!”
    “Well, I am,” he grumbled.
    “If it makes you feel any better, Dick Webster doesn’t like